At a time when most amusement arcades consist of little more than rows of fruit machines and large ‘penny pushers’ containing mainly plastic tat, it is so exciting to find these old arcade cabinets, tucked away in the back of some arcades. These poor machines exist ‘out of time’ and probably neglected by most people but we hoped that we could track some down and experience some ‘old-school’ arcade action.

Great Yarmouth holds fond memories for me, growing up in Norfolk, countless summers were spent trawling through the many arcades, being mesmerised by the bright lights and loud noises. Of course back in those days the cabinets were lined up in rows and each would try to entice you (and your 10p coins) with their attract modes. I remember the massive attack on your sense as I first entered an arcade. Ah, bliss.

The holiday season was still some months away so it was eerily quiet as we ventured down Regent Street, after a short walk from the train station. It has to be said that that March on the Norfolk coast is not recommended for casual visitors, the grey skies and icy cold wind was testament to this fact. But as we battled onwards we turned on Marine Parade we could see the distant lights of the arcades, I was was reminded of the song ‘Echo Beach’ by Martha & the Muffins, with the lyrics ‘buildings in the distance, a surrealistic sight’. Although not all arcades were opened yet, the bright lights of the ones that had opened where a contrast to the grey and dreary surroundings. After negotiating the building work which was taking place, we reached our first arcade.

Our first stop was the Majestic, with it’s large ‘Bingo’ sign. As we walked around it become apparent how much fruit machines has taken over. We found a small group of machines huddled together on the left side of the arcade. Although none of these were ‘classics’, we found a Sega ‘Virtual Tennis’ (1999), Namco ‘Time Crisis’ (1996), Sega ‘Star Wars Trilogy’ (1998), Namco ‘Crisis Zone’ (1999), Midway ‘Hydro Thunder’ (1999), and the amusing Williams ‘Revenge From Mars’ (1999) pinball table. Not exactly an Aladdin’s Cave of retro goodness but it was early days. So as we left the warmth of the Majestic, to brave the cold winds once more, we hoped the next arcade would be more exciting.

The next stop was Leisureland. This is a strange arcade as it is split into two seperate buildings. Much like the Majestic, this had several older machines together along one wall and was surrounded by fruit machines. This arcade was larger and geared towards sit-down racers, with a two-seater Namco ‘Ridge Racer’ (1993) – although it was actually running ‘Ridge Racer 2’ (1994) – and Sega’s massive three-screen behemoth ‘Ferrari F335 Challenge’ (1999). Along the same wall was a Namco ‘Time Crisis 3’ (2003) and a Namco ‘Maximum Tune’ (2004). As we continued to explore Leisureland, we found something hidden away at the back of the arcade, it was Namco’s ‘Point Blank’ (1993) , which was a pleasant surprise/ There was also another large two-seater racing game that was unplugged and being cleaned, but I didn’t record what it was.

As we continued along the parade, we found that the next few arcade operators were not willing to allow us to take photos of their machines, and one actually suggested we should pay him for the privilege! To be honest there wasn’t really anything of note anyway. We found an Atari ‘Gauntlet Legends’ (1998), ‘Sega Rally Championship (1995), and several others that we had already seen in the other arcades.

There was one mystery machine which was titled ‘Dragon’s Lair 20th Anniversary Edition’. I have done some research into this and apparently there is a company called ‘Ultracade Technologies’, based in America, that supply either pre-installed 27″ cabinets or conversion kits to convert old Jamma cabinets into multi-game arcade systems. The pack contains the replacement artwork for the cabinet side panels, marquee, and control panel, as well as new buttons and joysticks. The so-called ‘computer system’ has Jamma connectivity with all the cables and instructions. The game pack comes with 86 classic games including 1942, Bombjack, Asteroids, Ghost n’ Goblins, Mr Do!, Street Fighter II, Moon Cresta, and many more. Additional game packs can be bought, including Midway Arcade Treasures and the Dragons Lair Anniversary pack.

The Ultracade system was quite an exciting prospect and would have allowed us ‘retro gamers’ to have been able to play some ‘classic’ games in the local arcade, with a proper cabinet and joystick(s), in an age where it is hard to justify the space taken up by the older machines. Unfortunately, since this article was created, it appears that Ultracade has been closed down. David R Foley (the original founder of Ultracade) was accused of selling counterfeited games packs for the Ultracade, back in 2009. They had tried to sell the technology to Global VR but the transaction never happened).

Back to our visit now… There was little of note found elsewhere. A few of the arcades had not opened yet and one had, unfortunately, closed down. We decided to call it a day and headed back to the station to catch our train back to Norwich. On the journey home, we mulled over what we had found and it does seem that the really old machines are not longer able to justify their existence against the money-making fruit machines and newer ‘novelty’ gun games and sit-down racers. It was interesting to think that the oldest games we found were released around the same time as the PlayStation was launched in the home console market. It seems that the old classics are only to be found in the smaller coastal resorts or in the hands of collectors and enthusiasts who can return they to their formal glory.

As it was a little early in the year, we will be back in the summer. There will be a ‘Retro Summer Special’ article coming up, including Yarmouth, Cromer, Wells, and, Hunstanton. If anybody out there intends to visit any of the arcades in Norfolk, and would like to submit their finding to us, please feel free to email in using the ‘Join Us’ button, and we will include it in our summer special article. Images are also very welcome.

Happy gaming, retro fans!

Article by Gary Skipper, images by Jops. March 2006 (revised June 2014 & December 2024)