At the time of writing this, it’s 11:33 on a Saturday night. I’ve driven over 5 hours today round trip, my neck and back are sore, and I’m drained from being on the road most of the day.
What would drive me to endure a day’s worth of mild discomfort like this? (images ahead!)
Scohy Bros’ Flashback Arcade. I planned on taking the trip for almost a month and boy, it was worth every mile. This place is a time capsule that harnesses the full arcade experience of the early to mid-1980’s. Nothing I had heard or seen had done this place proper justice. Someday, it will be a West Virginia landmark and a hotspot for retro gamers nationwide.
My wife and I pulled up to this nice two-story home in a seemingly normal neighborhood, not really knowing what to expect. The sign outside and a couple of non-operational cabinets sitting on the deck was an indicator that something special was inside. The windows of the place are hard to see through and it makes the suspense that much stronger.
We walked around to the side of the house where the entrance was and opened the door. The second that door opens, 2017 is gone and 1983 is here with a vengeance. The dim lights, accompanied by the racket made by the pinball machines in collaboration with the noise from the arcade cabinets hit you right between the eyes and overload your senses in the most awesome way.
Owner Stephen Scohy greets you at the entrance for fees. It’s 10 bucks a person and that 10 bucks allows for unlimited plays on every machine in the arcade. It’s a killer deal and up until the time we left we more than got our monies worth.
For the first ten minutes we were there, my wife and I didn’t play anything. We spent the time just taking in everything around us. It’s so overwhelming that you don’t really know where to start. The arcade easily doubles as a gaming museum. So many classic games fill up every room and run as good as they did in their prime.
Aside from the games, you have a lot of little touches that strive to make this place as amazing as possible. 5-foot statue of Freddy Krueger next to the Nightmare on Elmstreet pinball machine? Check. 80’s movie posters of greats like The Breakfast Club and Back To The Future throughout the arcade? Check. Flatscreen TVs hooked to an intercom system blasting tunes from live Journey concerts? Check. A model train that runs along the ceilings as you’re playing? Check! Mr. Scohy put a lot of love into this place and it shows.
Speaking of which, during out walk-around, Stephen came and checked on us and asked us how we liked the place. I was honest and told him it almost brought a tear to my eye, which got a laugh out of him. I asked him how long he had been collecting this stuff and he said over 20 years and that he had more machines at home! He was surprised when we told him how long we had trekked to be there and was really appreciative of us being there. The man and his arcade are West Virginian treasures.
He was kind enough to let us take pictures of every nook and cranny of the place and encouraged us to share. The pictures don’t do this place justice and I encourage people within reasonable distance to make the journey here at least once.
After the shock wore off, I finally started playing some games. I left no stone unturned and played everything the place had to offer. A lot of these games have, by now had some sort of home console release but the home console releases don’t favor these classics like their arcade releases do.
For example, Q*Bert. I know Q*Bert is a classic but aside from the mobile remake, I never could play the NES version and get past the first stage. The D-Pad would send me flying off the edge anytime I got near the sides or bottom of the map because I never could master the controls.
Q*Bert with a joystick however is as smooth as butter and I even made it to level three! A new personal record.
Another example, I’ve always been a fan of Centipede and a couple of its home ports like the Atari 2600 version. All this time, I had been using joystick controls or a circle pad thinking I was getting the full experience. Centipede is nothing without a trackball controller. The freedom of movement is beyond the reach of joysticks and you haven’t lived until you’ve used a trackball controller to play Centipede.
While Q*Bert’s home console release went from smooth to rough, you have a game like Donkey Kong that does the opposite. I always done well on home ports of Donkey Kong. The arcade version however? Madness. I had trouble clearing the final board. They’re so many darned fireballs everywhere that chase you, I died twice just trying to clear it. Much respect to the world champions of this game.
A couple new gems I had never played but fell in love with were Wizard of Wor and Tron. Wizard of Wor plays kind of like Pac Man, except you’re the ghosts and you shoot the enemies. Tron took some time to get used to but once I got the hang of it’s joystick + twist-knob controls I had a blast. I can also say that Tron has the most beautiful cabinet i’ve ever seen. It’s lit up with a blacklight and the art on the cabinet is complemented by the blacklight to give off a glowing look. I wish I had got more pictures of it.
Let’s not forget the pinball machines. I LOVE pinball and it’s a rare treat that I don’t get to enjoy often. My favorite was easily the “KISS” machine and the much older “Butterfly”. I played more pinball than arcade games, surprisingly. Pinball is so addictive, the sounds, the art and mechanics are all things of wonder that I hope never completely go away.
I feel the need to mention that this age of arcade gaming always has gimmicks like tickets and prize walls and all of that junk. It’s ok for stuff like Chuck E Cheese but it was so refreshing going into this place and seeing that the games and high-scores were the main feature and games didn’t simply serve as a means to earn tickets for cheap prizes.
Every game, every pinball machine was all about high scores. You had your daily high-scores, then you had your all time high-scores, in which Mr. Scohy would proudly immortalize your name and score and place it at the top of wherever you made your achievement. I was able to get a couple daily high-scores but I am just a mortal and I couldn’t reach the heights of some of these feats that those before me had pulled off. The spirit of competition is alive and well and I loved it.
On our way out, I shook Mr. Scohy’s hand and thanked him for the experience. I was so bummed that I almost went back in, once we got near the car. I had a blast and I hope this place grows bigger than what it is. If you’re in the area or are bored and wanna take a road trip one weekend, give it a visit and tell the owner I said “hey”.
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