In the future, humanity is trapped in a desperate battle for survival with its own creation – the SkyNet computer system, which has deemed mankind unfit for survival. To that end it has created (among many other weapons) the Terminator series of cyborgs – souless killing machines which cannot be distiguished from humans until it is too late. SkyNet's data banks have predicted its ultimate demise at the hands of the humans, so it launches a last desperate effort to survive. By mastering time travel and sending Terminators into the past, it hopes to kill off the human leader John Conner before he can grow into the deadly threat to SkyNet's existence that he will certainly become. Based on the hit series of films that made Austrian actor and former bodybuilding champion Arnold Schwarznegger an international film star.

The Terminator was a fairly standard side-scrolling platform game. However, the game's six levels mirror the story-line of The Terminator movie very closely as you take on the role of Kyle Reese and his quest to save Sarah Connor from termination.

Because the game follows the movie so closely, the first mission which involves blowing up the SkyNet computer and escaping through time is one of the hardest and something that most players remember with love/hate.

While it is just a typical side scrolling shooter, the execution is quite good. Starting with only grenades, you must take out a ground Hunter Killer, and piss-bolt to the underground base, and find yourself a machine gun, to fend off the legions of T-400s. Once you destroy the main computer, it's a race against time to the time machine. Then it's off to 1984 for you. 1984 is full of street punks and every so angry cops, who have been after you since your arrival. Whilst fending off these baddies, you must find Sarah Connor, but watch out for the Terminator. The game does stay fairly faithful to the movie, except for one large thing, which would destroy continuity, but don't worry, this thing is explained. No bonus stages or any real bosses added to the mix, but the gameplay is good enough to hold its own.

Terminator features amazing graphics, as was the case with games developed by Probe Software. Reese is very well animated, setting him above the usual 3 framed stiffs seen in games around this time. The backgrounds are also quite nice, although certain levels do look a little plain. Bad guys are fairly generic however. The future is full of T-400's and Hunter Killers, both aerial and ground units. The present is full of vigilantes and police officers. The enemies do look quite tough. There are also a few nice touches added, such as the intro (which was ripped straight from the movie) and the “direct-from-the-movie” pictures that appear in between the levels.

The soundtrack is excellent. When the action gets tense, the music speeds up. Generally, the music is set in mood with the level you are in. Great for atmosphere. The few tracks that compose the soundtrack are quite memorable too. Sound effects are quite nice too. Plenty of explosions, gun blasts, and the sounds of people being hurt. All audio is as clear as you can get.