LEGENDS NEVER DIE

Excitebike: 8-Bit Dirt, Big Air and a Touchy Engine at Arcade 92 Before racing games had online multiplayer, realistic physics, licensed vehicles, and cinematic cutscenes, there was Excitebike — a game that gave you a dirt bike, a track full of ramps, and one very important life lesson: If your engine overheats, you are absolutely going to regret it. Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s, Excitebike became one of those classic games that instantly made s

The 90s One-Hit Wonders That Still Live Rent-Free in Our Brains The 1990s were a magical time for music. It was the decade where grunge, alternative rock, pop punk, hip-hop, ska, dance music, and weird radio experiments all somehow shared the same airwaves. You could hear Nirvana, TLC, Green Day, Ace of Base, Alanis Morissette, and Coolio all in the same afternoon and nobody thought that was strange. But hidden between the superstars and the legends was another special catego

The Matrix: The Movie That Put the Perfect Bookend on the 90s In 1999, as the world was counting down to Y2K and wondering whether computers were about to either save civilization or completely destroy it, The Matrix arrived in theaters and gave the decade the ending it deserved. It was stylish. It was paranoid. It was cyberpunk. It was philosophical. It wore black leather, sunglasses, and trench coats like a uniform. It asked big questions about technology, identity, control

Paperboy: The Most Dangerous Newspaper Route in Arcade History Before push notifications, before breaking news alerts, and before your phone told you everything happening in the world, there was one hero delivering information the old-fashioned way: a kid on a bike, armed with newspapers, questionable aim, and nerves of steel. That hero was Paperboy. Released by Atari Games in 1985, Paperboy turned one of the most ordinary jobs imaginable into one of the most chaotic arcade e

The 90s Photo Quest: Taking Your Film to the Store and Hoping for the Best Before every phone had a camera, before selfies had retakes, and before anyone could take 400 pictures of their lunch, photography was an adventure. In the early 90s, taking a picture meant commitment. You had a camera, a roll of film, maybe 24 or 36 chances, and absolutely no idea if any of those photos were good until days later. Every click mattered. Every blurry birthday party. Every family vacatio

DOOM: Battling the Demons of Hell With Friends… Unless Mom Picked Up the Phone to Call Grandma and Kicked You Off the Dial-Up Modem...Doom at Arcade 92 Before modern shooters had loadouts, battle passes, cinematic cutscenes, and fourteen different buttons for crouching dramatically behind cover, there was DOOM. And DOOM did not knock politely. Released in 1993, the original DOOM was fast, loud, violent, chaotic, and absolutely unforgettable. It dropped players onto the moons

When Asteroids Got an Upgrade Button...Blasteroids at Arcade 92 Some arcade games whisper. Blasteroids kicks open the airlock, fires the laser cannons, and asks if you brought a friend. Released by Atari Games in the late 1980s, Blasteroids took the classic Asteroids formula and gave it a serious arcade power-up. The original Asteroids was all about simple, brilliant survival: one ship, one screen, a field full of space rocks, and the terrifying realization that every asteroi

The Delicious Orange "Cheese" Dust of the 90s...Relive the 90s at Arcade 92 Some snacks are just snacks. Doritos were not one of them. In the 1990s, Doritos were everywhere. They were at sleepovers, birthday parties, school lunches, movie nights, road trips, and especially anywhere a video game controller was involved. If there was a Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, PlayStation, or Nintendo 64 fired up in the living room, there was a very good chance a bag of Doritos was within

Transformers Rolls Out Again: Stern Pinball Brings Autobots and Decepticons Back to the Arcade at Arcade 92 Autobots, roll out! One of the biggest names in 1980s pop culture is transforming again, and this time it is not on a cartoon screen, movie screen, or toy shelf. It is heading straight to the pinball playfield. Stern Pinball is releasing a brand-new Transformers pinball machine, TRANSFORMERS: More Than Meets the Eye, and for fans of classic arcades, Saturday morning car

From Dial-Up Dreams to Digital Worlds: How the Early Internet Changed Everything There was a moment in the early 1990s when the world started making a strange new sound. It was not a guitar riff. It was not a movie theme. It was not the opening music to a Saturday morning cartoon. It was a modem. That screeching, buzzing, robotic handshake meant something was happening. A computer somewhere in your house was reaching out through the phone line and connecting to something much

Zaxxon: The Game That Faked 3D and Blew Our Mind (at Arcade 92) Before 3D graphics became normal, before home consoles could throw entire worlds at us, and before every game had a tutorial explaining exactly what to do, there was Zaxxon. And Zaxxon did not care if you were ready. Released by Sega in the early 1980s, Zaxxon was one of those arcade games that immediately looked different from everything around it. At a time when many space shooters were still moving left, right

Saturday Morning Cartoons: A Bowl of Cereal and the Fate of the Universe Hanging in the Balance There was a time when Saturday morning felt sacred. Before streaming. Before YouTube. Before every show was available on demand at any hour of the day. Saturday morning was the main event. You woke up early, poured yourself a bowl of cereal, sat way too close to the TV, and waited for the theme songs to hit. The week may have belonged to school, homework, chores, and bedtime, but S

Shinobi: The Arcade Ninja Classic That Still Hits Hard at Arcade 92 Before ninjas were everywhere in video games, before every action hero had wall jumps, throwing stars, stealth attacks, and dramatic sword strikes, there was Shinobi. Released by Sega in the late 1980s, Shinobi became one of those arcade games that immediately grabbed your attention. It had style. It had speed. It had danger. And most importantly, it made players feel like they had stepped into the role of a

Is Call of Duty Finally Going Back to What Made It Great? For longtime Call of Duty fans, there is something special about the early days of the franchise. Before the wild skins, the exaggerated movement, and the constant chase for trends, Call of Duty felt grounded. It felt intense. It felt like you were stepping into a cinematic war story where every mission mattered. Call of Duty 1 was amazing. It introduced a generation of gamers to what a large-scale, cinematic military

Primal Rage at Arcade 92: The Dinosaur Fighting Game That Stomped Through the ’90s Arcade Scene In the 1990s, arcades were ruled by fighting games. Street Fighter II had players mastering combos, Mortal Kombathad crowds gathering around brutal finishers, and every arcade seemed to have that one cabinet where people lined up to prove who was the best. Then came Primal Rage — a fighting game that looked at all of that and said, “What if the fighters were giant dinosaurs and mas

While Mortal Kombat Ruled the Arcades, Beanie Babies Started a Different Kind of Mall Battle 90s Nostalgia In the 1990s, there were a few things that could instantly define your childhood: Saturday morning cartoons, Super Nintendo, trips to the arcade, Lunchables, Capri Sun pouches, and somewhere in the middle of it all… a pile of Beanie Babies sitting on a shelf like they were rare museum artifacts. Beanie Babies were not just stuffed animals. They were a full-blown cultural

Capri Sun: The Iconic Pouch, the Impossible Straw, and the Summer Vibes of the ’80s and ’90s There are certain sounds that instantly take you back to being a kid: the ice cream truck in the distance, the click of a Nintendo cartridge, the buzz of an arcade cabinet warming up, and that unmistakable little pop when someone finally stabbed a straw into a Capri Sun pouch. Capri Sun was more than just a drink. It was a full childhood experience. The drink itself started in Germany

Star Fox and the Super FX chip that changed the 90’s and Beyond. Legends Never Die at Arcade 92! Before Fox McCloud became one of Nintendo’s most recognizable heroes, before players were shouting “Do a barrel roll!” at their friends, and before Star Fox 64 became a Nintendo 64 classic, there was the original Star Fox on the Super Nintendo. Released in 1993, Star Fox landed right in the middle of early ’90s gaming culture, a time when arcades were still loud, colorful, and pac

Lunch Table Legends to Global Domination: How Pokémon Took Over the ’90s and beyond...Nostalgia at Arcade 92 In the late 1990s, before many kids ever powered on a Game Boy, Pokémon was already taking over lunch tables everywhere—one card at a time. The release of the Pokémon Trading Card Game turned school cafeterias into battle arenas. Kids weren’t just collecting cards—they were strategizing, trading, and competing. Holographic Charizards became playground legends, and the

Saddle Up and Squad Up: Sunset Riders - The 4-Player Wild West Showdown at Arcade 92 If you walked into an arcade in the early ’90s and heard the crack of gunfire, the gallop of horses, and a voice shouting “Bury me with my money!”, chances are you had just stumbled upon Sunset Riders—one of the most iconic cooperative arcade experiences of its era. Developed by Konami and released in 1991, Sunset Riders dropped players straight into a high-energy, Wild West showdown where ou