Showing posts with label Amusement Arcades. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amusement Arcades. Show all posts

Monday, March 11, 2024

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze

Playing The Crystal Maze game at CC2000, near Narbeth, Wales.


The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

Challenge TV are showing repeats of The Crystal Maze every weekday evening at 6pm and I'm addicted to watching it. It was a staple of my childhood and teenage years, and it would've been brilliant to go on the show. Perhaps I should apply if and when a new series is made.

Rewatching the show has reminded me of our holiday around the Welsh coast in 2009 when we took a break from playing Crazy Golf to visit the Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre - where we entered The Crystal Maze!

At that time it was the last remaining Cyberdrome Crystal Maze game in the UK. Sadly it closed for good in June 2010. It would've been brilliant to return for a few more games there.

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze was absolutely awesome to play. More of them should have been built back in the day. There were a total of eight built - five in the UK, two in Japan, and one in Dubai.

Just like the TV show, games were played in four themed zones - Aztec, Futuristic Medieval, and Ocean. But unlike the TV, show players were guided around the maze by Merlin - a computerised Maze Master.

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
Being set a task by Merlin

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
Aztec Zone

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
Futuristic Zone

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
Medieval Zone

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
Ocean Zone

We managed to win six of the nine games we played, and in the Crystal Dome itself we collected 103 Gold and 28 Silver 'tokens' for a grand total of 75. So we didn't win the the "super-duper" prize, but we were first on the leaderboard for the day and got 1st of 1 on our souvenir certificate!

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
Inside the Crystal Dome

At that time the Cyberdrome Crystal Maze was the closest you could get to playing the real Crystal Maze. Now you can play The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience in London and Manchester. We Manchester venue is so close, we really ought to get a team together for a game there.

Photos of The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in Tenby


The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze at Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre in Narbeth, Tenby, Wales. 17th August 2009
The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

Thursday, March 07, 2024

Adventure Golf at Jimmy G's amusement arcade in Leysdown

A new Adventure Golf course is planned for Leysdown-on-Sea, Isle of Sheppey.


A new Adventure Golf course is planned for Leysdown-on-Sea, Isle of Sheppey

The new adventure golf course at Jimmy G’s Amusements on The Promenade in Leysdown will be created as part of a refurbishment of the amusement arcade.

Visit the Jimmy G's Amusements website for more information.


It'll be another course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl, Wales

A revisit to the Palace Fun Centre Mini Golf course in Rhyl, North Wales.


Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl, Wales

We swung by the indoor Mini Golf course at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl on our day trip to the seaside resort yesterday.

Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl, Wales


Monday, December 20, 2021

Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl

Revisiting the Palace Fun Centre Mini Golf course in Rhyl, North Wales.


Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl
Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl

We took a look at the indoor Mini Golf course at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl on our day trip to the seaside resort on Saturday.

Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl
Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl

Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl
Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl

Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl
Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl

Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl
Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl

Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl
Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl

Indoor Mini Golf at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl
Sign of the pandemic times at the Mini Golf course at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl

The course was the 523rd played and 911th visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in June 2019.

The last time either of us were in Rhyl was when I had a day out there in September 2019! Crazy to think as it's one of our most local seaside towns.

Related blog posts:

Thursday, September 03, 2020

The 'Simpsons'

This is some of the best worst Simpsons bootleggery I've seen.

The Simpsons amusement arcade prizes
Not the best prizes in the world

Friday, May 22, 2020

Wac-Man Crazy Golf

A look at the 'Wac-Man' minigolf hole at Joe Joe Jim's Crazy Crazy Golf course inside Fletcher's Arcade in Cofton Hackett, South Birmingham.


Wac-Man Crazy Golf

We played Joe Joe Jim's Crazy Crazy Golf course in August 2018. The 9-hole indoor layout was the 829th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The course at Fletcher's Arcade and game-play has to be seen and experienced to be believed. It really is Crazy Crazy Golf!

Thursday, March 05, 2020

Creative Folkestone Triennial to feature Crazy Golf

The Creative Folkestone Triennial art festival will feature a Crazy Golf course.


Folkestone in 2010


Folkestone will play host to the fifth Folkestone Triennial with 20 artworks being set up around the seaside town in Kent.


One of those will be amusement arcade and crazy golf-themed.


The artist genuinefake (Rachel Stella Jenkins) will be setting up a pavilion with an amusement arcade and crazy golf course on the site of the old Rotunda amusement arcades.

The Creative Folkestone Triennial, formerly the Folkestone Triennial, takes place between Saturday 5th September and Sunday 8th November 2020.

Find out more on the Creative Folkestone Triennial website.

It's not the first time that Crazy Golf has been a part of the Folkestone Triennial. The first edition saw the 18 Holes Crazy Golf art installation created by Richard Wilson. This permanent artwork was made using the old Arnold Palmer Putting Course from The Rotunda to resemble three beach huts!

18 Holes Crazy Golf art installation created by Richard Wilson
18 Holes Crazy Golf art installation created by Richard Wilson in Folkestone

18 Holes Crazy Golf art installation created by Richard Wilson in Folkestone
What a wonderful use of an old minigolf course

18 Holes Crazy Golf art installation created by Richard Wilson in Folkestone
A nice view

It was nice to see the old minigolf course used for something as the site of The Rotunda resembled a desolate wasteland when we visited in 2010.

The Rotunda in Folkestone
The Rotunda in Folkestone

Monday, December 23, 2019

Arcade Club in Leeds

A visit to Arcade Club in Leeds.


We visited the new Arcade Club venue in Leeds yesterday. What a place!


Earlier this year we visited the original Arcade Club in Bury and were very impressed by the selection of games on offer to play.


Arcade Club in Leeds
Always nice to visit Pac-Land

Once you've paid your entry fee (we paid £16 per adult) you get to play hundreds of games all set on free play.

Arcade Club in Leeds
Three floors of fun

It's an amazing place to spend anything from a few hours to a whole day.

Arcade Club in Leeds
A very small selection of the hundreds of games available to play

As someone who grew up going to arcades in the 80's and 90's it's superb to relive those memories by playing arcade classics like Pac-Land, The New Zealand Story and Bubble Bobble. But I also really like the fact there are games available that I'd only had a glimpse of back in the day, or those that were out of my price range to play.

Arcade Club in Leeds
Pac-Land

One of those was The Last Bounty Hunter, a live-action on-rails LaserDisc light-gun game. Back in the day it would've been one of the expensive 50p or a pound a go games I could only dream of playing. Watching older players pumping the machine full of money while firing away at a selection of bad guys and then seeing the really cheesy cut scenes as the actors die is indelibly burned on my mind like screen burn on a CRT monitor.

Arcade Club in Leeds
The Last Bounty Hunter

I easily got my money's worth by playing The Last Bounty Hunter and managed to get to the third stage. I could've spent more time on it but I had to wander and play other games.

The ground level is home to pinball tables, quirky Japanese import games, old racing and driving games and new arcade machines.

As a big fan of Resident Evil games there was one game I spotted and immediately wanted to play. After waiting for some other players to finish their go Emily and I jumped on the Taito game Elevator Action Death Parade. It was brilliant.

Elevator Action Death Parade

We arrived at 11.30am and there was a steady flow of people of all ages into the venue while we were there. Even though it was busy, there was a nice buzz and we never felt cramped in playing machines and there are plenty of games on offer we didn't have to wait long to play any games.

Arcade Club in Leeds
Tempest. I'd never played the arcade game before, but I love the Atari Jaguar version

There were still plenty of games I could've had a go on there but there just wasn't time.

Arcade Club in Leeds
The Neo Geo section

We're looking forward to our next visit to Arcade Club. There will also be a new Arcade Club venue opening in Blackpool next year. Wonderful news.

Arcade Club in Leeds
Bubble Bobble, a true classic

You can find Arcade Club at the Abbey Retail Park in Kirkstall, Leeds.

Arcade Club in Leeds
Arcade Club - retail entertainment done right

Check out the Arcade Club website for more information, opening times and prices.

Arcade Club in Leeds

Monday, December 02, 2019

Retro Arcade in Warrington

A visit to the Retro Arcade in Warrington.


Retro Arcade in Warrington

We've been to quite a few arcades, retro bars and barcades over the last few years and Retro Arcade is easily one of the best.


Retro Arcade in Warrington

As I grew up playing in the amusement arcades of the 1980s and 90s I remember how brilliant it was back then.


I also remember how far I ever managed to get in games. Even though I played back in the days when a game was 10p a go I never had enough money - or patience - to play anything all the way through. I used to love having a go on as many games as I could with my pocket of change. A lot of the time my brothers and I spent in the arcades would be waiting our turn while watching older and better players on the machines. That and making out we were playing while watching the attract screens, the FBI Warning from William S. Sessions and demo modes.

Retro Arcade in Warrington
Just a small selection of the original arcade cabinets available to play

There's a marvellous range of original cabinets at Retro Arcade and when I first walked in it took a few seconds for me to take it all in. Some of the rare titles on offer include Tron and Video Pinball.

Retro Arcade in Warrington
As well as the quirky and rare Video Pinball cabinet Retro Arcade has a number of real pinball machines

For an £8 entry fee you receive unlimited play on stacks of arcade machines. There's also a SEGA Mega Drive, NES and PSone tucked away at the back near the bar area and I enjoyed playing Wardner on the Mega Drive. It's one of my all-time favourite arcade games.

Retro Arcade in Warrington
Retro Arcade has made very good use of the space in the old railway arch

When I got inside I had a quick play on RoboCop and died on level one. I then had a go on Hyper Sports and then had a wander.

Retro Arcade in Warrington
What a game

Retro Arcade in Warrington
What a cool menu

We went to the bar and then I went back to the Data East RoboCop cabinet. As the machines are all set to free play mode I knew this was my opportunity to finally complete the game. And I did. If I had been spending 10p or 20p a go on it I'm certain I would've spent all my pocket money for the month playing the game the way I went through continues.

RoboCop Arcade game at Retro Arcade in Warrington
It's taken me three decades to see this screen

RoboCop Arcade game at Retro Arcade in Warrington
It was worth the wait

After accomplishing a feat 31 years in the making I had a bit of a break before stepping up to play Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Another coin eating beast and certainly a machine to play to get your money's worth at Retro Arcade. I managed to get further than I ever had before but had to give up after quite a while as my trigger finger was getting worn out.

Retro Arcade in Warrington

What really made the experience perfect for me was that you could actually hear the games you were playing. Quite a feat considering all of the sounds coming from dozens of arcade cabinets. There's also a free play jukebox and that was kicking out some superb tunes from the 80's and 90's.

Part of the fun of playing a game is hearing the sound and music of it. So often I've been to an arcade bar only to find that the music at the venue is far too loud and so therefore drowns out the music and sound effects from the game.

The staff on our visit were great and it was fantastic to see a real mix of people enjoying the experience.

Retro Arcade is a must visit venue.

Retro Arcade in Warrington
I'll be back

Check out the Retro Arcade website for more info, opening times and prices.

Retro Arcade in Warrington

Monday, November 25, 2019

Roxy Arcade in Leeds

A visit to the new Roxy Arcade in Leeds.


Roxy Arcade on Merrion Street in Leeds

While we were in Leeds for the Collectorabilia event at the weekend we visited the new Roxy Arcade.


Roxy Arcade on Merrion Street in Leeds

Roxy Arcade on Merrion Street in Leeds
I had a play on Defender, X-Files Pinball, Moon Cresta, Street Fighter II and Track & Field on our visit

Roxy Arcade in Leeds
The downstairs section

Roxy Arcade in Leeds
There are also consoles available to play

The new venue from the Roxy team is next door to the established Roxy Ball Room Merrion Street.

Roxy Arcade on Merrion Street in Leeds
Merrion Street in Leeds

The first Roxy Ball Room we visited was the one on Boar Lane where we played the indoor Crazy Golf course in November 2016.

Roxy Ball Room
Roxy Ball Room venues have a lot of competitive socialising activities

We've also been to Roxy Ball Room in Manchester where we had a brilliant time last New Year's Eve.

There's a Roxy Ball Room in Liverpool we're yet to visit. That venue has a new minigolf course too.

Check out the Roxy Arcade website for more information.

Roxy Arcade on Merrion Street in Leeds

Friday, October 11, 2019

Coral Island amusement arcade in Blackpool

A look at the Coral Island amusement arcade in Blackpool.


Coral Island amusement arcade and a view of the Tower in Blackpool
A view of Coral Island and the Tower

I revisited the excellent Coral Island amusement arcade while in Blackpool yesterday.


Coral Island amusement arcade in Blackpool
The skull at the entrance recently suffered a fire. Luckily it didn't cause any real damage

Coral Island is one of my favourite amusement arcades. We've visited a LOT of arcades on our travels to over 200 seasides in the UK since 2006 and it's the only place we've found to have an Pirate Flyer Laser Gun Indoor Monorail!

The view from the Pirate Flyer Monorail at Coral Island in Blackpool
The view from the Pirate Flyer Monorail

Visit the Coral Island website for more information.

Related blog posts:
- Pirate Flyer Laser Gun Monorail in Blackpool
- Amusement Arcades
- Blackpool