Arcade games that really drew me in as a kid: PENGO

Arcades are for the most part a thing of the past. I realize that Dave and Buster's exists and that in parts of Asia they are still popular but super powerful home consoles have seen to it that we are likely never going to return to the glory days of the arcades that existed in the 80's and 90's.

Nearly every shopping mall had an arcade section and that was my favorite part of them. Even some gas stations would have a small arcade in the back and it's difficult to imagine but kids and adults would hang out in there and it would be filled with cigarette smoke and that's just way it was. We turned out ok.

This was a massive investment on the part of the owner since new arcade machines would sell for thousands of dollars. Certain machines were better investments than others and new machines that were all the rage like Dragon's Lair could make the owner $1000 a week if in a high profile location. Other games would quickly go out of fashion and this would lose money for the owner.

Anyway, this isn't a "my generation was better" post because I don't care. I just want to point out the games that fascinated me as a kid and I couldn't stop putting my quarters in just because the games were unique and for some reason captivated me over other games.

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The above is a pretty typical look for these establishments. They were always dark in order to facilitate easy viewings of screens and the blacklights were just for fun. Believe it or not there was a time when arcades were seen as the "cool" place to go. Some bigger arcades were places that people would drive to from many surrounding communities just to visit. They ever-changing lineup of games in these shops was always a fun part of attending, because you never knew if they would have something new and amazing that you have never heard of at the front on display.

Pengo: Simplistic, annoying, and additctive

This game, even by the time I was old enough to do a wander in the arcades was already in the back. I don't think it was ever as popular as some other, similar titles.

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In Pengo you start our a round with a number of little blob things called Sno-Bees chasing after you and of course trying to eat / kill you. You can squish them by pushing a block towards them from afar but it can't be the block they are currently "chewing on" to get to you. Killing them can be an exercise in futility at first since they will immediately respawn until the 3 special blocks are moved. Since the Sno-Bees consume the maze of ice, you will find yourself quickly in an open screen and this can be a blessing or a curse. Blessing because you have total movement and can also lure the sno-bees to the wall to stun them, curse because the AI was unpredictable and there were 3 or more Sno-Bees on the screen at any given time.

The level is completed by moving the 3 special blocks side by side in whatever fashion at which point they will start to glow, which can be a lot more difficult than you think.

Once the 3 blocks are pushed together the blobs that are chasing you will no longer respawn so now you need to kill all of them.

That above video made me nervous to watch and brought back memories of how this game could really tick you off. They guy playing the game in the vid is also pretty terrible at it, and that makes my anxiety levels go up even higher.

I never made it very far in the game and perhaps that was a good thing because it was yet another one of those arcade games that never ended and was meant to be played for a high score. That concept is dead now though.