With Malibu Grand Prix/Grand Prix Tampa closing, it got me feeling a little nostalgic and thinking about how much time and money I spent at arcades. The sights and sounds of an arcade back in the day was electric. The excitement of who you were going to run into, what new games had arrived, and was today finally the day you were going to beat that game that you’ve put so many quarters into.
The arcade was something I looked forward to every time I stepped foot inside of a mall and has stuck with me to this day. My home turf was Aladdin’s Castle at Tyrone Square Mall. I would grab a slice from Sbarro pizza and head in with a pocket full of quarters. Once I eyed the game I wanted to play, I would slap a quarter on the machine to signify, “I got next!” I remember doing the arcade tour with friends to go play games that Tyrone didn’t have. Pinellas Square Mall which turned into Parkside Mall had “Fun-N-Games,” Seminole Mall had “Cloud 9,” and Countryside Mall had “Tokens.” I don’t remember the name of the arcade at Clearwater Mall, but I went there, too. We also spent a lot of time at the original Treasure Island Fun Center and St. Pete Beach Amusement Center.
With malls slowly disappearing, arcades are finding other ways to survive. We now have Dave & Buster’s in Tampa and GameTime in Ybor City. There’s a lot of what I like to call “bar arcades” around, where you can have a drink and play some of school arcade games and at some places, even play console games, too. Arcades were such a great part of my childhood and why I still play video games as an adult.
Here’s 10 of my favorite arcade games:
