Gapporin
10-18-2008, 10:05 PM
(no pictures, 'cuz I'm lame)
The grand opening was at 5PM tonight, and I arrived not a moment too shy. I wasn't sure if I was the first paying customer or not. However, when I arrived, the place was pretty much empty except for the employees and a man parked at a Tempest machine.
A feeling of deja vu quickly settled in. As I paid my fare, one of the employees told me how the arcade worked. "All the machines are set to free play. You just press that button in the front of the machine to insert a credit." Check. "If you beat a high score, tell us and we'll put it on the scoreboard here. (points to laminted board full of marquee stickers) When you beat a high score, you get a free pass to come in next time you play." Yep. Exactly like 1984. I don't want to say the owners ripped off 1984's business model (they could be relatives, for all I know). But it seems like they visted the Springfield arcade and went, "Yep, we need one of those here."
Unlike 1984, however, this arcade doesn't really have a theme. 1984 has "classic arcade machines from the golden era of arcades". Mike and Andy's has "whatever we could get our hands on". Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that. But it soon becomes apparent when you realize there are 3 Super Hang-On machines in the arcade. Three. I never realized the need was so great to play Super Hang-On that you had to have three of them inside the arcade.
Don't get me wrong, Mike and Andy's does have some golden oldies as well, like Ms. Pac-Man, Asteroids, Tempest, Donkey Kong, Frogger and Time Pilot '84. But amongst these are machines like Track And Field, Clutch Hitter, Klax, Carnival, Arch Rivals, a Neo-Geo 2 slot MVS with Art Of Fighting and Top Player's Golf and more. The machines were designated this way: 1/3rd were broken. 1/3rd had monitor issues. The last 1/3rd worked perfectly.
For example, the Klax monitor was too dim to make out the difference between green and yellow blocks. Thunder Blade was too blurry beyond recognition. Die Hard Arcade was devoid of all color. And so it goes.
The machines didn't seem to be in as good of shape as the ones at 1984, either. Most of the older, dedicated cabinets looked great. Some of the lesser-knowns had ripped sideart, cracked control panels, etc.
One advantage that this place did have over 1984 was that they did not stop just at upright cabinets. They also have an environmental cabinet (Hydra) as well as a couple cocktail tables (Moon Cresta and Zaxxon, the latter of which wasn't working). The owners seem to me to be more of arcade enthusiasts rather than arcade repairmen. A few heavy hitters (Joust, Defender, Missile Command) were all broken, but the owners told me that they had parts coming and that they thought they would've gotten them in time for the opening, but they didn't. I may visit back again soon just to take those machines for a spin.
The arcade was pretty empty that day. The owners had told me they didn't advertise much because they weren't sure if the license to operate was going to be instituted in time for the opening. They do plan on putting an ad in the local paper, plus trying other avenues of getting the word out. When a family of four walked in right when I was leaving, I figured that was the most action the arcade had at one time all night. After destroying the Ms. Pac-Man high score (grouping patterns, people!) and getting my free pass, I left. I spent about three hours there with two more left to go.
Final verdict: If I sounded overly harsh in my assessment, I didn't mean to. An arcade is still an arcade, and it's a good way to kill some time. If you live in the area already, definitely check it out. I wouldn't make a 1-2 hour trek just to see the arcade, at least, not yet. But if you're planning to make a day of it anyways, drop by and see what they've got to offer.
The grand opening was at 5PM tonight, and I arrived not a moment too shy. I wasn't sure if I was the first paying customer or not. However, when I arrived, the place was pretty much empty except for the employees and a man parked at a Tempest machine.
A feeling of deja vu quickly settled in. As I paid my fare, one of the employees told me how the arcade worked. "All the machines are set to free play. You just press that button in the front of the machine to insert a credit." Check. "If you beat a high score, tell us and we'll put it on the scoreboard here. (points to laminted board full of marquee stickers) When you beat a high score, you get a free pass to come in next time you play." Yep. Exactly like 1984. I don't want to say the owners ripped off 1984's business model (they could be relatives, for all I know). But it seems like they visted the Springfield arcade and went, "Yep, we need one of those here."
Unlike 1984, however, this arcade doesn't really have a theme. 1984 has "classic arcade machines from the golden era of arcades". Mike and Andy's has "whatever we could get our hands on". Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that. But it soon becomes apparent when you realize there are 3 Super Hang-On machines in the arcade. Three. I never realized the need was so great to play Super Hang-On that you had to have three of them inside the arcade.
Don't get me wrong, Mike and Andy's does have some golden oldies as well, like Ms. Pac-Man, Asteroids, Tempest, Donkey Kong, Frogger and Time Pilot '84. But amongst these are machines like Track And Field, Clutch Hitter, Klax, Carnival, Arch Rivals, a Neo-Geo 2 slot MVS with Art Of Fighting and Top Player's Golf and more. The machines were designated this way: 1/3rd were broken. 1/3rd had monitor issues. The last 1/3rd worked perfectly.
For example, the Klax monitor was too dim to make out the difference between green and yellow blocks. Thunder Blade was too blurry beyond recognition. Die Hard Arcade was devoid of all color. And so it goes.
The machines didn't seem to be in as good of shape as the ones at 1984, either. Most of the older, dedicated cabinets looked great. Some of the lesser-knowns had ripped sideart, cracked control panels, etc.
One advantage that this place did have over 1984 was that they did not stop just at upright cabinets. They also have an environmental cabinet (Hydra) as well as a couple cocktail tables (Moon Cresta and Zaxxon, the latter of which wasn't working). The owners seem to me to be more of arcade enthusiasts rather than arcade repairmen. A few heavy hitters (Joust, Defender, Missile Command) were all broken, but the owners told me that they had parts coming and that they thought they would've gotten them in time for the opening, but they didn't. I may visit back again soon just to take those machines for a spin.
The arcade was pretty empty that day. The owners had told me they didn't advertise much because they weren't sure if the license to operate was going to be instituted in time for the opening. They do plan on putting an ad in the local paper, plus trying other avenues of getting the word out. When a family of four walked in right when I was leaving, I figured that was the most action the arcade had at one time all night. After destroying the Ms. Pac-Man high score (grouping patterns, people!) and getting my free pass, I left. I spent about three hours there with two more left to go.
Final verdict: If I sounded overly harsh in my assessment, I didn't mean to. An arcade is still an arcade, and it's a good way to kill some time. If you live in the area already, definitely check it out. I wouldn't make a 1-2 hour trek just to see the arcade, at least, not yet. But if you're planning to make a day of it anyways, drop by and see what they've got to offer.