Arcade Review: put yours in here.
- Thread starter Milky
- Start date
Hi Guys,
Just back from a wee trip to the west coast of Scotland with the family, where we stayed at the Craig Tara Holiday Park. Had a spot on time, with the weather helping hugely, but enough of that, onto the arcade.
I could've taken a bucket load of photo's but didn't, too busy playing!!
I couldn't believe just how many machines these guys had crammed in!! Now admittedly, there were no cabinets anywhere that hadn't been built in the last decade, but the selection was awesome. But there is a but.....
But, before, the but, a really quick walkthrough, I'll keep it brief, as I am now realising the lack of photos may be a drawback.....
First room, 2p and 10p pushers of varying types, dozens, most with ticket redemption built in. Second room - modern skill games with ticket redemption, based around phone type games (Doodle Jump, etc). Third room, slot/fruit machines, low cost and some with rally interesting mini games built in - (made a lot of cash on these!). Fourth room - some massive modern shooters, Terminator Salvation, Rambo, Time Crisis 4(I think), and my kids favourite an enclosed Transformers 2player, which Mrs M was born to play!!! She rocked!!!
Fifth room, the racers, loads of sit downs, including Sega Rally Championship, 4player OR2, Mario Kart and lots, lots, lots more!!
But and here's the but!!!! All the racers played horrendously!! and I mean bad!!!!!! The steering was crap, no ffb on anything, there seemed to be huge delays on some games, Sega Rally especially, between input and output, but possibly the most utterly annoying thing for me was that with most of the games having had the lcd conversion, virtually every screen was out of focus and blurred, some to almost ridiculous levels!!
Don't get to that many arcades these days, but this had sooooooo much potential but just lacked the last little bit. Shame really. Didn't bother the kids, mine or any of the others, but annoyed the crap outta me.
Best find was spotting a couple of DinoKings side by side in the corner, never seen anyone touch them all week. Should've put an offer into the manager with a low performer slant!!!
Anyway, wondering if the out of focus thing is common place?
Cheer guys
Neil
Just back from a wee trip to the west coast of Scotland with the family, where we stayed at the Craig Tara Holiday Park. Had a spot on time, with the weather helping hugely, but enough of that, onto the arcade.
I could've taken a bucket load of photo's but didn't, too busy playing!!
I couldn't believe just how many machines these guys had crammed in!! Now admittedly, there were no cabinets anywhere that hadn't been built in the last decade, but the selection was awesome. But there is a but.....
But, before, the but, a really quick walkthrough, I'll keep it brief, as I am now realising the lack of photos may be a drawback.....
First room, 2p and 10p pushers of varying types, dozens, most with ticket redemption built in. Second room - modern skill games with ticket redemption, based around phone type games (Doodle Jump, etc). Third room, slot/fruit machines, low cost and some with rally interesting mini games built in - (made a lot of cash on these!). Fourth room - some massive modern shooters, Terminator Salvation, Rambo, Time Crisis 4(I think), and my kids favourite an enclosed Transformers 2player, which Mrs M was born to play!!! She rocked!!!
Fifth room, the racers, loads of sit downs, including Sega Rally Championship, 4player OR2, Mario Kart and lots, lots, lots more!!
But and here's the but!!!! All the racers played horrendously!! and I mean bad!!!!!! The steering was crap, no ffb on anything, there seemed to be huge delays on some games, Sega Rally especially, between input and output, but possibly the most utterly annoying thing for me was that with most of the games having had the lcd conversion, virtually every screen was out of focus and blurred, some to almost ridiculous levels!!
Don't get to that many arcades these days, but this had sooooooo much potential but just lacked the last little bit. Shame really. Didn't bother the kids, mine or any of the others, but annoyed the crap outta me.
Best find was spotting a couple of DinoKings side by side in the corner, never seen anyone touch them all week. Should've put an offer into the manager with a low performer slant!!!
Anyway, wondering if the out of focus thing is common place?
Cheer guys
Neil
Southport Pier
Nice to see a Defender still on location! The Zac invaders is running PacMan which actually looked quite good on the reflection screen!
If you take a trip to the end of the Pier there is an old 1 penny arcade - all the really old one armed bandits, what the butler saw etc. A couple of old pinballs too.
Did I mention the Star Wars Battlepod...
Nice to see a Defender still on location! The Zac invaders is running PacMan which actually looked quite good on the reflection screen!
If you take a trip to the end of the Pier there is an old 1 penny arcade - all the really old one armed bandits, what the butler saw etc. A couple of old pinballs too.
Did I mention the Star Wars Battlepod...
jhorsfield30
Newbie
- Credits
- 1CR
Arcade club -
Address: Arcade Club Ela Mill, Cork St, Bury BL9 7BW
Hours:
An 80's style video arcade game club based in Bury, Gtr. Manchester with (100+) classic video games and pinballs all on free play. Best retro arcade in europe in my opinion
£10 entry adult, £5 child
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/09/98/4d/d5/arcade-club.jpg
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/09/98/4e/02/arcade-club.jpg
Address: Arcade Club Ela Mill, Cork St, Bury BL9 7BW
Hours:
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | Closed |
| Thursday | Closed |
| Friday | 6pm–12am |
| Saturday | 11am–11pm |
| Sunday | 11am–8pm |
£10 entry adult, £5 child
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/09/98/4d/d5/arcade-club.jpg
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/09/98/4e/02/arcade-club.jpg
Aw this thread has been very quiet, time to liven it up some..
Harbour Amusements, St. Ives, Cornwall (aka 'Patsea Arcadia')
While on a surf and camping trip last week, I popped out of the blistering sun for a few moments to check out the latest state of play down at
a classic venue on the St. Ives harbourfront.
Surely most have been in here at one point or another during their lifetime... there are some bits of footage floating about from the mid to late 80's
with this place packed to the rafters with all the Sega DLX cabs of the day.
Anyway, it's tucked underneath a Pool & Billiards club on the harbourside, and has two entrances.
On the left one you can see fruities and the age old pirates/hillbilly shoot out area (I'm amazed they keep that going given the space it takes up!).
On the right you'd be forgiven for thinking it's all just plastic toys and redemption tat given what's all around the doorway...
But head deeper within, and there are still video games on the loose...
So jostling for space in between the various fairground style ball, hoopla and pusher machines, there are still a decent amount of proper games taking in money.
Walking to the back amongst the crazy-paved walls, Guitar Hero Arcade, & Big Buck Hunter HD...
Afterburner Climax, with the motor working, Need For Speed Carbon twin, & Dancing Stage Euromix 2...
Fast & Furious Supercars twin, and an SR3 Sega Rally twin, all with both sides working! And a poor Blazing Angels flight sim melting away in the corner.
2 player Ghost Squad, the guns all lit up and ready to go, in between pushers and fruities..
Time Crisis II, again in great nick. Sadly overshadowed by the King of Rock though.
ATV Track twin, and Mario Kart twin, all doing well for themselves.
In the distance a curio that I'd not seen before.
PacMan Smash is a mix of an air-hockey table on acid. It starts normal
and then just fills the table
with mini-dot pucks that go flying
everywhere. Probably luck rather than skill though!
Deadstorm Pirates was probably the cab with the best floor space as you walked in.
I still think the cab looks great, and the game ain't bad either.
Fixed 2 player gun game, where you're shooting skeletons and ghostly pirate stuff.
Great for any seaside holiday really!
A linked-up Starwars Battle..erm.. Upright? Also commanded a good floor space near the entrance.
While it was cool to see 2 players whooping their way down the trench run together, the game isn't as impressive viewed on a flat screen,
compared to the very cool Battle Pod domed screen.
Down one side: Walking Dead & Jurassic Park from Raw Thrills, Space Invaders Fever, and Dark Escape 4D from Namco.
Space Invaders Fever is erm.. interesting? Nice big screen but the craze of sticking 2 fixed guns on anything seems a tad overkill.
It plays like waving a garden hose at insects as a result - but plenty of people were putting money in it.
Walking Dead was pretty good, but standard 3D fare really. I liked the crossbow controllers though, that lit up when loaded. I think John Bud would appreciate...
Same can be said for Jurassic Park. Screwed up story.. you are supposed to be saving dinosaurs, but you shoot dinosaurs (with non-lethal weapons) .. go figure.
Looked a lot like Dreamcast / Naomi visuals to me.
Bandai Namco's Dark Escape 4D was a new one on me. A nice looking cab that lures you in with blackout curtains and screams going on inside.
It's very Resident Evil to be honest!
When you get inside, it's yet another fixed guns affair like Deadstorm Pirates, but this time with 3D glasses, Dolby 5:1, a seat that kicks you in the backside
timed with the scares, and the cab even farts at you at set moments
(ok it blows air at you when the dude screams at ya).
Maybe they feed the air unit waste cornish pasties? That's what it smelt like anyway.
OK maybe I was a bit harsh on old Star Wars. Even without the Pod it's still pretty nice..
This kids sub game caught the eye of my other half. That's a lot of cab for an ipad game though.
I also checked out Crazy Tower, which sadly is just a rythmn game, but has a nice holo display.
It drops bricks tetris style, and you have to kinda play Jenga in reverse,
tapping the button at the right moment to weld the falling brick onto your ever increasing tower.
It kinda works.
Aaand finally.. arcades campsite style.
So we're sitting outside the tent one evening and I can hear 'bluuwip, bluuwip, swish, booooom' and people cheering. Then it repeats.
My other half reckons it's someone pumping up an airbed, but nope.. those are the distinct sounds of Space Invaders.
I go off to investigate, and I'm soon invited into a tent to take a look.
One Pandoras Key arcade box with 1000 games running on a flatscreen panel. In between the football a family
were challenging eachother to games of PacMan and Space Invaders!
Not bad for while camping
Flinnster2018-07-14 13:19:27
Harbour Amusements, St. Ives, Cornwall (aka 'Patsea Arcadia')
While on a surf and camping trip last week, I popped out of the blistering sun for a few moments to check out the latest state of play down at
a classic venue on the St. Ives harbourfront.
Surely most have been in here at one point or another during their lifetime... there are some bits of footage floating about from the mid to late 80's
with this place packed to the rafters with all the Sega DLX cabs of the day.
Anyway, it's tucked underneath a Pool & Billiards club on the harbourside, and has two entrances.
On the left one you can see fruities and the age old pirates/hillbilly shoot out area (I'm amazed they keep that going given the space it takes up!).
On the right you'd be forgiven for thinking it's all just plastic toys and redemption tat given what's all around the doorway...
But head deeper within, and there are still video games on the loose...
So jostling for space in between the various fairground style ball, hoopla and pusher machines, there are still a decent amount of proper games taking in money.
Walking to the back amongst the crazy-paved walls, Guitar Hero Arcade, & Big Buck Hunter HD...
Afterburner Climax, with the motor working, Need For Speed Carbon twin, & Dancing Stage Euromix 2...
Fast & Furious Supercars twin, and an SR3 Sega Rally twin, all with both sides working! And a poor Blazing Angels flight sim melting away in the corner.
2 player Ghost Squad, the guns all lit up and ready to go, in between pushers and fruities..
Time Crisis II, again in great nick. Sadly overshadowed by the King of Rock though.
ATV Track twin, and Mario Kart twin, all doing well for themselves.
In the distance a curio that I'd not seen before.
PacMan Smash is a mix of an air-hockey table on acid. It starts normal
and then just fills the table
with mini-dot pucks that go flying
everywhere. Probably luck rather than skill though!
Deadstorm Pirates was probably the cab with the best floor space as you walked in.
I still think the cab looks great, and the game ain't bad either.
Fixed 2 player gun game, where you're shooting skeletons and ghostly pirate stuff.
Great for any seaside holiday really!
A linked-up Starwars Battle..erm.. Upright? Also commanded a good floor space near the entrance.
While it was cool to see 2 players whooping their way down the trench run together, the game isn't as impressive viewed on a flat screen,
compared to the very cool Battle Pod domed screen.
Down one side: Walking Dead & Jurassic Park from Raw Thrills, Space Invaders Fever, and Dark Escape 4D from Namco.
Space Invaders Fever is erm.. interesting? Nice big screen but the craze of sticking 2 fixed guns on anything seems a tad overkill.
It plays like waving a garden hose at insects as a result - but plenty of people were putting money in it.
Walking Dead was pretty good, but standard 3D fare really. I liked the crossbow controllers though, that lit up when loaded. I think John Bud would appreciate...
Same can be said for Jurassic Park. Screwed up story.. you are supposed to be saving dinosaurs, but you shoot dinosaurs (with non-lethal weapons) .. go figure.
Looked a lot like Dreamcast / Naomi visuals to me.
Bandai Namco's Dark Escape 4D was a new one on me. A nice looking cab that lures you in with blackout curtains and screams going on inside.
It's very Resident Evil to be honest!
When you get inside, it's yet another fixed guns affair like Deadstorm Pirates, but this time with 3D glasses, Dolby 5:1, a seat that kicks you in the backside
timed with the scares, and the cab even farts at you at set moments
(ok it blows air at you when the dude screams at ya).
Maybe they feed the air unit waste cornish pasties? That's what it smelt like anyway.
OK maybe I was a bit harsh on old Star Wars. Even without the Pod it's still pretty nice..
This kids sub game caught the eye of my other half. That's a lot of cab for an ipad game though.
I also checked out Crazy Tower, which sadly is just a rythmn game, but has a nice holo display.
It drops bricks tetris style, and you have to kinda play Jenga in reverse,
tapping the button at the right moment to weld the falling brick onto your ever increasing tower.
It kinda works.
Aaand finally.. arcades campsite style.
So we're sitting outside the tent one evening and I can hear 'bluuwip, bluuwip, swish, booooom' and people cheering. Then it repeats.
My other half reckons it's someone pumping up an airbed, but nope.. those are the distinct sounds of Space Invaders.
I go off to investigate, and I'm soon invited into a tent to take a look.
One Pandoras Key arcade box with 1000 games running on a flatscreen panel. In between the football a family
were challenging eachother to games of PacMan and Space Invaders!
Not bad for while camping
Flinnster2018-07-14 13:19:27
Fantastic Flinster. I was there yesterday. Space Invaders Frenzy, The Walking Dead and Jurassic Park are awesome, but king of the hill is surely Hillbilly Moonshine (see what I did there). Where you been staying? We're in Polzeath, but heading homeward tomorrow via Bridgewater and the Time warp Arcade...
Glad you could get to the St. Ives arcade, I think that's gotta be one of the best in the country for variety, good vids old and new and all reasonably priced as well. I'm always sure to drop in whenever I can with it being so local to me.
Tedward said:There was a really good thread on J+ about that place
Yes, I remember the chap that worked there, gave lots of inside updates on how things were, what was going on. I went there about 5 or 6 years ago, good to see the Afterburner Climax is still there. Space Invaders Frenzy looks interesting.
(Un)fortunately, the one at Harbour Amusements doesn't do tickets. Basically it's a two person sit down shooter based on Space Invaders. But the twist is that it's got an 8 feet high, lo-res led display, which is amazing. And the gameplay is frenzied. Loads of fun.
The Walking Dead shooter is also great fun. It's another sit down 2p shooter, but the guns are based on Darryl's crossbow. The graphics aren't ultra realistic (so suitable for kids) but the game dynamics work well. I really enjoyed it.
The Walking Dead shooter is also great fun. It's another sit down 2p shooter, but the guns are based on Darryl's crossbow. The graphics aren't ultra realistic (so suitable for kids) but the game dynamics work well. I really enjoyed it.
Tedward said:
Popped into Timewarp Arcade for a few hours yesterday. It was a great place, with a surprising variety of games. I'll post some pics when I'm back home next week.
Flinnster said:Camped at Gwithian this time, for surfing off Godrevy point
Say hi to the Timewarp guys. I missed out dropping in this time and said I would when passing!
Popped into Timewarp Arcade for a few hours yesterday. It was a great place, with a surprising variety of games. I'll post some pics when I'm back home next week.
Flinnster said:Camped at Gwithian this time, for surfing off Godrevy point
Say hi to the Timewarp guys. I missed out dropping in this time and said I would when passing!
Went to Cleethorpes earlier today, spotted these:
Ms Pac Man & Galaga 20 Year Reunion- it's a reproduction machine but is getting old itself, year on it was 2001
Scud Race- this game puts all modern arcade racers to shame, really hard to master and I still haven't got a proper handle on the drifting!
OutRun 2 SP- amazing modern classic, LCD conversion though
Time Crisis 2- classic lightgun game, still played very well. Said 50p for a credit, put £1 in and it gave me 3!
Manx TT- left CRT was looking a little poorly! Also note those michelin man stickers, swear every Manx TT I come across has different types of decals on it every time... wonder how many are official
Cool Riders- very weird one this. It's a motorbike game in the style of OutRunners, but it has pre-rendered sprites like Mortal Kombat and you also don't have a big plastic bike to sit on like every other motorbike game- you sit in a seat like Daytona. Wasn't in the best condition, but appears to be very rare and was also 30p a go so had to have a few plays. Anyone own it?
Was also quite a few other modern vids including that Space Invaders thing discussed above but didn't get pictures of these.
Tedward2018-07-26 00:15:50
Ms Pac Man & Galaga 20 Year Reunion- it's a reproduction machine but is getting old itself, year on it was 2001
Scud Race- this game puts all modern arcade racers to shame, really hard to master and I still haven't got a proper handle on the drifting!
OutRun 2 SP- amazing modern classic, LCD conversion though
Time Crisis 2- classic lightgun game, still played very well. Said 50p for a credit, put £1 in and it gave me 3!
Manx TT- left CRT was looking a little poorly! Also note those michelin man stickers, swear every Manx TT I come across has different types of decals on it every time... wonder how many are official
Cool Riders- very weird one this. It's a motorbike game in the style of OutRunners, but it has pre-rendered sprites like Mortal Kombat and you also don't have a big plastic bike to sit on like every other motorbike game- you sit in a seat like Daytona. Wasn't in the best condition, but appears to be very rare and was also 30p a go so had to have a few plays. Anyone own it?
Was also quite a few other modern vids including that Space Invaders thing discussed above but didn't get pictures of these.
Tedward2018-07-26 00:15:50
mysticmonk
Active member
For those that inexplicably find themselves in Dublin, theres a "retro arcade" called Token, close enough to the city centre (Smithfield)
I've been in a few times, they change a couple games every now and then. Sorry I don't have pictures, but off the top of my head, last time I was there, they had;
point blank
Turtles 4 player,
Simpsons 4 player,
Final Fight
R-type 2
X-men 4 player
Sunset Riders
Spiderman 4 player
Streetfighter 2 world warrior
Mortal Kombat 2
One of the wrestlemania games
Crazy taxi
Mario Kart 2 player (this is easily their newest machine)
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Pacman
Space Invaders (maybe?)
And a few more that I cant remember probably. All games were 50c a go
Downstairs they have about 7 or 8 pinball machines. They had simpsons and star trek, the one with the creepy head on the playfield, cant remember the others.
All machines seem to be kept working well.
Heres the thing, it is also a kind of restaurant, decent selection of food, and a few drinks too (alcohol). Food is pretty nice, pricey (but everything is pricey in Dublin now!)
After 5pm children must be accompanied (unless that's changed)
Pro's: Its good value for the games, they are all working well, nice and clean. Great choice of games (though they could certainly do with a few more, where the hell is house of the dead?). Food is nice, decent selection (think w**kered-up versions of chips like tex-mex etc). And you can have a drink. No clouds of smoke, no dodgy geezers looking for fights.
Cons: No dodgy geezers looking for fights, no clouds of smoke. I get the impression that some of the people in there are just there for the food, no interest in the games, semi-hipster vibe. Can be a pain to get a go on a machine when its crowded.
Super-F**cking-Stupid Con: They have the music on 95% of the games turned off. At first I thought it was just the volume being turned down on the cabinets, but when you put your ear right on the speakers there is zilch. That's every time I have been, different times of the day, unless I've been really unlucky. So you'll have to listen to blaring radio instead of the actual games.
I would give it a solid 7.5 out of 10, but the music thing means its getting minus 5000 out of 10.
I've been in a few times, they change a couple games every now and then. Sorry I don't have pictures, but off the top of my head, last time I was there, they had;
point blank
Turtles 4 player,
Simpsons 4 player,
Final Fight
R-type 2
X-men 4 player
Sunset Riders
Spiderman 4 player
Streetfighter 2 world warrior
Mortal Kombat 2
One of the wrestlemania games
Crazy taxi
Mario Kart 2 player (this is easily their newest machine)
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Pacman
Space Invaders (maybe?)
And a few more that I cant remember probably. All games were 50c a go
Downstairs they have about 7 or 8 pinball machines. They had simpsons and star trek, the one with the creepy head on the playfield, cant remember the others.
All machines seem to be kept working well.
Heres the thing, it is also a kind of restaurant, decent selection of food, and a few drinks too (alcohol). Food is pretty nice, pricey (but everything is pricey in Dublin now!)
After 5pm children must be accompanied (unless that's changed)
Pro's: Its good value for the games, they are all working well, nice and clean. Great choice of games (though they could certainly do with a few more, where the hell is house of the dead?). Food is nice, decent selection (think w**kered-up versions of chips like tex-mex etc). And you can have a drink. No clouds of smoke, no dodgy geezers looking for fights.
Cons: No dodgy geezers looking for fights, no clouds of smoke. I get the impression that some of the people in there are just there for the food, no interest in the games, semi-hipster vibe. Can be a pain to get a go on a machine when its crowded.
Super-F**cking-Stupid Con: They have the music on 95% of the games turned off. At first I thought it was just the volume being turned down on the cabinets, but when you put your ear right on the speakers there is zilch. That's every time I have been, different times of the day, unless I've been really unlucky. So you'll have to listen to blaring radio instead of the actual games.
I would give it a solid 7.5 out of 10, but the music thing means its getting minus 5000 out of 10.
I recently checked out the arcades in Sounthend-on-Sea and posted a report on my blog:
http://planetharriers.blogspot.com/2018/09/southend-on-sea-2018-update.html
The Happidrome still has a nice selection of classics, although I was chatting to the owner, Martin and he mentioned that the retro games will probably be sold at the end of the year.
He said there has already been lots of interest. I get the impression he will be wanting high end prices for them. If you fancy some credits on the awesome Metal Hawk, it's probably best to head down there soon! It will be sad to see them go and will really be an end of an era.
jase382018-09-24 17:31:43
http://planetharriers.blogspot.com/2018/09/southend-on-sea-2018-update.html
The Happidrome still has a nice selection of classics, although I was chatting to the owner, Martin and he mentioned that the retro games will probably be sold at the end of the year.
He said there has already been lots of interest. I get the impression he will be wanting high end prices for them. If you fancy some credits on the awesome Metal Hawk, it's probably best to head down there soon! It will be sad to see them go and will really be an end of an era.
jase382018-09-24 17:31:43