Arcade Report – Malaysia
Having relatives in Singapore means I periodically get to spend some time in South East Asia, which is great for a retro arcade fan like myself. Video game arcades are hugely popular here, and although they don’t bristle with the latest titles as in Japan, retro arcade games are a very common sight. This could be down to operators happily running old stock or an indication of the popularity of retro-styled titles (games like Metal Slug and shooters like Raiden 2 are still played frequently here.) Either way it’s a great thing to be able to pop into an arcade and play Outrunners, Virtual On, Strikers 1945 and Marvel vs Capcom, especially when the comparative UK experience today is nowhere near as enjoyable (unless you’re solely into light gun games and racers that is).Here are a few recent pictures taken during a jaunt around Malaysia, in February 2008. I didn’t spend my time looking for arcades, but I stumbled across a few nice ones while awaiting various boat and train connections, and captured the sights, the sounds, the smells (cancel that last one. Ed) of their innards for you lucky Retro Gamer blog readers. One last thing though, if you are thinking of travelling to South East Asia for retro arcade game hunting, avoid Thailand. Video game arcades are banned there…By Retro Gamer freelancer Mike Bevan
Here’s something you don’t see every day – eight-player linked Outrunners.
A sit-down two-player Virtual On with a rack of eight-player linked Daytona in the background.
The impressive kit for Namco’s 1988 System2 hardware heli-shooter Metal Hawk. Wikipedia erronously thinks this was only released in Japan.
The beautifully constructed original cab for Sega’s G-LOC. They didn’t have the hydraulic version mind.
Mahjong and puzzle games a-plenty.
Ever fancy playing Bomberman on a 50-inch Super Megalo?
Super Megalo city: Metal Slug X, Rival Schools 2, X-Men Vs Street Fighter and many, many more on the big screen.
Shoot-’em-up heaven: A bank of Astro City cabs featuring Raiden 2, Strikers 1945 II, Raiden DX and Raiden Fighters 2.
Two of the finest shmups of all time in their natural arcade environment- Raiden DX and Battle Garegga.
