Terminator 2 Review: 243 Ways, Random Wilds and a Lapsed Licence
A licensed Microgaming release on 243 ways whose base game carries a random wild-generating feature. What it did, and why it is no longer listed.
Terminator 2 belongs to the same short period as Jurassic Park and shares its shape: a well-known property, an adjacent-ways grid, and one mechanic that fires without warning. It also shares the same ending, having left catalogues when its licence lapsed.
A feature with no trigger
The base game carries a randomly occurring event that generates wild symbols after a spin resolves. It is not tied to any combination, cannot be pursued, and arrives on spins that would otherwise have paid nothing.
Features of this kind are more consequential than they look, because they loosen the relationship between what the reels show and what the spin pays. An ordinary wild lands visibly and its contribution can be followed. A generated wild is placed afterwards, so two identical-looking reel results can pay differently depending on whether the feature fired. Some players find that exhilarating and others find it opaque, and both reactions are reasonable descriptions of the same mechanic.
What it unambiguously adds is variance without agency. There is nothing to learn about it and nothing to do differently in anticipation, which is the same objection that applies to the Wildstorm event in Thunderstruck II.
Why the layout was chosen
The 243-ways grid counts wins by adjacent-reel matches rather than along drawn lines, producing frequent small returns and no line decision. That is a retention choice as much as a design one.
A game bought for its property rather than its mechanics has to keep somebody engaged who came for the film. Frequent small wins do that far better than the long gaps a nine-line design produces, and almost every licensed title of this period uses either an adjacent-ways layout or a high payline count for the same reason. The pattern is consistent enough to be a tell.
The licence, and what it did not do
A licence buys artwork, sound and names. It does not touch the reel structure, the paytable or the return, and a branded game behaves identically to an unbranded one built on the same engine. That is worth stating plainly because branded slots are routinely presented as though the property were a feature.
The licence did determine the game’s lifespan. It ended, and the title left almost every catalogue, which is the same fate as Jurassic Park and Tomb Raider. Three of the best-remembered games in this catalogue are gone for reasons that have nothing to do with the games.
What is not stated here
Return-to-player figures and maximum win multiples are omitted, and for a retired title the reason is stronger than usual: there is no current deployment against which to verify anything, and the numbers still circulating come from marketing material of the period. Reproducing them would lend them a precision they never had.
The structure can be described and it answers the question a reader has: an adjacent-ways grid producing busy, flat base play, one untriggerable feature that generates wilds, and a licence that has expired. The titles in this catalogue that remain listed are marked as such in the review directory.
How Terminator 2 Works, on One Card
A feature the player cannot trigger, and wilds that arrive after the spin. On a card:
Placed AFTER the spin resolves — two identical-looking reel results can pay differently depending on whether the feature fired.
No symbol, meter or combination opens it; it fires at random in base play, paying on spins that would otherwise have returned nothing.
Wins count as 243 ways: the same symbol anywhere on each adjacent reel from reel 1. Which row it lands on never matters.
The Symbols, and What Each Does
| Symbol | Role | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Generated wild | Random feature | Placed after the spin resolves; pays spins that would otherwise return nothing |
| Regular symbols | Paying symbols | 243-ways matches on adjacent reels from the left |
What the design buys, and what it costs
In its favour
- A random wild-generating event pays on spins that would otherwise have returned nothing
- The 243-ways grid keeps base play frequent, which suits a title bought for its property
Against it
- Variance without agency: nothing to learn and nothing to do in anticipation
- Wilds are placed after the spin resolves, so identical-looking results can pay differently
- Delisted when the licence lapsed
No score is given. Nothing on this page was play-tested, and a number would imply testing that did not happen.
Gambling content, for entertainment only. Outcomes are determined at random and no strategy alters them. Play within limits that can be afforded, and consult the support services available in your jurisdiction if play stops being enjoyable.
Common questions
What does a random base-game feature add to a slot?
Variance without agency. It fires on spins with no qualifying combination, so it cannot be pursued or anticipated, and it produces results the paytable alone would not explain. Players who like the surprise value it, and players who want every outcome traceable to something visible do not.
How is that different from an ordinary wild?
An ordinary wild is a symbol that lands on the reels and can be seen arriving. A generated wild is placed by the feature after the spin has resolved, so the same visible reel result can pay differently depending on whether the feature fired. The connection between what is shown and what pays is looser.
Why do so many licensed slots use adjacent-ways grids?
Because the busier rhythm suits a game bought for its recognition rather than its mechanics. A player arriving for the property is more likely to stay through frequent small wins than through the long gaps a low-payline design produces. The layout is a retention choice.
Is the game findable anywhere now?
Occasionally in demo collections and in a small number of lobbies that have not been pruned. It should be treated as retired: the licence ended, and availability at any given operator is an oversight rather than an entitlement.
Did the licence affect the mathematics?
No. A licence buys artwork, sound and names, and has no bearing on reel structure or on return. A branded game and an unbranded one built on the same engine behave identically, which is worth remembering when a familiar property is presented as though it changed the game.
Published