A Trip to the Video Arcade

The video arcade for the most part is a relic of the past. I think some aspects of it live on in bowling alleys, movie theaters, and pizza parlors. But for the most part, kids today will never know what it was like to stuff quarter after quarter in order to get the high score on Pac-Man.
There was a time when every suburban mall had an arcade, just check any teen movie from the 1980s, and guaranteed there will be a scene in the arcade. Games like Centipede, Afterburner, and Spy Hunter live on in our memories.

Here are some of my favorites.

1978 Playboy Pinball
While a little before my time, this is a classic piece of kitsch. There is a pizza place about an hour away from me that actually has one. It doesn't work, but the thing is still a work of art. From the cheesy art, to the lame LED score display, straight up classic. This machine makes me wanna buy a van with an airbrushed wizard on the side, a waterbed in the back, and one of those bubble windows. Then I'd smoke some Acapulco Gold, get a sixer of Miller High Life, and go after that high score. Grotto here I come!

1982 Baby Pac-Man

Pac-Man and Pinball? Right combined in one, this machine seems rare compared to the versions of Pac-Man. It seems like even today, you can find Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man machines everywhere. But this one I have only seen one time in my life. When I was in elementary school, my mom would take me to Wonderland, the nickel arcade, and they had this. I wonder why it was never as popular.

1983 Star Wars

I think this is the all time classic right here. Back in the day, this was as close as it got, to jumping in your X-Wing and taking on Darth Vader. Dope vector graphics, speech from the movie("Red 5, I'm going in"), everything. This was the first game I played that really had that total immersion experience. This game still holds up, even today I could play this game for hours. Check the deluxe sit down version.


1987 Double Dragon

I can remember seriously being fascinated with game. At the time, it seemed like it was interesting that you could do all these other moves beside kicking and punching. Between that, and the weapons angle, there seemed to be no limit. I always liked the "knee the guy in the face" routine.

1985 RoadBlasters

This and the Star Wars game are my absolute all time great ones. Simple to play, yet hard to master, RoadBlasters had it all, you got to shoot, and race. I always liked trying to catch the weapons upgrades. Running out of fuel sucked though.