Main > Main Forum
What Was The Name Of Your Arcade Growing Up? Describe it.
<< < (3/18) > >>
odysseyroc:
Growing up in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, there were plenty of arcades to choose from. Here's a rundown of a few of them.

Teds Arcade (Gardena): This one was a small aracade with maybe 30 games total. At some point my friends figured out that the change machine would give you four quarters for a photocopy of a dollar bill. I never did it, but they logged plenty of hours there doing that. It was the only arcade where I remember seeing a Cliff Hanger game.

Missile Bowl (Gardena): A pretty decent bowling alley arcade. They didn't have a ton of games, but most of them were pretty good. I went there a lot with my friends when we were in Jr High and High School. We'd usually play Smash TV, Super Contra, Kageki or Violence Fight.

Malibu Castle (Redondo Beach) This one was probably my favorite local arcade. They had a huge selection of games, miniature golf, water slides, batting cages, a snack bar and bumper boats. It was the only place that I ever saw a Freedom Fighter cabinet. It shut down a few years ago, but it was the place to go through the various era's of arcade gaming. I remember everybody going there to play Tournament Cyberball and later Street Fighter II.

South Bay Bowl (Redondo Beach) SBB's arcade was bigger than the typical bowling alley arcade, it was more like a small regular arcade. It was near a 6 screen movie theater (which was a big deal at the time), and was connected to an ice cream parlor. I remember playing Darius, Narc and APB there.

The Underground (Redondo Beach) This was one of 2 arcades at the Redondo Beach Pier. The Underground was the smaller arcade, but I liked it more. It was very clean with lots of neon. I remember it being the first place I ever saw Donkey Kong Jr. It didn't stay in business very long, but it was a cool place to go after going for a swim, getting a slice of Pizza at Zeppy's and eating a Churro.

Redondo Fun Factory (Redondo Beach) RFF is still in business. Everytime I visit home I make sure to make a trip to the Fun Factory. Back in the 80's it was the spot where the older, rougher crowd hung out. I generally stayed away from there. They had more games than I've ever seen in one place, redemption games and a Tilt-O-Whirl ride.

Dazz:

--- Quote from: NickG on June 07, 2009, 01:12:01 am ---
--- Quote from: Dazz on June 06, 2009, 09:11:57 pm ---The Gold Mine at Six Flags Mall - Arlington, Texas
Dark, Cold and Loud.  Ahh, it was the perfect 80's arcade.


--- End quote ---
Was that the one which had the full size carousel inside?  I used to get helium balloons with clown faces there (I was still a bit too young to play the games)

Edit: Nevermind, I remember now - that one was at Forum 303 Mall a few minutes south.  I've forgotten its name.

--- End quote ---
Yeah, the Forum was the one that had the full sized carousel...  I think that one was called either Goodtimes or Saturdays.  I'm not really sure, but yes that was an excellent arcade.

Speaking of that arcade...  Growing up I recall them having this Bozo the Clown bucket toss ticket redemption game.  This game is now located in one of the areas haunted houses, Chaos Haunted Houses at Texas Scaregrounds.  I do haunted house reviews during Halloween season and every time I go into that haunt and pass that game memories of my childhood come rushing back.
dgrams2000:
Had one that was called the 'Wooden Nickel', and then had An Aladdins Castle.
Eventually worked at Aladdins Castle during my last year in high school and maybe one year after... as a 2nd job.
Namco:

--- Quote from: odysseyroc on June 07, 2009, 12:06:40 pm ---Growing up in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, there were plenty of arcades to choose from. Here's a rundown of a few of them.

Malibu Castle (Redondo Beach) This one was probably my favorite local arcade. They had a huge selection of games, miniature golf, water slides, batting cages, a snack bar and bumper boats. It was the only place that I ever saw a Freedom Fighter cabinet. It shut down a few years ago, but it was the place to go through the various era's of arcade gaming. I remember everybody going there to play Tournament Cyberball and later Street Fighter II.

South Bay Bowl (Redondo Beach) SBB's arcade was bigger than the typical bowling alley arcade, it was more like a small regular arcade. It was near a 6 screen movie theater (which was a big deal at the time), and was connected to an ice cream parlor. I remember playing Darius, Narc and APB there.

The Underground (Redondo Beach) This was one of 2 arcades at the Redondo Beach Pier. The Underground was the smaller arcade, but I liked it more. It was very clean with lots of neon. I remember it being the first place I ever saw Donkey Kong Jr. It didn't stay in business very long, but it was a cool place to go after going for a swim, getting a slice of Pizza at Zeppy's and eating a Churro.

Redondo Fun Factory (Redondo Beach) RFF is still in business. Everytime I visit home I make sure to make a trip to the Fun Factory. Back in the 80's it was the spot where the older, rougher crowd hung out. I generally stayed away from there. They had more games than I've ever seen in one place, redemption games and a Tilt-O-Whirl ride.


--- End quote ---

I'm another South Bay kid too. I fondly remember going to Malibu Castle and South Bay Bowl a lot. I remember South Bay bowl 's arcade was a square room with a couple pillars in the middle and red brick walls. There was a black wrought iron security fence that closed it off from the rest of the bowling alley. I remember wondering what it would be like to get locked in there. lol. Malibu Castle and the Pier were like mecca to me because I only went there a couple times and they had EVERYTHING. So amazing.

Hey do you remember the name of the arcade in Hawthorn Plaza if you ever went there? Was it something like All American Arcade?
odysseyroc:
Where did you live in the South Bay?

I don't remember the name of the Arcade in the Hawthorn mall nor the one in the Old Town Mall. I remember spending a lot of time at Aladdin's castle at Del Amo Mall, playing Silk Worm. There was also the little trailer full of games at the Alpine Village batting cages.
Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page

Go to full version