Williams’ Terminator 2: Judgment Day arrived in 1991 hot off the heels of the blockbuster film, and designer Steve Ritchie — the man fans call the Master of Flow — turned it into one of the defining machines of the early DMD age. Its calling card is unmistakable: a gun-handle plunger that, instead of just launching the ball, fires an oscillating cannon on the playfield. Lining up that cannon to nail a moving target is a skill unto itself, and players routinely lean over the glass to sight straight down the barrel for the all-important Super Jackpot.
The shooting gallery is the heart of the game. To start multiball you load the ball into the skull and blast a flashing target with the gun; during multiball you lock balls at lit shots and fire again for the jackpot. The single biggest prize comes from locking the ball in the cannon to arm a 50-million Super Jackpot, then waiting for the cannon and its targets to line up at the bottom of their sweep before pulling the trigger — a moment of real nerve under pressure.
Ritchie being Ritchie, the ramps deliver classic flow as well. Comboing the left and right ramps builds toward Payback Time, a 20-second window where strobing targets, outlanes, and ramps all pay five million each — a route competitive players favor because, unlike the multiball, it doesn’t get harder to reach as the game goes on. Fast, loud, and bristling with that unmistakable cannon, T2 remains a high-water mark of movie-licensed pinball and a showcase for why Ritchie’s name still commands such respect among players.