Monday 28 November 2016

Lincolnshire Coast 2 Coast

During the summer hols, we had four nights in a caravan in Skegness.  We checked out the nearby seaside towns.  This resulted in lots of arcades, ice cream and fish n chips!  The arcades had some nice surprises, both old and new.

Day 1 – Imgoldmells


Planet Fun had a great selection of modern dedicated cabinets. 


Some pinball tables on the first floor.


Hopping Road – 2009




Hopping Road must have had a very limited Western release.  I’ve only ever seen it in a couple of arcades, including the Trocedero shortly before it closed.  The game released in 2009 on Taito Type X2 hardware.



Hopping Road was a definite hit with my wife and daughter.


It was also nice to see Afterburner Climax SDLX and two Sega F355 Challenge DLX triple screen cabinets.



The other arcades along the strip weren’t as good, but it was nice to have some credits on The Lost World.



P’s Attack, a gun shooting game by Korean developer Uniana.


Fantasy Island had a nice four player Daytona set up, although unfortunately the seat movement wasn’t working.  I love how the intro is split across the four screens.


There were also a couple of pinball tables.


Day 2 – Cleethorpes


Severely hung over, we headed to Cleethorpes.  Hangovers definitely seem to be getting worse the older I get.  Fortunately it was a nice sunny day and I had a couple of hours chilling on the beach to get over it.  I had a nap and found my wife and daughter had been keeping themselves entertained by covering me with sand and putting crabs on me.  After an ice cream I was fully recuperated and we headed for the arcades.

Cool Riders - 1994


There weren’t a huge selection of videogames, but it was nice seeing Cool Riders, a pretty obscure Sega game I had never seen before.  With a light hearted tone, eight selectable motorcycles and a choice of routes, the game has a similar premise to OutRunners.  There is even a radio giving the player a choice of tracks, including ‘Born To Be Wild’ and ‘Theme of Love’ from Hang-On!


The game uses digitised graphics and is the only game to run on Sega System H1 hardware.


Unfortunately the steering was slightly off and the monitor was in need of a bit of adjustment, but the game was still playable and good fun.


There was a nice Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga 20 Year Reunion cabinet amongst the fruit machines and grabbers.



Every self respecting seaside arcade should have OutRun2!



We also enjoyed a couple of credits on Let’s Go Island.


We rounded off the day nicely with fish n chips at the ‘Leaking Boot Restaurant & Chippie’ on the seafront.

Day 3 - Mablethorpe
We had a nice morning having a look round The Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary and Wildlife Centre, and checked out the beach and arcades in the afternoon.

There was an awesome OutRun2SP DX set up.  The game was one pound per credit, the monitors were good and the sound was cranked up nice and loud.  We had a few credits on this.  Or more accurately, I played it until I finally beat my wife!


Luigi’s Mansion Arcade


Luigi’s Mansion Arcade was a nice surprise.  It was the first time I’d seen one of these.


Who you gonna call?


I’m not familiar with the Gamecube version, but the game was fun and certainly different.


Some old classics reinvented.



It was cool having a couple of credits on Rainbow Islands in an arcade in an English seaside town, even if it was emulation. 


Whilst not my favourite in the series, this Sega Rally 3 DLX set up in a nearby holiday camp was impressive.


Day 4 – Chapel St. Leonard’s
There wasn’t much old or noteworthy in the main arcades.  The best finds were these tucked away in the back corner of ‘The Happy Days Club’. 


These were the oldest machines we came across during our holiday.  It was cool to see Final Lap 3.  Unfortunately the Electrocoin cab wasn’t working.


We stopped by the little café next door to ‘The Happy Days Club’ for some breakfast, and then checked out a few of the local holiday camps.  Golden Palm Resort arcade had a very nice selection of modern games, including After Burner Climax, Chase H.Q.2, OutRun2 and Star Wars Battle Pod as well as a couple of pinball tables.




Chase H.Q.2 - 2006



It was great to finally play the 2 player linked battle mode.  Select the stage and compete to capture the target car first.  The player who does the final damage to the target car wins, great fun!


Star Wars Battle Pod Flat Screen Edition - 2015


This is the first time I’ve seen the Flat Screen Edition.  With a 42” LCD screen and cool aesthetics, the game still feels very immersive.  However it does seem easier than the regular pod version and I managed to finally complete Vader’s Revenge without too much trouble.



Sonic returns to the arcades!


Day 5 – Skegness


The arcades along ‘Skecvegas’ seafront had the usual selection of modern games, including Operation G.H.O.S.T. and OutRun2SP DX.  I had hoped to find an old classic tucked away in the corner, but there was nothing old.  Not even the seaside town staple that is Daytona USA could be found.  The oldest videogames were at the backend of the pier, and included 500 GP, Alien Extermination, Star Wars Trilogy and Thrill Drive 2. 


Skegness Pier also had these pinball tables.


World’s Largest Pac-Man - 2016
The World’s Largest Pac-Man in the Pleasure Beach arcade was pretty cool.



Galaga Assault – 2016


Wow a new 2D shooter in a modern arcade!  Sort of. 



5 comments:

  1. Ah no... does this mean the original Sega Rally at one of the arcades in Chapel has gone? One of the sides had monitor problems (looked a little dimmer than the other) when I last went last year around September, but it was still playable. I'd had so many plays on that particular one. Played on it at least 10 times every year I went, which has been for the last 12 years :(

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  2. I can't remember seeing Sega Rally. One of the arcades in Chapel had Namco Star Blade a couple of years ago. I was gutted to find that has now gone. I also really wanted to play F-Zero AX in Mablethorpe. Sadly that's gone as well.

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    1. Can you do another write-up on Fantasy Island? The entire arcade area has apparently been done up and reduced in size a bit to make way for a few bowling lanes and a kiddie ride since this post. I'd say that 4 player Daytona doesn't have a good chance of still being there.

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  3. Have been in and around Skegness this week- some stuff has changed. Skeggy has mostly stayed the same. The pier still had some older games tucked away at the back with the newest stuff at the entrance. However the condition of the games in Lucky Strike has degraded quite a bit- OutRun 2 SP DX had graphics issues, Operation Ghost wouldn't coin up and Sega Rally 3 DLX had no hydraulics.

    Over in Mablethorpe there has been a few changes to The Mirage. Luigi's Mansion Arcade has seemingly disappeared- possibly in favor of Walking Dead Arcade. OutRun 2 SP SDLX was still in great condition, however the 2nd rear projection screen wasn't looking too healthy.

    I don't know if it was there when you went but bizarrely there was a twin Sega Touring Car Championship there- it definitely wasn't there last year when I went, I would've remembered if it was. The machine was in really quite good condition- nice monitors and everything was working well. Could've been a restoration job by someone else, it looked that good.

    Didn't have a proper look around the arcades of Ingoldmells but I did pop into Fantasy Island. Their arcade has had a refit along with the pyramid itself- but it hasn't really brought any new games. All that's really happened is a few games have got moved around here and there.

    You may have missed one arcade on the outskirts of Skeg called Smith's- I think this arcade was closed for several years but only in recent times reopened with absolutely no changes to the premises- and it had some classic games to boot that I could not mostly find anywhere else in Skegness.

    There was a nice Ghost Squad with a rather good projection screen for it's age. Same went for Time Crisis 2 nearby. Probably my personal favorite game I found on holiday was this arcade's Ridge Racer 2 cabs- these are becoming harder to find now. The other two games the arcade had were Suzuka 8 Hours 2 and Sega Rally, unless 2 Sonic Blast Man and DDR cabs count as games too.

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  4. Thanks very much for the update. I really enjoyed playing OutRun2SP SDLX at The Mirage, I'm glad to hear its still in great condition. I'm surprised Luigi's Mansion has gone, it's still the only arcade I've ever seen it.

    Wow Sega Touring Car Championship. I never really clicked with it back in the day, but it's a cool addition nevertheless.

    We did make a brief visit to Smith's, but they didn't let me take any pics. It's cool they have some older games, especially Ridge Racer 2. On my next visit I'll try to get some pics.

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