Relive the 80’s by Playing Your Favorite Arcade Games
Before the X-box, the PlayStation 4 and PC gaming systems at home, the only way to play arcade games was at the local arcade. These stand-up machines took a quarter for one gameplay. Now you can relieve those games and the 1980’s at Billy’s Midway Arcade in Hawthorne, NJ.
Brothers Bruce Wellema and David Wellema has recaptured their memories and brought to life a current day arcade hall that all ages can enjoy. Parents can relieve their favorite 1980’s games while introducing their kids to the world of 8-pixel graphics and wholesome gameplay and story-lines.
We had a chance to go visit Billy’s Midway Arcade and this is what we saw:
Billy’s Midway Arcade is located on the southwest corner of Diamond Bridge and Lafayette avenues, on the 2nd floor of a 2 story building. You wouldn’t know where it is unless you look up and see the signs in the window.
Walk to the side of the building to enter and you will see a large banner hanging over the entrance to the building. This is the right place.
Walk up the stairs or take the elevator and you will see at the end of a long hall the entrance to Billy’s Midway Arcade. There is a graphic of the character Tron, from the 1980’s movie superimposed on the front door. Tron also was a popular video game from the 1980’s as well.
Close up of the Tron graphic on the door.
Walk inside and arcade paradise awaits. Over 60 arcade games and pinball games are there for you to play. If you grew up in the 1980’s most of these games will be familiar to you.
The way Billy’s Midway Arcade charges customers is based on time spent in the arcade. All the games are programmed to play for free (all you have to do is press a button by the quarter slot to get a game credit). The costs for playing at the arcade per person is as follows: $7 per half-hour or $10 per hour. An all-day pass will cost you $25. The staff at the arcade tracks your time by placing a bracelet on your wrist and then logging your time on a computer. Since you pay by every half or full hour it’s important you track your time spent at the arcade.
Now on to the games. Some of the most iconic games of the 1980’s are here. Some of these games became part of the gaming lore and still exist in the gaming world today. Early hits like Asteroids, Centipede, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Defender are here.
Games like Donkey Kong from Nintendo created a whole cast of characters that are still played by modern gamers today. Games like Mario Bros. and Street Fighter have sequels released yearly on modern gaming systems like the Nintendo Switch.
One of my favorite games was Out-Run. It was the state-of-the-art racing game with gas pedals and a stick-shift. Looking at it now, the graphics have aged badly.
Another favorite is Joust, a great 2-player game. Even the young kids enjoyed playing Joust.
And here is the famous Tron arcade game. The movie was the first fully computer animated movie and many of the action sequences were transferred into the Tron arcade game. One of the first examples of a movie-to-video game synergy that has become commonplace in today’s entertainment world.
Overall this is a great place for a whole family to enjoy an afternoon or evening. The cost is based on time soit’ss important to track your time spent in the arcade. A great way to go back in time when the arcade was the place to be with all your friends.
Billy’s Midway Arcade is located at 312 Lafayette Ave., Hawthorne NJ.