Asteroids Wants YOU
Posted on March 24, 2013Please help AtariAsteroids.net with arcade recon!
We’ve only reviewed a handful of locations where you can play Asteroids, so if you’ve got first-hand information about arcades, barcades, nighclubcades, museums, arcade speakeasies, amusement parks, or anywhere with a public Asteroids or Asteroids Deluxe arcade machine, please let us know!
Check out other reviews in the Arcade Recon category of this site. We’re looking for general information about the venue and its atmosphere, a specific review of the Asteroids machine, and pictures.
Take a look at our Asteroids Location Map to find an Asteroids location near you. And if you have any corrections to the map, please let us know.
Email tim@atariasteroids.net
Thanks!
LA Barcade is back
Posted on September 22, 2010369 N Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Phone: 323-465-5045
LA’s Barcade is back, in its third location, right next door to the old one on Western Ave north of Beverly (369 N Western). No longer Miss T’s Barcade, it is now “The Blipsy.” Their opening night party flier says: “This third installment brings closure to all the questions raised from the previous Barcades. Probably the most complete of the trilogy.”
The bar is now one large room instead of three, blue instead of red, and has liquor in addition to beer. There’s no clear signage on the street: follow the pac-man dots to the door.
The Asteroids machine here is still our favorite. For more info, read the original LA Barcade Recon.
Recon: Barcade (Brooklyn)
Posted on July 08, 2010388 Union Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211 (map)
Phone: 718-302-6464
Website: www.barcadebrooklyn.com
This bar/arcade is a block from the Metropolitan Ave G Train in Williamsburg, with a serious emphasis on both bar and arcade. It’s a large space lined with classic games in excellent condition, plus a healthy selection of craft beers on tap. A Barcade High Scores board hangs above the games, and they host special beer and game events (like Wiimbleton) from time to time. There are tables in the back, and drink-rests between the games. It’s a good atmosphere, although sometimes too crowded to pull a quarter from your pocket.
The Asteroids machine is in great shape with a brilliant display, although the buttons are heavier than average and require strong wrists and fingers. Also, the high score table doesn’t reset when the power’s off, so you’d need to break 469,160 to enter your name.
At the time of writing, John McAllister (ELF) tops the house Asteroids chart with 2,222,240 points, set one month before he broke the 28 year-old world record in April, 2010, with a score of 41,838,740.
Barcade Brooklyn - Asteroids in center.
Recon: Super Bear Arcade
Posted on February 05, 200940755 Village Drive
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315 (map)
Phone: 909-866-8620
Super Bear Arcade is a small arcade on the main street of this Southern California mountain resort town. It’s packed with classic games including Frogger, Super Mario Brothers, several forms of Donkey Kong, Tron, and Discs of Tron (sit-down). It also has skeeball with cheap plastic prizes.
Their Asteroids (1979) is set to fast mode, and starts with 4 ships — good for getting a high score quickly, if you’re full of sugar from the ice cream places in town. One drawback is that the screen has a lot of glare from the overhead lights.
[UPDATE] — Super Bear Arcade is CLOSED! See the comment below.
Asteroids at the Super Bear Arcade.
Recon: Santa Cruz Boardwalk
Posted on January 28, 2009Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
400 Beach Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (map)
Phone: 831-423-5590
website: http://beachboardwalk.com/02_casino_arcade.html
This is a fun place, with a roller coaster on the beach outside, an excellent two-story pirate mini-golf course inside, and a respectable collection of older (not antique) pinball machines.
There are two Asteroids consoles and one Asteroids Deluxe. The Casino Arcade building has a small room with a dozen or so very early arcade games, including several other vector games (Tempest, Battlezone, Star Wars). This is where Asteroids Deluxe lives. This console has a weak monitor, and the image breaks up at the edges.
One 1979 Asteroids game is near the vintage game room, right by the shooting gallery. This one is in OK shape, except that the hyperspace button only works half the time. The contact probably needs to be cleaned.
The other Asteroids console is in a arcade room next door in Neptune’s Kingdom (mini-golf). This one is surrounded by more modern games, and the whole place is a bit loud for serious asteroid destruction. I don’t remember much about the machine itself because I was so distracted.
Vector games in the classic arcade room in Santa Cruz.
Asteroids Deluxe in the Casino Arcade at the Boardalk.
Recon: Ms T’s Barcade (LA)
Posted on November 15, 2008371 N Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90004 (map)
Phone: 323-465-5045
LA’s Barcade is a great dive bar with 80′s toys lining the walls. There are three rooms: the bar, the DJ room, and the back room with pinball and Asteroids. Sometimes the place is empty. Sometimes it’s packed. They have movie night (80′s classics) on Tuesday if you show up early. It’s a small but solid collection of classic games, and one of my favorite places in LA. It’s also the best Asteroids machine I’ve played to date. It has great button response and a brilliant display.
The only signage is a neon Pac-Man ghost, a block north of Beverly on Western, across from that giant modern KFC.
The excellent Asteroids console in the back room of Ms T's Barcade.
[Sept 21, 2009 update: Barcade has moved next door, and is now called The Blipsy"]
