Spring Thaws and Classic Gaming at its best!

My girl and I took a road trip yesterday to New Hampshire to check out some VW's that I am thinking of buying. On the way to the first location, we came across tthe scene  below. As best as we could figure, someone had left their car in this shopping center parking lot during a snowstorm. Then, apparently some sleep deprived, perhaps slightly inebriated, plow driver burried the guy's/gal's jeep under the snow while clearing the lot. The crazy thing is, it is now 40 degrees in this part of NH and the only snow left are the huge piles like this left over from plowing. I really wonder what the owner of this car thought or if they even knew what happened to their car. Any YOU thought you had a tough winter!

NO PARKING ZONE

So what does this have to do with Classic Gaming you ask? Well, after checking out a few VW Vans, I took my girl to Fun Spot at Lake Winniepesake. Now if you have ever seen the movie "The King of Kong" then you will know this place. This is the classic arcade where Steve Wiebe beat Billy's "I'm a dick" (whatever his name was) world record for the highest score of all time on Donkey Kong. This place rocks! I grew up in the late 70's and early 80's (yeah, I am getting up there, so shuddup!) and this place brought back the memories. They have just about every classic game that I can remember, and a few that I completely forgot about. And ALL the games still only cost a quarter! So join me on a walk down memory lane.

Here is a row of classic coin-ops including Food Fight, Centepede, Millipede and Dig Dug

More Classics (Anyone remember Vanguard?)

The "Old School" Old School Section

Pong, Burger Time and Gorf (GAWD! I had forgotten about Gorf)

Pengo & Xevious - My girl went nuts when she saw Pengo (can't remember it myself) and of course Xevius rocks.

Loderunner - I remember this one from the Apple IIc, but did not realize that they made a coin-op version.

Satan's Hollow - This one always appealled to my "Burnout" and "Metalhead" side. Fun game.

Karate Champ - This is a game I spent countless hours (and quarters) trying to perfect my spin kick on back in "the Day"

Here is my girl on the "posessed" Donkey Kong machine made famous in "King of Kong". I forgot how hard this game really is. I never got past the first conveyor belt screne (#7 I thinnk).

Another angle of DK and DK Jr.

Star Castle - Now here is another game that I completely forgot about. I spent my share of quarters on this one in my youth. Check out the primative attempt at "colorization" of the screen.

Robotron 2004 - My ALL-Time Favorite coin-op game. I was able to break 350,000 on this yesterday and did not even scratch the list of "All Time Heroes" stored in the game. The high score was over 1.5 Mil!

Tutankham - Here is another game that I had completely forgotten about. Loved this one.

1943 - Now available on XBL Marketplace. Great Game!

Time Pilot - Another recent additon to the XBL Arcade list. This was another of my favorites when it came out. There is just something very satisfying about shooting down blimps.

Phoenix - I had forgotten about this one. I remember playing this alot because it was the only game available at the local bowling alley. I seem to remember wishing that they would just get Galaga, but still played it quite a bit.

Space Harrier - I used to SUCK at this game and still do. I remember this being one of the first "sit down" arcade games that I played as a kid, along with After Burner.

Tron - Spawn of one of the worst movies of all time (or did the movie spawn the game? I can never remember). To this day, I cannot get past the Light Cycle Screen to save my life.

Congo Bongo - I don't remember alot about this one, but do have vague recollections of it from the Popeye & DK Jr era. Someone can correct me if I am wrong on the timing here.

Zaxxon - One of my first "3-D" gaming experiences. Guiding the ship through those holes in the wall were tough (still are).

Frenzy - Now this game reminded me of Berzerk, and I noticed that it was made by the same company STERN. I thought that Berzerk had two joysticks like Robotron, so maybe this was its predecessor. If anyone knows the correct timing on this, let me know.

Contra - I never really got into this game, but  know that there are some Contra fans out there, so this one is for you.

Star Wars - This was another of the early "3-D" games that I remember fondly. The Grahpics were all straight line drawings, but the game play rocked.

Battlezone - What can you say about this game that hasn't already been said? I did see a special on the History Channel that stated the US Military hire the makers of this game to design training programs for their tank commanders - pretty cool!

Crystal Castle - Here is another game that my girl went apeshit over. This game always reminded me of an acid trip. You run around a multi-dimensional landscape being chased by wierd and dangerous "plants" while trying to pick up all the "dots". Hmmm, makes ya think.

Marble Madness - Another game that is available on XBL now. This game used to drive me nuts. It was one of those that allowed you to put in more quarters if you wanted to continue from you last death point. This game was unbelievably hard to me and ate up alot of my money.

Xybots - I save another of my favorites for last. This was what I remeber being the first "truly" 3-D game a la the Doom-type first person perspective. The actual gaming screen itself was rather small (lower right hand 1/4 of the screen), but this one had radar and guns and it rocked. Still does.

Classic Home Arcade Systems

Fun Stop also serves as a the "Classic Arcade Museum" and had some cool new articles and classic home consoles on display. See if you remember these.

Odyssey 400 by Magnovox - I never owned this console, but remember a friend having it when it first came out. If I remember correctly, everything was some variation on Pong (Hockey, breakout, etc).

Coleco Vison - Why did everyone have to have the word "Vision" in the name of their console early on?? I remember the controls on this one sucking. What was with the number pad?? But they were the first to have the classic Nintendo Games, so we had to have this one.

And of course, the other "Vison" - Intellivision. With the same numbers plus thumb-wheel setup, I had a hard time seeing much difference between this one and Coleco, though if my memory is correct, the Intellivision came out first. Correct me if I am wrong on this.

So that is my walk down the Classic Arcade Memory Lane. I hope everyone enjoyed this as much as I did. I stongly advise anyone who is in the New England area to check this place out. And if there is ever talk about trying to get another NE LAN going, this is the place to have it. If the event were scheduled in the off-season (late Fall to early Spring) there is plenty of cheap lodging available. Plus you have the Classic arcade to keep you busy if you get tired of gaming in the LAN. Oh yeah, and they have a bowling alley and a bar on-site. They even have a bingo hall next door for those of you who might want to let your innner old lady come on out.