What arcades did you frequent back in the day

Wanted to create a nostalgic thread about the arcades we remember from our younger years. It doesn't necessarily have to be an arcade you went to all the time but as long as it left a lasting impression. Stories are also welcome. I have a few:

Aladdin's Castle - Not sure if these are still around. This was probably my most memorable arcade. Many birthday parties held and tokens spent. Tekken 2 and KOF 96' left lasting impressions. One of the biggest highs I got as a kid was getting 3 of my friends togther and beating Aliens vs Predator.

Diamond Gems (I think this was the name) - Not necessarily my favorite arcade but I had one very cool memory. I was playing Golden Axe with a guy in his 20's, his gf was hovering behind us impatiently. I ran out of tokens near the end but the older guy was so freakin' awesome he kept me in with his own tokens. He kept supplying me until we beat it. After we viewed that strange Golden Axe ending his gf came up and was like "Can we go now?" so he reached in his pocket grab a handfull of tokens and was like "Here ya go kid, have fun." I was like "This is the coolest guy in the world!!!" It made me think I need to pay it forward and do something like this for a kid some day and be that cool adult. Also at this arcade there was a guy that worked there who looked exactlly like Val Kilmer, but at the time I didn't know who Val Kilmer was so I just said "The guy from Willow."

Pocket Change - This one is still there, but it's sad since it's filled with crappy gimmick and ticket games now. This was my hangout arcade while in High School and were I started to become better and more competitive in fighters. I remember seeing X-Men vs SF for the first time here thinking it was the best idea in the world. Also won a Tekken Tag Tourney here. Made a lot of friends here too, good times.

Oddly enough, I played most of my arcade games at the grocery store and Dairy Queen. SFI&II, Altered Beast, Neo-Geo cabinets, Toobin', Turtles in Time, etc. There was of course Chuck e Cheese and for a while Discovery Zone, but that was usually birthday or rare occasion. It was perfect, since who wants to follow mommy around while they pick up food? Four quarters and I was set for half an hour or so.

I only found Aladdin's Castle closer to when they were dying off and mostly just hit up the local arcade or Gameworks throughout HS and college. Our college actually had an arcade in the basement and it was THE spot to hang out during those years. Met a ton of fighter enthusiasts during the Tekken 4/MVC2 era. Couldn't have asked for a better college experience among other things.

Pocket change and aladdin's castle in one post? You wouldn't happen to have come from around the Philly burbs would ya?

That being said, I used to live at both of em... The only other one I would frequent was Jilly's Arcade on the Ocean City NJ's boardwalk. They used to have the most badass selection of games there (hell they even had a few that I have never seen since) and their prices were the best on the boardwalk. Last time I was down there the arcade itself was still there, but the selection of games has gone from amazing to ungodly bad...

I miss arcades. No matter how far games go, there is nothing that compares to being at an arcade.

There was an arcade called Boardwalk in San Diego (El Cajon area I think) that I spent many late elementary school/early middle school days in. When I moved back to San Diego in late 1999 I was pleasantly surprised to find that it still existed and I resumed going there all the time. I spent many hours playing and perfecting my Ghouls N' Ghosts skills on the remarkably mint GnG machine they had. They also had an X-men/SF machine that was pretty outdated by 99/00 but I was beast at it thanks to the Saturn port. Kids would see me rolling with Juggernaut and think Wolverine would take him out without a problem. Ten seconds and a ball of mangled adamantium later, they weren't so confident.

Another San Diego place was the Family Fun Center. I went there when I was younger. I think it got demolished for a freeway overpass. I remember they used to give free tokens for good report card grades. I remember spending a great deal of time playing the Aliens game there around 3rd and 4th grade.

In the mid/late 90s when I lived in Northern VA, I spent alot of time at the local bowling alley playing the constant parade of new games they would get in. MSH vs. SF was a favorite along with SF Rush 2049. I also beat Gauntlet Legends there over the course of many days.

Finally there was a laser tag place in Sterling, VA that used to have many great/new games that you thankfully didn't have to play laser tag to get access to. They had a great 4 slot Neo Geo machine with Samurai Shodown 3 and Metal Slug 2.

Nowadays I live in Pensacola and I can't find an arcade to save my ing life. I went to a go-kart/mini golf place here and discovered that their MvC1 machine is busted as . The bright spot of my visit was a very good condition WWF Wrestlemania The Arcade Game machine but not surprisingly, there was no one to play with.

[quote name='Sycowulf']Pocket change and aladdin's castle in one post? You wouldn't happen to have come from around the Philly burbs would ya?[/QUOTE]

No, I grew up in Vero Beach, Fl. There was a tiny mall growing up that had an Aladdin's Castle, but went under once a bigger better mall opened up with Pocket Change inside.

Probably the best arcade I went to growing up was at Orlando Disneyworld in the Contemporary hotel. I say screw the park, I want to stay here all day. This was the first time I saw that hologram adventure game Time Travler. That thing blew my mind. Sadly the last time I went to Disney the arcade was gone

Yeah, had my share of Bowling ally arcades too, playing Black Knight 2000. Still my favorite pinball machine.

I used to hit up Aladdin's Castle way back. I sucked at games until I got older and they got a Marvel Super Heroes machine. By then I had gotten good. Then they closed.

At the other end of the mall there was an arcade named Pocket Change. Here I started kicking ass on all the Capcom Vs games. They had em all up to MVC1. Then it went to shit.

By this time I started going to the dirt mall where there was a Namco owned Time Out arcade. This place was great. A good balance between redemption games and regular games. It was here I started my reign on Soul Calibur and continued my merciless killings on SC2. If you played me, I probably beat you. And if I lost, I beat you the next time around. I loved how you could play the mode where where your play style was learned by the machine and you could challenge other people's style. I played Ivy and did the Summon Suffering a lot. I used to hear people bitching about me. Ahhh. The good ol days.

Now there's nothing around here except laundromats. And I have my own washing machine. I bet I'm terrible at fighting games these day.

The 2 arcades I used to go to a lot were a Time Out at a mall and another local mall arcade called Challenges. They were in the mall from when it opened in 1982 until 2002 when the mall refused to renew their lease supposedly because it didn't fit their new image of an upscale mall (which didn't work out well and there are plenty of vacant stores). I'm still angry at the mall for it since I went there a few times a month.

Now there are basically no arcades near me except a family fun center that doesn't have newer games and doesn't have that many non ticket games. I have to resort going to the amusement parks in my area to find play the newer arcade games (I have season passes to 2 parks since I am a coaster enthusiast so I am at the parks anyway). Sadly, even the amusement park arcades aren't what they once were. They are being taken over by skill cranes with prizes that are impossible to win like iPads, iPod Touch, PS3, 360 etc. I have never seen anyone win a prize from one of those skill cranes (not the regular stuffed animal skill cranes).


[quote name='Rodimus']
Probably the best arcade I went to growing up was at Orlando Disneyworld in the Contemporary hotel. I say screw the park, I want to stay here all day. This was the first time I saw that hologram adventure game Time Travler. That thing blew my mind. Sadly the last time I went to Disney the arcade was gone
[/QUOTE]

Yeah that arcade was amazing, I hate how they turned that area into a restaurant and the new arcade is good but not nearly as good as the old one. The value resorts at Disney seem to have great arcades too. I stayed at Pop Century last year and All Star Movies this year and both had a very good selection of games. I was disappointed with the arcades at Caribbean Beach, Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Polynesian (I was at those hotels for meals and went into check out the arcades). Both were smaller than the other arcades and there was no prize area so the ticket games didn't give out tickets.

[quote name='Sycowulf']Pocket change and aladdin's castle in one post? You wouldn't happen to have come from around the Philly burbs would ya?

That being said, I used to live at both of em... The only other one I would frequent was Jilly's Arcade on the Ocean City NJ's boardwalk. They used to have the most badass selection of games there (hell they even had a few that I have never seen since) and their prices were the best on the boardwalk. Last time I was down there the arcade itself was still there, but the selection of games has gone from amazing to ungodly bad...

I miss arcades. No matter how far games go, there is nothing that compares to being at an arcade.[/QUOTE]

I used to go to Jilly's in the early 2000's when I was in Ocean City. For DDR is was great since there was always a huge crowd watching. I haven't been there in a while though since I usually just go to Playland and play a few arcade games there and then go to the roller coasters.

Time Out was a chain around here in a few of the malls. They slowly died off.
Near the end of their life, they did get a bunch of candy cabinets, filled with shooters. All at .25 a play. Loved it (while they were there). If I would've been older back then, I would've snagged a bunch of the candy cabs when they closed. (I've been looking for candy cabs recently.)

I've had to recreate the arcade experience at home. I've got a Neo-Geo cabinet, and probably 30 MVS carts for it. As I said, I'm still trying to hunt down a clean candy cab in my area. And, someday I'll end up with a DDR machine...prolly 8th Mix.

One other hot spot that I forgot to mention was Putt-Putt Golf. I usually dumped all my quarters into The Simpsons there. I'm still pissed to this day that there was never a console port. I would have got it in a heartbeat.

[quote name='YoshiFan1']
Yeah that arcade was amazing, I hate how they turned that area into a restaurant and the new arcade is good but not nearly as good as the old one. The value resorts at Disney seem to have great arcades too. I stayed at Pop Century last year and All Star Movies this year and both had a very good selection of games. I was disappointed with the arcades at Caribbean Beach, Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Polynesian (I was at those hotels for meals and went into check out the arcades). Both were smaller than the other arcades and there was no prize area so the ticket games didn't give out tickets.[/QUOTE]

We stayed at the Polynesian several times when I was kid and even then the aracde was just okay. I remember playing X-Men there. When I went a few years ago with my wife we took the monorail around through all the resorts and it was sad. Didn't know the Contemporary turned into a resturant. Last time I was there it said under construction.

I also used to go to a place called Mr. Arcade back in middle school. You'd pay $10 and got to stay all day and everything was on "free play." It was pretty cool, but It really didn't have anything new, their feature game was Ultimate MK3. But they had some fun old school stuff like Joe & Mac, Super Sprint, Street Fighter 2 Rainbow Edition. They also had a Demolition Derby 4 cocktail table. Unfortunatly they never really got anything new, so after several visits me and my friends played and beat everything we wanted. Last I heard they went under after the owner or manager got caught molesting a kid.

aladdin's castle - del amo mall
-it was here where i first decided to get serious... i think, twice, i woke up and got there when it opened so i could play mvc2 without having to play anyone else. it's also where i discovered ddr. later, mvc2 comp became crappy, ddr was placed on the hardest difficulty on an older version, and it was no longer worth going to.

gable house
-a bowling alley with arcades. they had the latest ddr version (ddr USA) so i'd go play. but i really hated playing at a bowling alley. it was distracting. ddr USA would soon become outdated and so i stopped going.

mulligan's
-a minigolf place with an arcade. mvc2 was 25cents so it was here i honed my skills. eventually they got ddr 3rd mix, which was superior to ddr usa and i'd play here occasionally. the security guard like watching us play mvc2 and he'd give us free tokens to play. eventually they raised the price for mvc3 to 50 cents and their version of ddr became outdated.

THE arcade infinity
-so many memories. it started with ddr 4th mix plus and para para paradise continued all the way until SSF4. i used to go here every saturday, playing rhythm games (IIDX, Pop'n, Drummania) to driving games (Initial D) to fighting games (3S, KoF, SSF4). a lot of the friends i know now, i first met them at this very arcade.

southern hills golfland
-used to be the best fighting game arcade. but at the time i was awful, so i was content to just play ddr/beatmania. eventually they were bought out.

mission valley tilt
-i went here to play tekken 5. i didn't have a car when i went to university, so i would take the bus to play a couple games.

carmel valley nickel city
-i went here to play some 3s. eventually we decided that the setup was ass, and we just started playing at our friend's house instead.

plaza bonita tilt
-i went here to keep playing tekken 5, when it became tekken 5 dr. people stopped showing up at MV so i just played here. i remember i lost to some random guy 12 in a row, and i was pissed because i would always be up 2-0 and lose 3-2. =)

my work is near round 1 arcade, a combination arcade/bar/bowling alley/karaoke box place but... i dunno, i don't like it. it's too... fancy? i might have no choice but to go if i ever want to continue playing arcade games...

I guess I'm double dipping on 3rd Strike. Add me on PSN for some free wins: MusicNoteLess

[quote name='Rodimus']No, I grew up in Vero Beach, Fl. There was a tiny mall growing up that had an Aladdin's Castle, but went under once a bigger better mall opened up with Pocket Change inside.

Probably the best arcade I went to growing up was at Orlando Disneyworld in the Contemporary hotel. I say screw the park, I want to stay here all day. This was the first time I saw that hologram adventure game Time Travler. That thing blew my mind. Sadly the last time I went to Disney the arcade was gone

Yeah, had my share of Bowling ally arcades too, playing Black Knight 2000. Still my favorite pinball machine.[/QUOTE]
I remember that Time Traveler hologram game from the late 80's or early 90's from what was then Ocean One(a shopping mall built on a pier in Atlantic City, which is now the ridiculously overpriced Shoppes At Ocean One or some such bs).

I also remember playing in Aladdin's Castle. That was where I first played 720*(AKA Skate Or Die). I also remember playing at a Tilt arcade(still have one of their tokens around here someplace).

Then there was also a really dark arcade in the one formerly enclosed shopping mall here back in the 80's. I remember playing a game(but have forgotten the name again) where you were I think a criminal trying to escape from the cops in a gold mine. Pickax Pete, maybe?

Either way, I distinctly remember running into one of those creepy older guys there that wanted to 'show me a puppy' he had in his car.# Sick .

Most memorable 'arcade' though had to be in the hotel we stayed at when we went to Busch Gardens in VA the one year. They had a Karate Champ machine wedged into this teeny tiny room on the first floor of the hotel.

I seriously trounced like 3-4 people by doing all sorts of spinning roundhouse kicks and what not while they were trying to figure out the controls.

I probably spent more time in that room and the hotel's pool than we did sightseeing.

[quote name='kainzero']

mission valley tilt
-i went here to play tekken 5. i didn't have a car when i went to university, so i would take the bus to play a couple games.[/QUOTE]

I went there a couple times in 00-02 before I joined the Marines and left San Diego. Seemed to have a pretty hot fighting game scene but at the time I was still all about my old school games at the Boardwalk arcade/bowling alley.

Silverball in Berkeley - that's where I played everything from Space Invaders to Missile Command to Donkey Kong to Zaxxon to Star Wars... I used to head down there with $5 on a Saturday morning and think I was loaded. That used to get me pretty far back then when most (if not all) games were just a quarter. I remember such contemporary top 40 hits as Another One Bites the Dust and My Sharona playing on the jukebox .

Before that I remember going to the 7-11 store on College ave (right near where I lived) and playing Asteroids and Battlezone. And then the laundromat in the same shopping center got Pac-Man.

I stopped going to arcades when all the games became fighting games and sidescrolling brawlers (can't really stand either genre).

as one of the 40Something generation, our first real shopping mall around here had a arcade called 'Funway Freeway' it had a great mix of video games and pinball, even air hockey a first, but as things change the air hockey table left to ake room for sit in machine like Tail Gunner, and SW Tie Fighter (awesome game) and of course the Game Tron

then we got a arcade down town called 'Space Port' it was the first themed arcades I ever saw it was a hangout for guys out of school, or those skipping and often police officers on patrol in our down town would checkout who was there during school hours (it also was a rumored spot to get weed, It may have been a myth cause I never verified it)

later 'funway freeway' at the mall was taken over by Aladdin's Castle
The one thing I remember the most was the gliched change/token machine, you could put a $5 and it would read it as a $10 for the longest time, not many people seem to put a five in to realize it, they would change there $5 with the attendant to get singles.. but

Even though they're worthless now, I still have tokens from my one visit to an Aladdin's Castle when I was in the midwest back in the arcade hey days. I really liked the place, and I think they sold me a simple printed move list for MK3 when it was still new and not everyone knew all the ins and outs of it yet. It only cost maybe 20 cents or something. It was a ridiculously good deal.

Pizza Hut. Which I got to go to like once a month. I was deprived as a child...

Bigfoot's Arcade in Ft. Lauderdale, FL was always a good one, but my favorite was Grand Prix Race-o-Rama in Dania, FL(Now a Boomers, which has shit for arcade selection). That place used to have over 1000 arcade games (It was the biggest arcade in the world), the selection was insane. I wish places like that were still around.

Just for fun! They gave you a few tokens every report card if you got straight A's. I still thank them for my academic success...but hate them for Dragon's Lair and Knights of the Realm (was it called Knights of the Realm? Where you could play Arthur, Lancelot, etc in a sidescroller golden axe beatemup?).

I loved that Arcade, my brother and I went there every Saturday.

Cheers,
Tony

Spaceport in center city Philadelphia.

Lazer park in NYC-Along with the laser tag it had a really good arcade to it.

Chinatown Fair in NYC-Had about every great fighting game you could think of,along with a bunch of classic arcade games.

[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']Just for fun! They gave you a few tokens every report card if you got straight A's. I still thank them for my academic success...but hate them for Dragon's Lair and Knights of the Realm (was it called Knights of the Realm? Where you could play Arthur, Lancelot, etc in a sidescroller golden axe beatemup?).

I loved that Arcade, my brother and I went there every Saturday.

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]

I remember the tokens for report card deal. Although the staff at my local arcade was flakey. Sometimes they would only give one token per space on the card they gave for how good the grades on the report card were, and other times they would give four. It never made any sense to me.

I think you're referring to Knights of the Round That was a really fun game! I remember joining a couple of other guys playing it right at the end of the game and beating it with them. It felt like I had cheated.

Definitely remember dumping many quarters at Space Port at a mall outside of Philly.

anyone i could find. growing up there was maybe 1 dedicated arcade where i lived and it was a long ways away to get there and apparently it may or may not have been used as a front for drugs so getting there was a rare event. aside from that youd have machines at diff local stores where and there ( double dragon at a 7-11, a 4 player asian themed horse back fighting games at walmart, and that conan game at a bbq place in the hood, and shinobi at ingles).

id go anywhere i could once i was old enough to play games but once the dreamcast made an appearance i was pretty much done with arcades since the game quality in home consoles was finally matching and sometimes exceeding that of arcades.

not sure how legal it is but id still love to make a mame cabinet out of one of those cocktail machines just so i could play any number or games at home. last time i dabble in it i heard they finally figured out how to let people play fighting vipers 1 and 2 on mame. i used to love that game.

We had a place called the red baron near me when I was a kid. It was a pizza place but at night they had a big bar in the back with a lot of arcade games. I used to sneak out my window when I was 12 and take quarters from my dad's jar of quarters he had from the washer/dryers he had in a apartment building he owned and ride my bike up there at about 11:30 at night. I can still smell the stale cigarette smoke and burned popcorn stink of the place, hearing people drinking and laughing and how you could hear the arcade machine noises in the back whispering to me when I walked in. I got kicked out first couple times but after awhile the bartender started letting me in and giving me free cokes and kept a stool behind the bar for me to use for the games. Even some of the local barflys would come over and give me a couple bucks in quarters and always ask me how Id been. It was like cheers when I walked in this little kid in a big boys bar they would all yell hi to me. They had about 18 machines in the back by the pool tables.

My mom was a EMT but she also on saturdays would clean and count quarters out of machines in this arcade this big hotel had. They had like 20 machines there and some pinball machines I would always go with her at like 8am long before it opened. She would go and set like 10 plays on each machine as she took out the quarters and Id play for hours and hours while she took them in the back, counted and talked with a couple friends of hers there. It was awesome, like 10 years and have a entire arcade closed and all to myself with all the free games I could play.

Now I visit this place often. http://www.manta.com/c/mt11f4n/arcade-legends
You pay 10 bucks and get a wrist band, they dont use tokens or coins or anything. You pay the 10 bucks and can play all the games you want the entire day. So I go over at 6pm and play for a bit, go eat something, go back and play some more till they close around midnight.

[quote name='gargus']Now I visit this place often. http://www.manta.com/c/mt11f4n/arcade-legends
You pay 10 bucks and get a wrist band, they dont use tokens or coins or anything. You pay the 10 bucks and can play all the games you want the entire day. So I go over at 6pm and play for a bit, go eat something, go back and play some more till they close around midnight.[/QUOTE]

That place sounds awesome! I wish it was closer to Columbus!

My arcade stomping ground as a kid in Scottsdale was Video Round-Up (Though everyone just called it VR). I'd go down there almost every Sunday morning with my grandpa, and we'd spend a hour or so playing all kinds of games.

The coolest thing about VR was that every year, on the first Sunday after school was out for the summer, they'd hold a Free Play Day. For one entire glorious day, every game in the place was absolutely free. My friends and I would all sleep over at someone's house the night before, and then head down to spend the entire day there.

One of my favorite gaming memories comes from a Free Play Day at VR, where about a dozen of us, most of us complete strangers, crowded around The Simpsons arcade game, and played through the whole game, with the unspoken agreement that you played your lives, and then stepped back for the next person to get a turn. No one argued, no one fought... We just enjoyed a damn good beat-em-up like a bunch of longtime friends.

Eventually, VR expanded to become more of a pool hall, which kinda gave the place a bit of a sketchy vibe, and around 2004, they went bankrupt and shut down. Last time I went by there, the sign at the plaza entrance still said Video Round-Up... So sad...

[quote name='Sycowulf']Pocket change and aladdin's castle in one post? You wouldn't happen to have come from around the Philly burbs would ya?
[/QUOTE]

What 'burbs? I grew up in the Levittown / Bristol area and we had neither.

[quote name='kainzero']my work is near round 1 arcade, a combination arcade/bar/bowling alley/karaoke box place but... i dunno, i don't like it. it's too... fancy? i might have no choice but to go if i ever want to continue playing arcade games...[/QUOTE]

Jekki took me there!

[quote name='mortalgroove']Definitely remember dumping many quarters at Space Port at a mall outside of Philly.[/QUOTE]

What mall?

I used to play at a couple of different ones..

Space Port Oxford Valley Mall: my "main" arcade... was really sad when this place closed around '98. First place I ever played SF2. I remember a teenager, when I was about 8, showing me how to do QCF motion. *FUN FACT: I actually learned the QCF motion with Sagat in Champion Edition, because I only picked Blanka in vanilla SF2* Also remember my brother coming home and telling me about X-Men vs. Street Fighter and me not believing him at first. When I finally played it, it was incredible - still my favorite game of all time. Had Smash TV, Aliens and Alien vs. Predator, 3 of my favorite games growing up. They also had one of those D&D beat-em ups that Capcom made... love those games. First place I played so many games, including all the MKs, XvSF, Tekken 1 & 2, World Heroes, Dragon's Lair and soooo many more. First place I would go to if I had a time-machine.

Sportland Langhorne PA: Closed down when I was still young. Had a dedicated Captain Commando with that weird split button. . Almost got beat up here by a teenager when I was 7 or 8 for kicking his ass in SF2 in front of his friends. My mom had to intervene lol.

Kahunaville Oxford Valley Mall: Opened up a few years after Space Port closed down. This is where I fell in love with the Tekken series (they had Tag when it was new). I played here ALL the time because I was starting to get old enough to go places on my own (15 and 2 older brothers with cars) so I spent literally countless hours playing TTT. Eventually got free token hook-up in exchange for some brief Tekken lessons with one of the guys that worked there. Also played Tekken 4 here quite a bit. Racked up a bunch of 30+ win streaks in Tekken on friday nights, including a handful over 50 and one that was 73. They also had that weird WAR arcade game on 4 linked cabinets, which was hella fun.
Time Out Neshaminy Mall: Actually still there, and not horrible. Played Soul Calibur 2 here and then later Tekken 5. Also got free tokens here after befriending 2 of the guys that worked there that also played Soul Cal 2. Lots of nights spent with 1-2 friends and 1 or both of the employees playing. I have a few Tekken cards (from 5) with super gaudy records from beasting kids here. I think my Raven is about 250 - ~25, and my Law is 100+ - 5.

University Pinball Philadelphia: Started going here when I got older and more competitive. Played in some tournaments here and there and played Tekken 5 East Coast Regionals here. First place I ever played SvC Chaos, Soul Cal. 3 Arcade Edition, Street Fighter 4, KoF XI and more. Great great arcade.

Time Out Franklin Mills: Only played here a few times before they shut down. First place I ever played Tekken 5 (after being told they had it via IRC haha)

Eight on the Break Dunellan NJ: About an hour away but worth the drive. Played in a few Tekken tournaments here. Has RC Cola on their Soda Fountain. Good mix of fighters, rhythm, pinball and classics. Stiff fighting game competition which is really nice. First place I played Tekken 6.

Lots of arcades down at the Point Pleasant and Seaside Heights boardwalks that I would get to go to a few times a summer (I still do this).

So many memories. Great thread Rod!

PS: Sorry my writing is all over the place, just kinda typed stuff out as I remembered it.

[quote name='mortalgroove']That place sounds awesome! I wish it was closer to Columbus![/QUOTE]

Hell if your ever around cinci check it out, or let me know we can play some games and have a beer at the chicken joint down the way from it.

They dont have a ton of machines since its only run by a couple guys. Last time I was there one guy was buying the other out and they were moving to another location in the same town. But they have some quality stuff like older machines, pinball machines, couple racing games, quite a few lightgun games, a dlp projector with a 360 and ps3 hooked up to it for people to play fighting games together in the back on the wall, and so on.

Even have some favorites like the 6 player xmen, 4 player simpsons, tron, the dual screen marvel vs capcom 2 and some oddball stuff like carnevil and this weird tank game where a helmet and joystick are suspended in the air and helmet goes over your head so when you move around the screen moves with you.

There was an arcade called Boardwalk in San Diego (El Cajon area I think) that I spent many late elementary school/early middle school days in.

Click to expand...

Haha I think I went there once or twice, I lived in the Rancho Penasquitos area around 91-94, my arcade of choice was a Nickel City that was fairly close to my house. There I could play all sorts of old games for free or a nickel and watch all the rich kids play the Mortal Kombat IIs and Killer Instincts. Family Fun Center sounds familiar too...

I was never big on arcades, but I do remember in the mid 90s when we moved from San Diego to Boston as being probably my favorite arcade experience ever. Every hotel we stopped at had at least two arcade systems: many of them had full-on arcades. So many games were played in that two week period: got hooked on lotsa oldies like Gauntlet and Dig Dug and was wowed by some of these cool new games like X-Men: Children of the Atom.

From there I didn't really frequent arcades much except for a handful of visits to the Pocket Change in Frederick MD before they closed up about six years ago. Fun fact: it was at this arcade that an old school chum of mine tried to (or maybe set at one point) the world record for the longest session of DDR.

[quote name='gargus']Hell if your ever around cinci check it out, or let me know we can play some games and have a beer at the chicken joint down the way from it.[/QUOTE]

Sounds like fun! I will let you know let you know if I get down that way. Mom lives in Springfield, so I get somewhat closer to there sometimes as well.

Belmar Playland was the local one...plenty of classic games..though got kind of a scummy element as the years went on.

Eventually they remodeled it and the focus became mostly light gun games and other ones that were 75 cents to 1.00 to play...which might be what really ended up killing them. I do miss that awesome 2 player Virtual On cabinet though..

There is this place in the local mall in Hazleton called Boardwalk Blvd. It was a alright place. They have about 15-20 machines plus skiball and like 2 pinball machines. I haven't been in there in ages but it's still going strong.

They actually seem to change games pretty regular in there (they had DDR but now it's something new).

[quote name='iamsmart']Haha I think I went there once or twice, I lived in the Rancho Penasquitos area around 91-94, my arcade of choice was a Nickel City that was fairly close to my house. There I could play all sorts of old games for free or a nickel and watch all the rich kids play the Mortal Kombat IIs and Killer Instincts. Family Fun Center sounds familiar too...
[/QUOTE]

If the Boardwalk you visited also had a big-ass bowling alley attached to it, it must've been the same place. It actually was originally just a bowling alley and at some point in the late 80s, they added what was at the time a very modern arcade. They had a big screen display that usually featured a Capcom beat em up. I beat Captain Commando and Knights of the Round on that screen at various birthday parties.

[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals'](was it called Knights of the Realm? Where you could play Arthur, Lancelot, etc in a sidescroller golden axe beatemup?).
[/QUOTE]

Pardon the double post.

It's Knights of the Round. I think Percival was the third character.

EDIT - and while I'm at it, if anyone knows any decent arcades within an hour of Pensacola, FL, feel free to post here. I'll make a day of it. Mobile is within range but I don't know if there's anything there.