It was a Sunday morning and
we were on our way to Blackpool . We made an impromptu stop at a car boot sale
just outside the town. As usual we
scouted the stalls for any gaming related bargains. I didn’t pick up any games, but it was nice
to find a stall with some classics.
Brooks Collectables
The first arcade we checked
out was Brooks Collectables. Located
opposite the Waterloo Road
I especially liked the
collection of cocktail cabinets. Games
featured include Crazy Kong, Galaga, Pac-Man, Scramble and Space Invaders.
Unfortunately the rest of the
arcades along the seafront were less interesting, featuring mostly gambling and
redemption machines. OutRun 2 SP SDX and
Star Wars Battle Pod were highlights of a very limited selection.
Walking through the back
streets one evening, just one block behind the seafront, the decline is evident
with dumped rubbish and rows of boarded up guest houses and buildings falling
into disrepair. It’s a sad sight,
tarnishing the feeling of seaside nostalgia.
In the basement of one hotel
my wife spied a generic Jamma cabinet sandwiched between a fruit machine and an
old mattress.
Ridge Racer Full Scale - 1993
I was blown away to find
Ridge Racer Full Scale. This must be the
only Ridge Racer Full Scale still operating in the UK
The game features an adapted
Mazda Eunos Roadster and is played on a front projected triple screen. The car had a few faults. The gear shifter wasn’t functional, the
stereo has been removed, the dash gauges weren’t working, and the air blowers
didn’t work. Despite these issues, the
cab played well and was in solid condition for its age.
Here is a video of me playing
the game (very badly!).
I was gutted when I visited
an arcade in Leysdown-on-Sea, on the Isle of Sheppey back in 2014 only to
discover that they had got rid of a Ridge Racer Full Scale the previous summer,
and I doubted I would ever have the chance to play one. It was simply amazing to find one still
operating. Ridge Racer Full Scale is an
awesome experience, completely pulling you in to the game. It still impressed and was getting plenty of
attention during our visit. A massive
well done to Pleasure
Beach
Some more pics of the cab.
The following pictures are
used with kind permission and remain the copyright of Jason Newman aka Rotunda,
the current Twin Galaxies arcade and PlayStation world record holder.
The service switch is behind
the coin mech.
A look under the hood.
The game boards are located
under the projector screens. There are
three single System 22 PCB’s, with each one powering one screen.
The old Bose sound system.
Here are some more pics of the
Pleasure Beach
Hiya. I've made a Blackpool arcades write-up from when I went a few weeks ago. Not much has changed but you've missed a hidden gem of an arcade in St Annes Pier just down the road from Blackpool- there's some nice games there! While I didn't visit it I believe an arcade in Fleetwood has a Alien 3: The Gun too.
ReplyDeletehttp://tedsegablog.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/arcade-gaming-in-blackpool.html
Hi there. I'll have to stop by St Annes Pier on my next visit. It's a pity Brooks Collectables was shut for refurbishment, it's a cool little vintage arcade and nice to see some classics along the seafront.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping to visit Retroland, a new barcade in Blackpool, but unfortunately it looks like it never got off the ground. It looked like they had some interesting machines, most of which have now been sold on Ebay.
That Cycraft Initial D Stage Ver. 3 is a cool find. They also had this at an arcade in Clacton. As you say, most of these Simuline cabs have Club Kart installed. It's a fun game, but doesn't do the tech justice. Walton Pier, Essex did have F-Zero AX - Monster Ride Cycraft Edition, which I would absolutely love to play. This was a cancelled project, and only a few were made. Apparently the huge Nintendo license fee coupled with the £25k cost of the cab made it implausible. A real shame as it's the perfect game for the tech.
Glad to see the awesome Ridge Racer Full Scale is still up and running.
Yes, I had head about the one on Walton Pier. An arcade in Paris used to have one, La Tete dans les Nuages, as well as many other rare Sega games like a 8 player Daytona USA and a huge version of Let's Go Jungle with revolving seats. The arcade used to be owned in the 90's by Sega themselves, and though it isn't now, they still supply their games.
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