We recently spent a couple of
days in Clacton and enjoyed the traditional
seaside fayre – fish n chips, ice cream, paddling in the sea (fortunately we
had nice weather!) and of course, arcades!
Jaywick
We stayed in a caravan on Martello Beach holiday park. The park itself had an arcade featuring F355
Challenge, Ghost Squad, The House of the Dead III and OutRun2. I was really happy to play some OR2 as
they’ve all disappeared from Great Yarmouth.
Walking through the small
seaside village
of Jaywick we passed by
some arcades.
Once again I’m 20 years too
late and can only imagine what they were like in their heyday.
We passed these beach huts
and my first thought was Mini Cutes.
Clacton-on-Sea
Clacton pier had a fair selection of modern games, but
nothing old. It’s the first time I’d
seen the newly released Mario Kart Arcade GP DX. This was in quite a few arcades in Clacton. Also it
was cool seeing Gaia Attack 4, Taito’s answer to Point Blank. I saw this on my last trip to Japan
and had no idea it was released over here.
Don-chan finally reaches
these shores!
The sea defences look like
they’ve been inspired by Pac-Man ghosts.
It was nice to play Operation
G.H.O.S.T. in the arcade/bowling alley just across the road from the pier,
first time I’ve seen this.
The amusement arcades along Pier Avenue were also
devoid of any classics.
Walton-on-the-Naze
Walton Pier had quite a few videogames,
mostly modern except for a few Sega classics.
There was an OutRun2SP DLX cabinet, but unfortunately the rear
projection screen was in very poor condition.
It was a lovely hot and sunny
day and we spent most of our time here paddling and collecting shells along the
beach.
St Osyth
I had a couple of credits on
OutRun2 Special Tours and Downhill Bikers.
I thought (hoped!) there might be a few classics hidden away in the
arcades here, but sadly it wasn’t to be.
The OutRun2SP DLX cabinets
were on Seawick Holiday Park. These ones were in excellent condition and
had received a Sega LCD upgrade.
