Pics from The Reagan Years arcade

[o2william]

My birthday was today (Friday), and to celebrate growing one year further into adulthood I decided to regress back to childhood... by visiting The Reagan Years arcade in Fullerton, CA (about 40 minutes from where I live). It's an awesome arcade filled with '80s coin-ops that has, unfortunately, been closed down for quite some time while it was being remodeled. I'd heard it was finally reopening so I decided to check it out. Sadly, it's not open quite yet, although the restaurant/bar it's attached to (the Slidebar Cafe) is. The guy at the Slidebar said it would open "any day now."

The arcade room was open (even though none of the machines were on), so I ducked inside and snapped a couple quick pics with my cheapo digital camera. The remodeling seems pretty much complete, and it's looking nice. Very appropriate decor; black walls with pics of '80s music groups and game graphics on them. And what a selection of coin-ops! Here are some pics... sorry they couldn't be better quality.

http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry1_t.jpg (http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry1.jpg)

Budweiser Tapper and Berzerk. Notice the cool Centipede graphics on the far wall!

http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry2_t.jpg (http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry2.jpg)

Further down that row: Berzerk, Centipede, Paperboy, Front Line, Ms. Pac/Galaga, Asteroids. Space Invaders on the wall.

http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry6_t.jpg (http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry6.jpg)

The end of that row... Ms. Pac/Galaga, Asteroids, Crazy Taxi, what I presume is an air hockey table, and a couple things I can't make out. The circle on the far wall is the arcade's logo, which shows a cartoon Ronald Reagan playing Star Wars (how appropriate!). What's the game in the foreground with the soldier-looking guy? It has a Data East logo.

http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry3_t.jpg (http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry3.jpg)

This pic got messed up, but you might make out Galaga, Scramble, Frogger and Kung-Fu Master if you squint.

http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry4_t.jpg (http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry4.jpg)

Pac-Man, Galaga and Asteroids graphics on the walls and ceiling.

http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry5_t.jpg (http://64.159.77.51/~helmet/o2william/ry5.jpg)

Pole Position cockpit, Defender, Asteroids Deluxe and Star Wars! There are some Pac-Man cherries on the wall that you can barely make out in this photo.

There was also a whole row of machines in a corner that I didn't get to see. I wasn't sure I was supposed to be in there so I didn't want to snoop around too much. :)

[dedtech]

Thats really cool! I was never a fan of Regan or anything but, the old arcade brought back some memories. Although down here in the Metroplex most of the old arcades were purple and dimly lit or had neon lighting. Well, that was lateish 80's to mid 90's. Before that say 81 or so they were much diffrent. There was an arcade in the local mall that had a merry-go-round in the back with arcade machines that surrounded it. They sold popcorn there and the whole place smelled like it. They also used to have the old punching bag machines that tested your strength. They had a sit down version of Red Barron there that I used to play for hours. Daum, memories.
There was also an arcade at the local water park (White Water) . Open and airy place with fake turf inside to walk on with bare feet. Something odd about standing there wet and playing arcade games before you go on the tube rides for the 100th time that day.
(Haha, side note. Morris Day and the Times just came on TV.)
I think my favorite arcade memory has to be from the 80's when we would go to Six Flags and in te arcades they had juke boxes. Breakdancers would congregate around them and dance untill security would chase them away. Then again, a few min. later they were always back. If memory serves me correctly Michel Jacksons Moonwalk arcade game was out at the time. Im a bit tired though so my timing might be off.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Very nice pics. Oh, and happy birthday to you!, i just love that pics with the decoration, old arcades and...the ambient...i don´t know how to explain it, maybe...a kind of "lounge" of old arcades.

Cheers,

Matías

[Arcade Antics]

What's the game in the foreground with the soldier-looking guy? It has a Data East logo.
Heavy Barrel.

Nice story and pics! :)

[Sanriostar]

Hey Will, did the owner mention if he was going to FIX THE @!&% BERZERK MACHINE!? The down leaf on the joystick doesn't work! (Well, at least it didn't when I was there a few months before it closed...)

The room looks great, but it's the condition of the machines that concerns me the most...

EDIT: Does RY Still have Assault?

..Still have old orignal RY tokens

[o2william]

did the owner mention if he was going to FIX THE @!&% BERZERK MACHINE!?
Heh. I didn't ask, but given how much effort seemingly went into remodeling the place, I'd be surprised if the machines have been left with major problems. None of them were operating when I was there and I didn't inspect any of them close up, but they all looked clean and in good repair, for what that's worth.

Didn't see Assault, but as I said, there were probably at least 10-15 machines I didn't see. In the pic with Heavy Barrel in the foreground (thanks Arcade Antics), one of the machines against the far wall has a name that starts with "A", but judging from the marquee design it's not Assault.

[mydjsobad]

I'd be really interested in visiting this place when it reopens. If you happen to go there while it's operating, could you post afterwards? Maybe get an address? I live in Anaheim, so it's not too far away, and 80's coin ops are the way to go (I could spend hours on that Tapper machine :3)

[o2william]

Maybe get an address?
Sure. It's available online. The Slidebar has a useless web site (http://www.slidebarcafe.com/), but luckily it also has a more helpful MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/TheSlidebar

Map and directions are there. The Reagan Years is in the same building as the Slidebar, although it has its own street entrance.

[idrougge]

I think my favorite arcade memory has to be from the 80's when we would go to Six Flags and in te arcades they had juke boxes. Breakdancers would congregate around them and dance untill security would chase them away. Then again, a few min. later they were always back.

So that's how the kids did it in the days before DDR!

[diskoboy]

Oh how I miss those early arcade years.

Thanks for the nostalgia! I really do wish people would open more arcades with only golden age games.

The arcade is ready for a comeback....

[Aswald]

Well, there's a reason to visit California!

You are so lucky!