Arcade trip - Heart of Gaming, London UK

[alienjesus]

So, today I went and checked out a local arcade near me - The Casino Leisure arcade by Goodge Street Underground station in London, just a few stops away from my new flat. It was pretty good, and I was especially happy because outside of the typical gambling machines and a very small handful of 'gimmicky' arcade games (read: the usual driving and light gun games - although in this case, with the likes of Time Crisis and Daytona, they were the GOOD driving and shooting games), they had some pretty awesome stuff.

The owner must be a big fan of fighting games, because he had loads of cabs with the like of Street Fighter, Tekken and King of Fighters in. He also had a few cabs with a selection of old school classic in like Xevious, Pac Man and Robotron, plus a standalone Mr. Do! cabinet. And finally, my personal arcade favourite - they had a good selection of shmups, including several by Cave. Being by Cave (and other japanese companies?) though, I had NO idea what I was playing until I looked them up when I got home. Here's a list of what I saw at the arcade:

Street Fighter 4 Arcade edition (he had like 5 of these)
Street Fighter 3 Third Strike
Street Fighter 2
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Guilty Gear XX Accent
King of Fighters '98
King of Fighters 2002
Tekken 6 Bloodline Rebellion
Tekken Tag Tournament
Multi-game machines including:
- Xevious
- Pac-Man
- Ms. Pac-Man
- Juno First
- Qix
- Defender
- Robotron
- Plus several more I couldn't name
Some crappy billiards game
Daytona USA (I think - cant remember this one very well)
Time Crisis 2
Puzzloop 2
Mr. Do!
Pang
R-Type Leo
Strikers 1945
Raiden Fighters Jet
ProGear

These were the games it took me a while to figure out. I'm still not certain about 2 of them:
Castle Shikigami (1)
ESP RA.DE
Raiden 2 DX?
Mushihime-sama?


I played a game of Raiden 2 (? - it was definitely a Raiden game, and DX flashed up on the title screen) whilst I was there, which I really enjoyed. I followed that up with a bash at Castle Shikigami (this took me AGES to figure out what it was once I got home, but it was a lot of fun). I finished off with a game of Pinball on The Lord of the Rings table which was also fun.

The prices weren't too terrible either - in UK arcades these days, you can expect to pay £1 for one play. I don't know how the fighting games were priced, but in both shmups I got 3 credits for £1 (which was the minimum spend). In Raiden, I got 3 lives per credit too, so I got to play for a good amount of time for my money for a change. The pinball machine was £1 for one play, but you got 5 balls for that, so it was still pretty good. £2 would have got me 3 plays, or 15 balls.

Anyway, it was a pretty cool arcade and next time I go I'll try and remember to take a camera so I can take photos for you guys. I could use a hand identifying that one cave game I THINK is Mushihime-sama. It had 4 japanese characters arranged vertically on the title screen, I want to say on a brown background.

I went there because I heard it might have Dodonpachi for Together Retro. They didn't (at least not where I could see it), but I'm still pretty happy I went. I just hope it doesn't shut down. London's most popular arcade at The Trocadero recently shut down unexpectedly (landlord issues), leaving only this one and the Namco Station arcade in central London left. I'll check out the Namco Place another time, but it's a little more out of the way for me, and being next to the London Eye, I bet it's go lots of the type of game that appeals to more casual players - not a bad thing imo, but not what I'm looking for. Still, maybe it'll have some of the ol' Namco classics from way back when?

[ExedExes]

Good place. I too enjoy arcade trips (making one tomorrow!!!) and to see the amount of good games there is nice. KOF 98 is one of my top favorite fighters, and to see the classic assortment is nice -- Juno First is a very unheard of and under-rated classic. The place I'm going to has a 60-in-1 that has a lot of old games. Nice to hear that arcades are still alive and well in London.

Raiden D/X is just that - an update on Raiden II. You are able to select one of 3 "courses", Alpha course is one long stage which is labeled as "training" for some reason, Bravo course starts at the first stage from Raiden II, and Charlie course starts you off at a farther stage. More features have been added such as a boss timer for points, and an end of game status report with bonus points added. One place I went to years ago had it.

[alienjesus]

Good place. I too enjoy arcade trips (making one tomorrow!!!) and to see the amount of good games there is nice. KOF 98 is one of my top favorite fighters, and to see the classic assortment is nice -- Juno First is a very unheard of and under-rated classic. The place I'm going to has a 60-in-1 that has a lot of old games. Nice to hear that arcades are still alive and well in London.

Raiden D/X is just that - an update on Raiden II. You are able to select one of 3 "courses", Alpha course is one long stage which is labeled as "training" for some reason, Bravo course starts at the first stage from Raiden II, and Charlie course starts you off at a farther stage. More features have been added such as a boss timer for points, and an end of game status report with bonus points added. One place I went to years ago had it.

Yeah, when I go next time I'll take a bit of cash and try out some of the other games on offer. The old games are normally really hit and miss with me though, a lot of them were before my time and feel a bit clunky now. Plus, if it costs a pound a play, those games tend to be pretty easy to die on

Yeah, it was definitely Raiden DX in that case. I played course Alpha at first, and when I lost 3 lives I figured my 3 credits were up and let the time count down so I could put in my initials. Then it went back to the course select and I realised I still had 2 credits to use, so I went for course Bravo instead

[Balasubbie]

I was there a while ago, it was brilliant. I noticed the only thing that gets much competitive love is the SSFIV:AE cabs, as you'd expect, I suppose.

[alienjesus]

I was there a while ago, it was brilliant. I noticed the only thing that gets much competitive love is the SSFIV:AE cabs, as you'd expect, I suppose.

Being that I was there around 1.30 in the afternoon on a week day, I was basically the only person there. There were some people playing the slot machines and 2 guys playing pool, but no one else on the arcade cabs.

[CD AGES]

Being that I was there around 1.30 in the afternoon on a week day, I was basically the only person there. There were some people playing the slot machines and 2 guys playing pool, but no one else on the arcade cabs.

Well that makes a lot of sense. Fighting game players usually gather around the late hours. I should know
From the list that you provided of fighters this arcade houses, it's quite obvious it caters to the fighting enthusiasts to quite a degree.

Anyway, it was a pretty cool arcade and next time I go I'll try and remember to take a camera so I can take photos for you guys. I could use a hand identifying that one cave game I THINK is Mushihime-sama. It had 4 japanese characters arranged vertically on the title screen, I want to say on a brown background.

Please do! I always get a kick from seeing seeing inner workings of arcade businesses. I've beenwanting to do the same and take pis or capture video for the Round 1 bowling and amusement that's located a few miles away from me. I was just there last weekend scoping the place out. They got a TON of new fighters recently. KOF XIII Climax (this appears to be a tough find even in the native Japan arcade sector), That recent 4 player Gundam Vs fighter and that crazy all girl fighting game from china (this game has some pretty sweet visuals from particle effects to Ultra combo inspired supers completely with "bouncy" animated cutscenes). As a matter of fact they were actually installing a Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited arcade cab setup while I was there. I was SOO happy to see this their considering Namo's US arcade division quitely canceled the US arcade release and swept it under the rug even after a rather positive and successful loc testing the machine received across various states in the USA

[CRTGAMER]

Puzzloop 2

Nice post, but where are the pics? Puzzloop is the original "Zuma", did the cab have a Joystick or Spinner?

[4ppleseed]

NO WAY!

I've walked past this place a million times and it looks like just a crappy gambling machine den (plus I'm usually walking pretty fast to avoid the Scientologist people next door trying to do stress tests).

This is a great find. I'll be in there next weekend for some Raiden and Pang! Cheers

[alienjesus]

Puzzloop 2

Nice post, but where are the pics? Puzzloop is the original "Zuma", did the cab have a Joystick or Spinner?

I attended a grad fair this morning and happened to pass by the right area to go to the arcade, so I dropped by as a spur of the moment decision. Next time I go I'll take my camera and ask if it's ok to take pics. As it was, I got some funny looks from management turning up in my suit and sitting down at the cab to play Castle Shikigami .

As for Puzzloop, it was in a standard cab, so it had joystick controls. Most of the non-fighting games were in generic cabs except for Pang and Mr.Do!

NO WAY!

I've walked past this place a million times and it looks like just a crappy gambling machine den (plus I'm usually walking pretty fast to avoid the Scientologist people next door trying to do stress tests).

This is a great find. I'll be in there next weekend for some Raiden and Pang! Cheers

Glad I could help! It's nice to see another racketboy member who lives nearby! It's pretty easy to think that from the outside - all you can see is the light gun and driving game, the pin table and a crapload of slot machines. All of the arcade games are in the basement.

[CRTGAMER]

As for Puzzloop, it was in a standard cab, so it had joystick controls. Most of the non-fighting games were in generic cabs except for Pang and Mr.Do!

I have only seen the Joystick version, yet when run in Mame there is a hidden Spinner Option. Anyone into Zuma, (few will admit it) should give the inspired historical original a go. Works beautiful with a mouse, trakball or best with a modded Spinner.

Looking forward to pics, the Arcade sounds pretty good!