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Video Walk Through of the Arcade Current Games at Galloping Ghost Pinball

Current Games Here at Galloping Ghost Arcade

• 64th Street – A Detective Story
• 1941 Counter Attack
• 1944 The Loop Master
• Adventures of Robby Roto
• Aero Fighters
• Aero Fighters 2
• Aero Fighters 3
• Aero Fighters Special
• After Burner II
• After Burner Climax
• Alex Kidd – The Lost Stars
• Alien 3 The Gun
• Aliens Armageddon
• Aliens Extermination
• Alien Storm
• Alien Syndrome
• Alien vs Predator
• Alligator Hunt
• Altered Beast
• Arabian Fight
• Arch Rivals
• Arctic Thunder
• Arkanoid Revenge of Doh
• Armadillo Racing
• Arm Champs II
• Armed Police Bat Rider
• Armed Police Unit Gallop
• Armor Attack
• Arm Wrestling
• Art of Fighting
• Art of Fighting 2
• Art of Fighting 3
• Asteroids Deluxe
• Astro Blaster
• Astro Fighter
• Astron Belt
• Atomic Punk 2 Global Quest
• Atomic Robo-Kid
• Batman Forever
• Battle Circuit
• Battle Garegga
• Battle Shark
• Battle Toads
• Beachhead 2000
• Beast Busters
• Beast Busters Second Nightmare
• Beavis and Butthead
• Bermuda Triangle
• Biomechanical Toy
• Bionic Commando
• Bio Ship Paladin
• Black Heart
• Black Tiger
• Black Widow
• Blade Master
• Blasteroids
• Blazing Star
• Blood Brothers
• Blood Storm
• Bloody Wolf
• Blue’s Journey
• Bonanza Bros.
• Bonks Adventure Arcade Version
• Boogie Wings The Great Ragtime Show
• Boomer Rang’r
• B. Rap Boys
• Brave Fire Fighters
• Breakers Revenge
• Bubble Bobble
• Buck Rogers Planet of Zoom
• Bucky O’Hare
• Bump N Jump
• Burger Time
• Burning Force
• Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
• Calorie Kun vs Mogranian
• Cannon Spike
• Capcom vs SNK
• Capcom vs SNK 2 Mark of the Millennium 2001
• Captain America and the Avengers
• Captain Commando
• Carrier Airwing
• Castlevania The Arcade
• Caveman Ninja
• Championship Sprint
• Chelnov Atomic Runner
• Chicken Shift
• Chiki Chiki Boys
• Chicago 1929
• Chimera Beast
• Chinese Exorcist
• Circus Charlie
• City Bomber
• Class of 1981 : Galaga / Ms. Pac Man
• Cliff Hanger
• Cloak & Dagger
• Cobra Command (1984)
• Cobra Command
• Combatribes
• Congo Bongo
• Continental Circuit
• Contra Evolution
• Crater Raider
• Crazy Climber
• Crazy Climber 2
• Crime Fighters
• Crime Patrol
• Crossed Swords
• Cruis’n USA
• Cruis’n World
• Crystal Castles
• Crystal of Kings
• Daikaiju No Gykushu – Giant Monster Counterattack
• Dangar UFO Robo
• Darius Burst EX Another Chronicle
• Darius Gaiden
• Dark Adventure
• Dark Planet
• Darkstalkers
• Daytona USA
• Dead Connection
• Death Brade
• Death Smiles
• Demolition Derby
• Depthcharge
• Desert Assault
• Desert Breaker
• Detana Twin Bee
• Devastators
• Die Hard Arcade
• Dirty Pigskin Football
• Discs of Tron
• Dodonpachi II Bee Storm
• Dodonpachi Daioujou
• Dolphin Blue
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Junior
• Donkey Kong 3
• Double Dragon
• Double Dragon II
• Double Dragon (Neo Geo)
• Double Dribble
• Dragon Ball Z
• Dragon Blaze
• Dragon Breed
• Dragon’s Lair
• Dragon’s Lair II Time Warp
• Dragon Saber
• Dragon Spirit
• Dungeons & Dragon – Shadows Over Mystara
• Dungeons & Dragon – Tower of Doom
• Dynamite Duke
• Dynamite Dux
• Eco Fighters
• Edward Randy The Cliffhanger
• Elevator Action
• Elevator Action II
• Enduro Racer
• Escape From the Planet of the Robot Monsters
• ESWAT Cyber Police
• Express Raider
• Extermination
• Exterminator
• Fallen Angels
• Fantasy Zone
• Fast & the Furious – Super Bikes
• Fast Freddie
• Faster Harder More Challenging Q*Bert
• Fatal Fury 2
• Fatal Fury 3 Road to the Final Victory
• Fighters History Dynamite
• Final Fight
• Final Fight Revenge
• First Funky Fighter
• Fist of the North Star
• Forgotten Worlds
• Gaia Crusaders
• Gain Ground
• Galaga ’88
• Galaxy Fight
• Galaxy Force II
• Galaxy Ranger
• Galloping Ghost Pong
• Garou Mark of the Wolves
• Gate of Doom
• Gauntlet II
• Gauntlet Dark Legacy
• Ghost Pilots
• Ghost Squad
• Ghosts & Goblins
• Ghouls & Ghosts
• Giga Wing 2
• Golden Axe The Duel
• Golden Axe : The Revenge of Death Adder
• Golly Ghost
• Gradius III
• Gradius IV Fukkatsu
• Great 1000 Mile Rally
• The Grid (6x)
• Guardians of the Hood
• Guerrilla War
• Guilty Gear XX Accent Core
• Gunblade NY
• Gun Force II
• Gun Frontier
• Gun Survivor 2 – Biohazard Code Veronica
• Hacha Mecha Fighter
• Half Life 2 Survivor (Ver 2.0)
• Halley’s Comet
• Hammer Away
• Hard Drivin
• Haunted Castle
• Heated Barrel
• Heavy Barrel
• Hit the Ice
• Hopper Robo
• Hopping Mappy
• House of the Dead
• House of the Dead 2
• House of the Dead III
• House of the Dead 4
• Hydro Thunder
• Hyper Drive
• Hyper Sports
• Ikari Warriors
• Ikari III The Rescue
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• In The Hunt
• International Team Laser
• Interstellar
• Invasion The Abductors
• Ironman Ivan Stewart’s Super Off Road
• Jackie Chan The Kung Fu Master
• Jambo Safari
• J.J. Squawkers
• Joe & Mac Return
• Johnny Nero Action Hero
• Jo Jo’s Venture
• Joust 2 Survival of the Fittest
• Jr. Pac Man
• Judge Dredd
• Judge Dredd (Prototype)
• Jungle King
• Jurassic Park
• Jurassic Park – The Lost World
• Karate Champ
• Kid Niki Radical Ninja
• Killer Instinct
• Killer Instinct II
• King Of Dragons
• King Of Fighters 1994
• King Of Fighters 1995
• King Of Fighters 1996
• King Of Fighters 1997
• King Of Fighters 1998
• King Of Fighters 1999
• King Of Fighters 2000
• King Of Fighters 2001
• King Of Fighters 2002
• King Of Fighters 2003
• King Of Fighters NeoWave
• King Of Fighters XI
• King Of Fighters XII
• King Of Fighters XIII
• King Of the Monsters
• King Of the Monsters 2
• Knights of the Round
• Kozmik Krooz’r
• Kung Fu Master
• Kuri Kinton
• LA Machine Guns
• Laser Ghost
• Last Blade 2
• Last Resort
• Left 4 Dead Survivor
• Legendary Wings
• Lethal Enforcers
• Lethal Enforcers II Gunfighters
• Line of Fire
• Liquid Kids
• Lucky & Wild
• Lunar Lander
• Lunar Rescue
• Mace The Dark Age
• Mach Breakers
• Madden NFL Season 2
• Mad Dog McCree II : The Lost Gold
• Mad Planets
• Magical Cat Adventure
• Magical Drop II
• Magical Tetris Challenge
• Magician Lord
• Magic Sword
• Majestic Twelve
• Major Havoc
• Mania Challenge
• Marble Madness
• Mario Bros.
• Mario Kart Arcade GP
• Mars Matrix
• Martial Masters
• Marvel Super Heroes
• Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter
• Marvel vs Capcom
• Marvel vs Capcom 2
• Maximum Force
• Mega Man The Power Battle
• Metal Black
• Metal Slug X
• Metal Slug 3
• Metal Slug 4
• Metal Slug 5
• Metal Slug 6
• Metamorphic Force
• Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker
• Midnight Resistance
• Missile Command
• Missing In Action – MIA
• Mission Craft
• Mister Viking
• Monster Bash
• Monkey Ball
• Monkey Mole Panic
• Moon Cresta
• Moon Patrol
• Moon Shuttle
• Mortal Kombat
• Mortal Kombat II
• Mortal Kombat 3
• Mortal Kombat 4
• Motorace USA
• Mr. Do’s Castle
• Mr. Driller G
• Ms. Pac Man
• Munch Mobile
• Mushihimesama
• Mutation Nation
• Mystic Warriors
• Nastar Warrior
• NBA Jam Tournament Edition
• Nebulas Ray
• Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
• New Zealand Story
• NFL Blitz ’99
• NHL Open Ice
• Night Driver
• Nightmare in the Dark
• Night Slashers
• Night Striker
• Night Warriors – Dark Stalkers Revenge
• Ninja Baseball Batman
• Ninja Clowns
• Ninja Gaiden
• Ninja Spirit
• Ninja Warriors
• No Man’s Land
• Nostradamus
• Numan Athletics
• Oli Boo Chu
• Operation Gunbuster
• Operation Thunderbolt
• Operation Wolf
• Operation Wolf 3
• P-47 Phantom Fighter
• Pandora’s Palace
• Pac & Pal
• Pac Man Plus
• Penguin Brothers
• Peter Pack Rat
• Pigskin 621 AD
• Pit Fall II Lost Caverns
• Pit Fighter
• Pocket Fighter
• Pole Position
• Pole Position II
• Police Trainer
• Police Trainer 2
• Polygonet Commanders
• P.O.W. Prisoners of War
• Power Drift
• Power Drive
• Powered Gear
• Power Stone
• Prehistoric Isle 1930s
• Prehistoric Isle 2
• Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon
• Primal Rage
• Primal Rage II
• Progear Storm of Progia
• Psychic Force 2012
• Puzzle Bobble
• Q*Bert’s Qubes
• Q*Bert Qubes (Horizontal)
• R-360 G-Loc
• Rabbit Punch
• Radiant Silver Gun
• Raiden Fighters
• Raiden Fighters II
• Rainbow Islands – The Story of Bubble Bobble 2
• Rampage World Tour
• Real Ghostbusters
• Rescue Raider
• Revolution X
• Risky Challenge
• Rival Schools : United By Fate
• Road Blasters
• Road Riot 4WD
• Road Runner
• Robotron 2084
• RockMan 2 The Power Fighters
• Roller Games
• Roller Jammer
• Rolling Thunder
• Rolling Thunder 2
• Rumble Fish 2
• Rush N Attack
• Rygar Legendary Warrior
• S.T.U.N. Runner
• Saint Dragon
• Salamander 2
• Samurai Aces
• Samurai Shodown
• Samurai Shodown (2019)
• Samurai Shodown II
• Samurai Shodown III
• Samurai Shodown IV
• Samurai Shodown V Special
• Samurai Shodown VI Tenkaichi Kenkakuden
• San Francisco Rush 2049
• SAR Search and Rescue
• Satan’s Hollow
• Saturday Night Slam Masters
• Savage Quest
• Scrambled Egg
• Scramble Spirits
• Screw Loose
• SegaSonic The Hedgehog
• Sega Strike Fighter
• Sexy Parodius
• Shadow Dancer
• Shadow Force
• Shark Shark Shark
• Shock Troopers
• Shock Troopers 2 2nd Squad
• Side Arms – Hyper Dyne
• Silent Hill The Arcade
• Silent Scope
• Silent Scope 2 : Dark Silhouette
• Skull & Crossbones
• Snacks N Jaxson
• Solar Assault
• Solar Quest
• Solar Warrior
• Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Arcade
• Sonic Championship
• Soul Calibur II
• Space Bomber
• Space Firebird
• Space Fortress Macross
• Space Harrier
• Space Invaders
• Space Invaders Deluxe
• Space Lords
• Spectre Files Deathstalker
• Speed Racer
• Speed Rumbler
• Spinal Breakers
• Splatterhouse
• Spy Hunter II
• SPY Special Project Y
• Star Castle
• Star Jacker
• Star Trek Strategic Operation Simulator
• Star Wars Arcade (1993)
• Star Wars Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars Racer Arcade
• Star Wars Return of the Jedi
• Star Wars Trilogy
• Steel Gunner
• Steel Gunner 2
• Street Fighter
• Street Fighter II Turbo Hyper Fighting
• Street Fighter III 3rd Strike
• Street Fighter V Arcade Edition
• Street Fighter Alpha
• Street Fighter EX Plus
• Street Fighter The Movie
• Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha
• Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper
• Strikers 1945 Plus
• Strikers 1945 III
• Strikeforce
• Stunt Cycle
• Sunset Riders
• Super Baseball 2020
• Super Burgertime
• Super Cobra
• Super Contra
• Super Dodgeball
• Super Hang On
• Super High Impact
• Super Monaco GP
• Super Muscle Bomber GP
• Super Pac Man
• Super Punch Out
• Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
• Super Street Fighter II X Grand Master Challenge
• Super Zaxxon
• Surprise Attack
• SVC Chaos – SNK vs Capcom
• Tatsunoko vs Capcom
• Tattoo Assassins
• Tech Romancer
• Tecmo Knight
• Teddy Boy Blues
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Turtles in Time
• Tekken Tag Tournament
• Tenchi Wo Kurau II : Sekiheki No Tatakai
• Terminator 2 Judgment Day
• Terra Cresta
• Terra Force
• Tetris The Grand Master
• Three Stooges
• Th Strikes Back
• Thunder Blade
• Thundercade
• Thunder Cross
• Thunder Force AC
• Thunder Hoop
• Thunder Jaws
• Time Crisis
• Time Killers
• Time Pilot ’84
• Time Soldiers
• Time Traveler
• Toobin’
• Top Hunter Roddy & Cathy
• Total Carnage
• Track & Field
• Tranquilizer Gun
• Tricycle San
• Trog (Prototype)
• Tunnel Hunt
• Turkey Shoot
• Twin Cobra II
• Twin Eagle II
• Twinklestar Sprites
• Uchuu Daisakusen Chocovader Contactee
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
• Ultra Street Fighter IV
• Ultra Toukon Densetsu
• Ultra X Weapons
• Undercover Cops
• U.N. Squadron
• Up’N Down
• USAAF Mustang
• Valkyrie No Densetsu
• Vampire Savior
• Vampire Savior 2
• Vapor Trail
• Vicious Circle
• Victory Road
• Vindicators
• Violent Storm
• Viper Phase 1
• Virtua Fighter
• Virtua Fighter 2
• Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution
• Virtua Racing
• Vritra Hexa
• VS Castlevania
• VS Super Mario Bros.
• War Final Assault
• Warrior Blade : Rastan Saga Episode III
• Waku Waku 7
• Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey
• Wild West Cowboys of Moo Mesa
• Wild Western
• Wind Jammers
• Wizard of Wor
• World Heroes
• World Heroes 2
• World Rally
• Wrestle War
• WWF Super Stars
• WWF Wrestlefest
• WWF Wrestlemania
• Wyvern Wings
• X-Men Children of the Atom
• X-Men vs Street Fighter
• Xeno Crisis
• Xevious 3D-G
• Yie Ar Kung Fu
• Yokai Dochuuki – Shadowland
• Zero Gunner
• Zing Zing Zip
• Zombie Raid

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Marvel vs. Street Fighter

Mortal Kombat 2

Ms. Pac-Man

NFL Blitz 2-Player

Neo Geo 111 in 1 Multicade

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Pole Position

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

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Michael J. Seidlinger

Galloping Ghost Gives Arcade Gaming an Extra Life

Arcades occupy a unique place in video game history. In the late 1970s and 1980s, a string of hits like Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong ushered in new gameplay mechanics and bright, crispy pixel graphics. The 1990s featured the fighting game boom with Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat , and Virtua Fighter demonstrating cutting-edge graphics and gameplay. 

It was the place to be, a time when the cutting edge in video games, from texture-mapped polygonal graphics to peripheral control inputs (including steering wheels, light guns, and dance-mats), could only be found crammed into immaculately designed cabinets, complete with their showy bezels and marquees. Arcades dodged hardware limitations largely due to their ability to optimize the hardware specifically to play one single game. Home consoles and computers hadn’t yet caught up.

But as technology advanced, the cutting edge found its way to a new generation of console hardware—most notably in the late 1990s with the launch of the sixth generation of consoles, including the PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, and Sega Dreamcast. Then online gaming took off, further fueling the demise of arcades. These days, you’ll still find some arcade cabinets in Dave and Busters and Chuck E. Cheese. Of course, the real arcades were often dark, cramped, and sweaty, with the odor of overheated circuitry. Trying to find one nowadays proves a difficult task, but there’s hope!

In the quiet suburbs outside of Chicago, Galloping Ghost Arcade aims to preserve this unique period of gaming history by collecting an impressive lineup of cabinets. It makes sense that Galloping Ghost Arcade found its home in Brookfield, Illinois. It’s right in the middle of a burgeoning arcade gaming scene, with people passionate about retro games. Chicago had once been the headquarters of arcade heavyweights Gottlieb, Bally, Midway, and other prominent arcade publishers of the ’90s. As of this publication, the arcade offers upwards of 851 games (and counting!).

Galloping Ghost began in 1994 when Doc Mack, owner and founder, had a chance encounter with Mortal Kombat cocreator Ed Boon. A lifelong gamer at heart, Mack wanted to become a game developer. “[Boon] told me how hard it would be to get into the industry,” Mack says. “So I went off and did my own thing.” That same do-it-yourself attitude would prove the essential fuel that drives his company. He was only 18 years old when he founded Galloping Ghost with the intention of developing his own fighting game, Dark Presence . Though the title hasn’t been released to date, Mack’s company never slowed down, contributing to multiple projects, including Galloping Ghost Arcade.

The arcade’s origin story began on an arcade location tracker website called Aurcade. Mack thought joining in on local Chicago arcade culture would be a worthwhile endeavor. “We thought we’d contribute a bunch of data, which would help our own production by finding out where we’d be selling our arcade games.”

Mack scoured bars, restaurants, and various other businesses looking for arcade cabinets. In his search, he made a sobering discovery. “So many of the machines weren’t playable—buttons and sticks didn’t work, the cathode-ray tube monitors were all faded,” Mack says. Most of the cabinets were in a state of disrepair, once-prized technology left to fall apart in the corner of a laundromat or shoved near the restrooms of a family restaurant. But, Mack says, “It got me writing the business model for what would become Galloping Ghost Arcade.”

Mack found a Craigslist advertisement selling 114 machines, all stored and neglected in a warehouse in Dennison, Iowa. “We drove out there, talked to the guy, and found out he had another warehouse full of games in Tennessee.” Mack added another 87 machines to Galloping Ghost’s collection; these cabinets formed the basis of the arcade’s August 13th, 2010 grand opening. “We opened with 130 machines, and since then it’s been nonstop, constantly expanding the arcade.”

Among Mack’s 851 acquisitions (and counting), there are bound to be some rarities and one-of-a-kind machines, including prototypes of unreleased titles. Primal Rage was a one-on-one dinosaur-themed fighting game developed by Atari Games in 1994 to compete directly with Mortal Kombat II and other fighting games of that time. Its success led Atari Games to quickly jump into developing a sequel. That game would have been Primal Rage II , but it was shelved after Midway bought Atari Games. Midway developed Mortal Kombat , and the Primal Rage II ’s cancellation was likely a move to squash any competition with the company’s pride and joy franchise.

Julian Chokkattu

Steven Levy

Thor Benson

“There were so many rumors circulating about Primal Rage II being bad,” Mack says. Rumors that the game was nearly finished at the time of its cancellation spread across the internet, but hopeful fans heard nothing for over a decade.  During a Mortal Kombat 9 tournament in which Galloping Ghost Arcade sponsored a team of gamers from the Midwest, Tom Brady, a competitor, visited the arcade and quickly fell in love. “He told me he had Primal Rage II ,” Mack says with a laugh. “I didn’t believe him. He told me if he ever sold it, he would sell it to me because he wanted people to play it.” A month or two later, Mack got a call from Brady. Sure enough, it was real. The game build was made for on-location beta testing. “There are probably five boards out there,” Mack says. There are only a handful of printed circuit boards of the game, and it never left the beta testing stage of development. Galloping Ghost Arcade is the only place where players can enjoy the game.

Other rarities, prototypes, and one-of-a-kinds to be found hidden among the maze-like arcade include a rendition of Beavis and Butthead , a prototype version of Trog , the unreleased digitized one-on-one fighting game Tattoo Assassins , and Ribbit , the sequel to Frogger that never actually came out.  Then there’s NARC, a run-and-gun shooter. During an event at the arcade, NARC ’s original programmer, George Petro, asked Mack if he had a spare board. “I didn’t think anything of it. I drove it out to him and the next day, when he comes out for the event, he hands my board back.” Petro told Mack that there had been a bonus level where the user flies a helicopter and has unlimited missiles; it caused the game to crash, and the developers ran out of time to fix it, so they dropped the level for the arcade release. Petro added the level into Galloping Ghost’s copy of the game.

The arcade is only one side of Galloping Ghost. There’s Galloping Ghost Reproductions, focusing on the development of components and parts, and at the center of it all Galloping Ghost Productions. What if an arcade cabinet breaks down, especially a one-of-a-kind? That’s where a crew of four experienced professionals leads a mission focused on arcade parts and restoration. They can do everything from making new marquees for a cabinet to completely recreating a rare part, like a steering column or a rare joystick, from the ground up. “We’re going on 11 years and haven’t had anything break that couldn’t be repaired,” says Mack. If it ever happens, the reproductions department could rebuild the part if necessary.

One recent project is a documentary about Dark Presence , a 2D digitized one-on-one fighting game designed and developed by the company to be a premier fighter that not only pays homage to its influences (arcade fighters like Mortal Kombat ) but is also an evolution of the arcade 2D fighter itself. Not unlike long-in-development titles like Duke Nukem Forever , the game was designed at a time when technology seemingly evolved overnight.

Still, the production team was able to bring out their first title, 2017’s full-motion video adventure, The Spectre Files: Deathstalker . In the vein of Dragon’s Lair , the game is based on an unfinished project by game creator Brian Colin, whose oeuvre includes arcade classics like Rampage and Xenophobe . “[We were at breakfast], and he was telling me about this laserdisc game the team had shot. All live actors in this mansion aimed to be a low-budget B movie, very campy.” Using footage from the film, the productions drew up a budget, and they finished development on the game. It’s available to play at the arcade or for download on Steam.

“Walking into the arcade, it feels like you’ve time-traveled back to 1989,” says Chris Dailey, a gamer who made a five-hour pilgrimage in November 2021 to experience Galloping Ghost Arcade. “The sounds of the games going and people playing, I felt like I was nine again. All that nostalgia in the air.”

The arcade is 7,500+ square feet of arcade nostalgia. It feels so much like being in the past, a time when these hulking machines were gateways to new worlds. “Every time I have stopped by the arcade, I would always hear the countless sounds of the games playing all around me,” says Kevin Jimenez, a loyal gamer who has been going to the arcade since it opened in 2010. “You can see around you other people getting into different games, old and new generations alike having fun.”

Around almost every corner one could stumble upon a new discovery. That sense of mystery is part of the arcade’s mission, too. “The sounds of all the cabinets buzzing, beeping, and playing their theme music reverberates throughout the arcade,” says Brandon Blom, a Twitch streamer who traveled to visit the arcade in September 2021 with his two sons. “Nearly every cabinet makes its own unique noise.” Then there’s the undeniable feeling of standing in front of a well-designed machine, able to mash the buttons and use a joystick that’s so very different from a console controller. “I really enjoyed getting back to the way the joystick and buttons feel as you slam them,” says Anthony Livingston, who visited the arcade in November 2021. “Today's controllers are great, but there's nothing like the button layout of the original Defender stand up.”

The arcade’s business model includes a nontraditional approach: no more quarters or tokens. Everything is free play. “Every time I go, it feels like a journey through Jurassic Park,” says Jimenez. You pay $20 for a day pass, and then from opening to closing, you can discover new games and play old favorites. With 851 arcade machines and counting, maintaining the arcade is a nearly insurmountable task.

“We’ve rebuilt so many things—it’s a constant effort,” Mack says. He gets to the arcade every day at 6 am to check and service machines. In the afternoon, he resets and repairs them.

To document the company’s acquisition process, Mack began a weekly Twitch stream called Monday Mystery Game, which debuts a new game that will be added to the arcade floor. The stream has fostered a community among gamers and people interested in arcade history. In addition to active Twitch and YouTube channels, the arcade hosts events such as Developer Days, Sega week, and a yearly tournament called T20, in which participants battle for high scores on appointed arcade cabinets.

“The arcade really needs games that are exclusive to get people to keep coming back,” Mack says. Dark Presence will soon be one of those games. Though the fighter may see digital release on Steam or the PlayStation Store, the priority is, and will continue to be, the arcade—which is on the verge of adding even more games.

“The expansion will hold about 120 machines,” says Mack. The team has already begun filling up the new space. And the other four buildings that comprise the arcade, including a building dedicated to pinball, are at max capacity.

“These games were made to be played,” Mack says. He inspects his biker gloves, which he routinely wears with a trademark black trenchcoat, his arms draped over a large desk in his office. Like the arcade itself, his office is full of memorabilia. One wall is filled with guitars and a shelf decked out in Godzilla figures. A hulking flat-screen rests behind him. I compliment him on the collection and he humbly thanks me. Whatever he gets into, he says, he tends to go all-out. It’s undeniable proof that Galloping Ghost’s mission hasn’t changed and that the arcade will continue going strong for years to come.

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