Publisher: Virgin Interactive
Developer: Virgin Interactive
Size: 1 CD
Memory Usage: None
No. of players: 1
Official Ad: Yes
Got it for: $8.99, complete and new.
Alright, time to whip some metal ass! In this seriously expanded version of the Genesis cart, Virgin has treated us to everything the Sega CD can offer: Larger, longer levels(and a lot more of them), a redbook soundtrack and a heaping helping of clips from the movie. Another example of the definitive version of a game being on the Sega CD.

What's it all about?
Expanding a bit more than the movie did for the future-based sequences, you play as Kyle Reese as you make your way into the heart of Skynet to travel back in time. After making the jump, you gun your way through various locations in an attempt to stop the Terminator machine from killing Sarah Connor.
Graphics - Excellent! Large, well defined sprites and backgrounds make this one a real feast for the eyes. The care taken in building the future, war-torn stages is really something to see, and though the present day levels aren't quite as impressive, they still look great. As a nice bonus, and great use of the 650 megs CD's provide, after each major section you're treated to a large amount of FMV directly from the movie.
Sound - Music so fucking good it will knock your nuts off. This, folks, is Tommy Tallarico at his absolute best. The in-game sound effects are also of excellent quality, consisting of various explosions and shooting noises.
Control - Smooth, like a Terminator's ass.....hot metal ass....you filthy Terminator bitch, give it to me! Um...ok, well, at any rate, Kyle moves quickly and responds to your commands immediately. This comes in extremely handy during some levels where you are being pounced from every direction.
AI - A lot like Reese states in the movie: "It can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with, it doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear, and it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead." That pretty much sums it up. The enemies aren't really cheap, they just will not stop shooting/walking/rolling towards you until you put them down.
Replay value - Fairly high. The thing you have to remember is that this game is pretty long, and the last few levels in the steel mill are extremely tough. You can, literally, loose it in just a few bad moves...ending your game and, if you're out of continues, starting you all over. You won't want to start again, not right then...but I guarantee you you'll come back again sometime.
Tips for better gaming experiences:
There are a LOT of secrets, most have to do with walking behind walls, buildings, fences, etc. that you don't realize you can get to. Every secret area in this game is worth the trip too. Loads of ammo, weapon upgrades and the ever precious extra lives await you...
My rating: 97(out of 100) - One of the best adventure-style shooters EVER. An amazingly good, and fully optimized title for the Sega CD, Virgin took the ultra-short Genesis version, gave it the full treatment and took advantage of what CD media can offer. Take a good look folks, it rarely gets better than this.
Sega Visions gave it: 5(graphics), 5(sound & music), 5(play controls), 3(depth & challenge), 5(overall fun)(out of 5)
GamePro gave it: 4.0(graphics), 4.0(sound), 4.0(control), 4.5(funfactor)(out of 5)

Cat's review: The future levels make the game, once you get back to the past things seem to slow down and aren't nearly as fun...

Reese sure does enjoy shooting punks in the nuts!
A little in-game advertising for you...
I have no idea why some Terminators have skin in the future levels.
Cybernetic Organism!
Gameplay Videos:
Virgin Games logo, Attract Mode - 1:51, 22.4 megs

Immediate Streaming - YouTube
Description: Though horribly grainy, the movie footage used in this intro really gets you in the mood to whip some Terminator ass. I'm glad they were able to license the actual theme as well, it goes a long ways in showing you what a quality production this game is.
Note: You'll need the most recent Divx codec to watch these videos. Also, slowdown and jumps in the playback may not necessarily be the fault of the game so much as the method I am using to record them. If you are having problems watching the videos in your browser, just right-click and download them to your hard drive...
Time's running out Sarah:
The original Genesis cart version of this game can be beaten in less than 13 minutes. At one point, just for kicks, I broke out the VCR and recorded myself beating it, my time was around 12m24s.