Today was Family Day at Barcade Newark (NJ) so after a morning indoor lacrosse game my youngest son and I stopped by for a little while. We got there early and had the run of the place to ourselves. There’s no better feeling than that.
All of the games were in good working condition. The DMD pinball machines cost three tokens and the solid state pins and most of the vids cost two. We dropped a twenty into the change machine and couldn’t spend it all.
We kicked off the afternoon with a game that neither of us had ever played before, since those are becoming fewer and farther between these days, Bally’s 1991 Bugs Bunny Birthday Ball. Many people consider this pin to be one of the worst ever produced. The layout certainly is unique and I didn’t mind it. It’s the rules that were infuriating. Twice I won the game and my son opened the “Surprise Box” that players are given at the end and was awarded “Swap Scores” with the other player! What’s the deal with that?! Could you imagine that happening in a tournament 😂? We only wanted to play Bugs once just to try it out...BUT we kept winning free game, after free game, after free game. We must have gotten at least six free games. We played it forever. I’m sure that’s some people’s purgatory, but we had fun.
Another really unusual game they had there was Namco’s 1996 precursor to Pelaton “Prop Cycle.” It’s a driving game that uses an exercise bike. My son always enjoys that one.
We also played Gottlieb Black Hole, Stern Metallica, Champion Pub, Super Sprint, Gunblade and a few more. Other highlights of the arcade include the Big Mama Jama 6-Player X-Men, a beautiful dual monitor Nintendo Play Choice 10 with the gun, 4-player Turtles & NBA Jam.
Here’s a list of Barcade Newark’s games courtesy of its website:
Aero Fighters 2
Arkanoid
Asteroids
The Black Hole (pin)
Blades of Steel (PlayChoice)
Bubble Bobble
Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball (pin)
Centipede
Challenge
The Champion Pub (pin)
Championship Sprint
Contra (PlayChoice)
Crazy Taxi
Daytona USA (Twin)
Defender
Double Dragon (PlayChoice)
Dig Dug
Donkey Kong
Duck Hunt (PlayChoice)
Frogger
Galaga
Gauntlet
Ghostbusters (pin)
Golden Axe: The Revenge Of Death Adder
Gunblade NY
Hit the Ice
The House of the Dead
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The Legend of Zelda (PlayChoice)
Lucky & Wild
Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
Mega Man (Playchoice)
Metal Slug 2
Metallica (pin)
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (PlayChoice)
Ms. Pac-Man
Narc
NBA Jam Tournament Edition
NeoGeo Cup '98: The Road To The Victory
Night Stocker
Pac-Man Battle Royale
Prop Cycle
Punch-Out!!
Puzzle Bobble
Rainbow Islands The Story Of Bubble Bobble 2 (PlayChoice)
Rambo III
Revenge from Mars (pin)
Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge
Sengoku
The Simpsons (pin)
Star Wars Trilogy
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Super Mario Bros. (PlayChoice)
Tapper
Tecmo Bowl (PlayChoice)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Tetris
Time Crisis 3
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
WWF Wrestle Mania
X-Men
Barcade has a ton of beers on tap and surprisingly good food. Everyone who worked there was friendly. I learned while I was there that they even have an arrangement with a lot for free parking that they validate. A number of the Barcades have Family Day early on a couple of Sundays per year. If there’s one by you, keep an eye out for it. Or go without the kids sometime. It was a good experience.
Here’s the maximum number of pics that I can share here. Make sure to stop by the Knapp Arcade Instagram account for more from here and other arcades that we’ve been to.