Arcade Paradise (PlayStation 5)

Jeff Gerstmann doesn't shut up about this arcade management game, and it was on sale for 104 DKK, so I got it. I don't know if I'm going to like it.

I showed this to Malu, and she was immediately into working on the laundromat. I knew already it wouldn't be the focus, and focused on buying, setting up, and playing the arcade games. The game clearly took a side in the laundromat/arcade split, as the laundromat income grows very slowly, and the laundromat room is drab and with tedius looping background music, whereas the arcade room quickly becomes colorful and has fun 1990s inspired music.

We have 6 arcade games now, I can't wait to buy more.

We're not mature enough for this game. We ended up playing for 3.5 hours.

Woodgal's Adventure: Malu is working her way through this JRPG-like with Bejeweled-based combat and persistent progression. This doesn't seem inspired by arcade games at all.

Racer Chaser: I like this GTA-inspired Pac-Man clone. You ride a yellow Lamborghini Countach, which is weirdly slow.

Strike Gold!: This is a Mr. Driller-clone. I don't really understand how to play it, much like Mr. Driller.

Blockchain: This is a number-based arcade puzzle with a hacker theme. Obviously the 2010's term 'blockchain' is anachronistic in this game.

Video Air Hockey: An 8-bit-style air hockey simulation.

Stack Overflow: Like 'Strike Gold!', this is one of the more period-accurate games, like a mid-1980s Atari arcade game.

Blockchain: An interesting combo-based arcade puzzle. This is completely anachronistic, could never have existed before the 2000s. The story stuff is inspired by X-Files (1990s, but rarely the subject for arcade games) , the aesthetics is just The Matrix (1999), and the graphics is based on ASCII art (UNIX and DOS games from around 1980, and was not considered cool in the 1990s at all).

Zombat 2: A multidirectional zombie shoot 'em up with a death metal soundtrack. This has a distinctly PC game feel.

Spacerace Simulator: This is an Outrun-inspired checkpoint racing game. The controls feel a little boring with lots of understeering, but otherwise enjoyable. The music track 'Neon Owl' by Zodik is an arrangement of track 3 from Lotus III: The Ultimate Challenge by Patrick Phelan. The Zodik track is available under a Creative Commons license on OpenGameArt.org.

UFO Assault: I was completely caught up in a very long game of this clone of the 1981 game 'Blitz' for the Commodore VIC-20.

Attack Vector: This is a game where you rotate a turret in 4 direction and shoot incoming choppers, perhaps a bit like the 1980 arcade game 'Space Zap', with vector graphics.

Line Terror: This is a clone of Qix with monochrome graphics and a horrible 10 KHz tone that kills my ears.

Cyber Dance: A very boring Dance Dance Revolution-style music game.

Communists From Mars: A direct clone of Missile Command, with even less subtle cold war theming.

We have been completely fixated on this game these days, and played more than 18 hours total. We kept expanding the arcade, and even starting to remove some of the laundromat to make room for more machines. We ended up getting into some legal trouble, and had to sell the arcade and get a factory job sealing sausage boxes. In the end, we ended up getting it back, and replacing the laundromat completely with a giant awesome arcade.

Barkanoid: A clone of Arkanoid, but you're an adorable dachshund. Although Arkanoid physics should be incredibly simple to implement, this game somehow has very rough physics. It doesn't have the random enemies to create variation, and cleaning up the last couple of blocks can get incredibly tedious.

Bombdudes: A game very inspired by Bomberman, with a story mode where you kill enemies and farm lives to proceed. Weirdly, you lose a life when entering a level, and can only hold 4 lives max. Also weirdly, the game just decided to steal all my lives in a row in a certain level.

Blobs from Space: Space Invaders clone with boss fights.

Vostok 2093: This is one of those annoying shoot 'em ups where your bullets are too weak initially, and then you level up, Diablo-style, getting more damage, health, regeneration, critical damage, etc. I ended up playing through the whole game several times, getting all upgrades.

Toad & Turtle: Initially, this is just Frogger, but then you get some weird open levels where you can walk on some water tiles.

We got all the arcade machines, expanded the arcade to the whole building and got a new sign. We can keep playing to unlock goals and trophies.