Growing up in the 90’s and early 00’s I had a chance to play classic systems like the SNES, N64, Gameboy Color and the original PlayStation and Xbox. Having access to these systems gave me the opportunity to play all kinds of games in the comfort of my own home still the rise in console gaming had negative consequences on arcades which were a staple for gamers. Arcades had suffered the same fate as other businesses that failed to adapt to the times as fewer and fewer people left their house.
However as fate would have it, during the 2010’s there was a revival in old tech and companies were quick to catch on to the trend. We saw the release of miniature versions of some the previously mentioned systems. Even non-gaming items were on demand as record players and vinyls also saw a surge in appreciation. In 2011, one man decided to bring the classic style arcade back to South Florida.
After hearing from a coworker that there was a retro arcade called Arcade Odyssey in our neck of the woods and I had to go see it for myself. Accompanied by my fiancé and a couple friends we decided to go last weekend and I will say I was blown away and very excited to dive in to the nearest game.
Once inside you are overwhelmed by the sights and sounds because they somehow managed to fill every inch of the space with some sort of machine. From a row of differently themed Pinball machines to Japanese games, they had a game for every niche you could think of. Personally, I grew fond of the six player X-Men machine that they have near the entrance. I also fell back in love with a game called Asteroid which I played on the computer as a kid.
Apart from all the traditional arcade machines, there was a spot carved out for PC and console fans to play together like the good ole LAN party days. I also found out that the arcade is able to host parties and even tournaments for a variety of games where cash prizes can be won. And If you get hungry or thirsty from playing too much they have a fair selection of food items but an incredible variety of beers of which I recommend the Golden Ox beer on tap. I will have to go back to try out their other beers.
In retrospect, there were times when friends and I ended up going to places like GameWorks and Dave & Busters to scratch our arcade itch, if only we had done a little research. Nevertheless that was the past and this is the present and currently Arcade Odyssey will be my spot for the foreseeable future. Check out their website for location and events and look for a steal of a deal on Groupon before its gone.