There was a time, back in the 80s and 90s when arcade malls were a dominant force in the hobby. The rise of e-commerce and COVID have taken a significant toll on malls in general, particularly mall arcades. I am happy to report that an old-school mall arcade is still alive and well in the South Mall in Allentown, PA.
I had never been to "Back to the Arcade" price to my trip to visit it last weekend, so I didn't really know what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised by what I found...a great mix of brand new and classic arcade games and pinball machines. The location had everything from the latest Stern pinball machines, including Godzilla, Mandalorian, and Led Zeppelin Premium to classic pins like The Addams Family and Data East Jurassic Park. In addition to the large selection of pins, Back to the Arcade had a nice selection of classic arcade games, such as Space Invaders, Track and Field, Asteroids, etc...
It was great to see that Back to the Arcade had a steady flow of customers while I was there, very early on a Saturday. Business seemed to be pretty good. All of the machines are set to Free Play. I paid $20 for all I can play and had a great time. Below are my video walkthrough of the arcade and a bunch of pictures. Enjoy!
If you've made it this far, clearly you enjoyed this post :) . Make sure to help out by stopping by the Knapp Arcade store and picking up a pint glass, shirt or some other cool stuff for your self or that special someone! https://www.knapparcade.org/shop