Terminator 2: Judgment Day (pinball)
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Manufacturer | Williams |
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Release date | July 1991 |
System | Williams WPC (Dot Matrix) |
Design | Steve Ritchie |
Programming | Dwight Sullivan |
Artwork | Doug Watson |
Mechanics | Carl Biagi |
Music | Chris Granner |
Sound | Chris Granner |
Voices | Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator) |
Animation | John Vogel, Scott Slomiany |
Production run | 15,202 |
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 pinball machine designed by Steve Ritchie and released by Williams Electronics. It is based on the motion picture of the same name.
Overview
[edit]
The table is the first Williams WPC machine designed to feature a dot-matrix display. But due to the long design phase, Gilligan's Island is the first manufactured with a DMD. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the first game to feature an autoplunger (replacing the traditional plunger), as well as a ball-firing cannon (dubbed, "Gun Grip Ball Launcher") and a metallic T-800 skull.[1][2] Terminator 2 is also the first game to feature a video mode, a mini video game featured on the DMD. Arnold Schwarzenegger provided voices for the game.[3] Some playfield design elements were based on Ritchie's 1980 classic, Firepower. The T-1000 is not in the artwork, with the exception of a small image of actor Robert Patrick because of pre-release secrecy of the movie. The character is only in the display animation because when the DMD programming was finalizing the liquid metal character was already public knowledge.[4]
The game has mono audio.[5]
At the "Terminator 2: Judgment Day Convention" on June 30, 1991 one of these games was given away to the winner of a tournament played on it.[6]
Layout
[edit]The major features of this game are the same as the 4th and final table in the classic 1992 Commodore Amiga game Pinball Dreams, called Nightmare,[7] or Graveyard on other platforms. These include the left and right runs which allow you to advance up the central ladder to activate huge scoring opportunities.
Gameplay
[edit]The game has 2 flippers, each controlled with a button on the side of the cabinet.
Reception
[edit]In a look at 3 new pinball machines Play Meter called it more than a good game, a licensing coup working to coincide with the release date of the film.[8] Sinclair User gave the pinball game a 93% score.[9]
Legacy
[edit]2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines from Stern has a very similar playfield design and rulesheet.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day was formerly available[10] as a licensed table for The Pinball Arcade until June 30, 2018, but removed due to the WMS license expiration.
References
[edit]- ^ "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Williams 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day'". www.ipdb.org. Retrieved 2025-01-10.
- ^ Crable, Noah (January 15, 2025). "It's Payback Time: Learn to Play the 1991 Classic Pinball Machine, Terminator 2". www.kineticist.com. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
- ^ Shalhoub, Michael (2012). The pinball compendium: 1982 to present (2nd ed.). Atglen, Pa: Schiffer Publishing. pp. 143–144. ISBN 978-0-7643-4107-6.
- ^ "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Terminator 2: Judgment Day". August 24, 2013.
- ^ "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". The International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 13 Oct 2013.
- ^ "Williams helps Hollywood welcome "Terminator 2"". Play Meter. Vol. 17, no. 9. August 1991. p. 13.
- ^ Dillon, Tony (April 1992). "Pinball Dream review". CU Amiga. No. 26 (April 1992). United Kingdom: EMAP. p. 47. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
- ^ Yager, Tom (September 1991). "And the beat goes on (prime-time preview)". Play Meter. Vol. 17, no. 10. pp. 128–140. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
- ^ Cook, John (18 November 1991). "Coin Ops". Sinclair User. No. 118 (December 1991). United Kingdom: EMAP. pp. 62–3.
- ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (2013-09-28). "The Pinball Arcade adding Terminator 2 table". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-01-10.