In Terraforming, the human race has fled into the depths of space after Earth has become uninhabitable. As a result, they travel from planet to planet in an attempt to find a planet suitable enough to terraform into a new Earth. Along the way they encounter alien races which they must destroy in an attempt to survive and continue the human race.

The gameplay is a basic side-scrolling shooter, shooting down enemy space ships, picking up power-ups and health icons and upgrading main and secondary weapons along with the obligatory huge stage bosses. The most notable feature of the game is the work done by Syd Mead, a special effects artist for such films as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner, Aliens, 2010 and as recent as Mission Impossible III.