I was recently invited to take a tour of the original Retroware arcade location in Lansdale, PA, which can be found inside of the Classic Game Junkie video game store. I had originally been out there back in January 2023, shortly before their official grand opening, but also before I started recording walkthrough videos. I hadn't had a chance to revisit them since, so I've been looking forward to returning for quite some time, and when the invitation arrived, I jumped at the chance!
The arcade and game shop take up two storefronts along Lansdale's Main Street; the game store occupies the left half of the space, while the arcade itself makes up the entirety of the right side. The game store has an amazing, expansive collection of items for sale, from retro classics to modern consoles, as well as a big selection of accessories, knick knacks, and novelties. On the right side, the arcade includes a mix of classics games from the late 70's, 80's, and 90's, alongside a few more modern games. Their entire right wall is almost completely filled with Japanese rhythm games, including stuff like Sound Voltex, Dance Dance Revolution, Wacca, and Taiko No Tatsujin. There's a block of sit-down Vewlix and Noir cabs in the middle of the arcade that feature games like Gimmick!, P-47 Aces, Super Street Fighter IV, and the rare old school Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon arcade games, but the most impressive of these is a collection of four Mobile Suit Gundam Vs. Extreme 2 cabs, along with its dedicated viewing station. It's hard to find this game anywhere in the States and to be able to get a group of players together and go off in some big mech action is awesome!
I ended up spending a few hours here playing as much as I could; hopefully you'll get to see some of that in the near future, stay tuned! But honestly, if you're anywhere near the area, you should just come out and see it for yourself! It's $15 for an all-day wristband, which is a great deal, or if you buy a pack of 5 wristba