[4][6] HUD messages appear on-screen to inform the player of mission objectives, mimicking the T-800's point of view in the films.

SNES Force considered it a "massive disappointment",[4] while Jonathan Davies of Sega Zone called it a "film licence game of the very worst, most despicable sort".

[11] Mean Machines Sega called the game an "outright disaster for Acclaim who ought to bin this title before anyone notices it exists".

[11] GamePro considered the sprites easily identifiable despite their small size, and wrote, "All the character movements are well detailed and deftly animated.

panned the T800 sprite as unlike its source material and too "big" and "clunky", noting a glitch where it became invisible once a bullet passed.

[11] GamePro considered the driving segments a "major drawback", writing, "The confusing controls seriously detract from an otherwise excellent cartridge".

[11] In a positive review, Steve Atherton of Mega Action called the game "well thought out and good fun", concluding it to be "All in all a great conversion" of the film.

[6] In a later review for AllGame, Brett Alan Weiss called the Genesis version "a truly wretched gaming experience" with "almost no redeeming value".

He considered the SNES version "superior in every way", writing, "While still a lousy game, it has better graphics, music, and sound effects".