My trip to Chuck E Cheese

So my brother-in-law asks my wife and I to join him and the kids for a night out on the town at Chuck E Cheese. His wife was out of town to see her folks, so we thought why not.

We got into the resturant/child factory/whatever the hell you want to call it and had to wait a good 20 minutes just to get a table. I felt like I was at Carrabba's. So we sit down and order a pizza, tokens, and drinks. Pizza came out fast and wasn't half bad for what it was.

Although I was shocked to see that there were actually a few decent games.





Pretty cool Mario Kart 2 kart game. Not sure if this is the one released alongside Mario Kart Double Dash, or something else different. Had Namco characters and all new tracks. Powerups were different as well. Either way a fun game.



Decent little Aliens gun game:



Up until this point, it was cool seeing the others games, but nothing prepared me for the goodness I saw next:
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The full Afterburner Climax machine.



I probably looked like a tool sitting in this machine, but it was worth it. Game played great. On top of that it was just 1 quarter to play. Brought me back to my old Galaxy Force 2 days.

All and all not too bad of a time. Although nothing will top Showbiz in all its' greatness, this wasn't half bad.

The worst part about it all is Chuck E Cheese is pretty much the last place in town that gets newer arcade game from 2005 and on. Sure you've got the pool halls and bars that have a few machines, but even they have been taken over by Golf Tee (I hate that game). It's a sad day when you can honestly say Chuck E Cheese has the best arcade in town.

Anyone got Doc Brown's cell? I need a warp back to 1992 already.

Some of my happiest memories are birthday parties at Showbiz/Chuck E. Cheese/Billy Bob's. Excellent arcade selection, some amazing shit that I will never see again (anyone remember a game where you saw ghosts through a house and you had to shoot them, but they looked like..holograms or something? hard to remember/describe correctly). Then the place closed down sometime in the mid to late 90s.

The closest Chuck E Cheese there is to me now is like an hour or hour and a half away. I swore never to return after my last visit in 2004 -- no more Simpsons arcade, just a bunch of cheap shit...did yours have that 2D, topdown perspective submarine game that was made in Korea or something? Yeah, that was about the game-iest game that CEC had.


Seriously, it was so depressing I honestly never want to go back. I'd prefer to keep my memories untainted.

LoneSage said:

Some of my happiest memories are birthday parties at Showbiz/Chuck E. Cheese/Billy Bob's. Excellent arcade selection, some amazing shit that I will never see again (anyone remember a game where you saw ghosts through a house and you had to shoot them, but they looked like..holograms or something? hard to remember/describe correctly). Then the place closed down sometime in the mid to late 90s.

The closest Chuck E Cheese there is to me now is like an hour or hour and a half away. I swore never to return after my last visit in 2004 -- no more Simpsons arcade, just a bunch of cheap shit...did yours have that 2D, topdown perspective submarine game that was made in Korea or something? Yeah, that was about the game-iest game that CEC had.


Seriously, it was so depressing I honestly never want to go back. I'd prefer to keep my memories untainted.

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Oh man, I remember that ghost game. It had different colored ghost and they went from room to room and you had to shoot them in a certain amount of time. I have no idea what it's called, but I played the living crap out of that game. From what I remember, it got pretty balls hard later on in the game.

Now I'm going to be on google all night trying to find out the name of that game.

I miss the old Chuck E Cheese so much... On the plus side, the one you went to looks good compared to the other newer ones I've seen.

RocketLawnChair said:

I miss the old Chuck E Cheese so much... On the plus side, the one you went to looks good compared to the other newer ones I've seen.

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I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn't been there in 15 years and figured it had been turned into a dump. Although the animatronics are the same exact ones from 15 years ago. You could tell they didn't have the same moves they used to.

Damn... it's bright in there.. WTF? I don't remember Chuck E. being like that.

My last original Chuck E Cheese tokens (and a Putt Putt token)... *pours a 40*

Hell yeah man.. Putt-Putt for the fun of it.

I have never seen a Chuck E. Cheese that was THAT well lit. In fact, the arcade area of the one in Anchorage hardly used to have any lighting other than what was coming from the machines, if I recall correctly.

BioMotor_Unitron said:

I have never seen a Chuck E. Cheese that was THAT well lit. In fact, the arcade area of the one in Anchorage hardly used to have any lighting other than what was coming from the machines, if I recall correctly.

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Word.. same here. But that was like 20 years ago. Maybe times have changed.

I see a Pump it Up machine.

I miss the Afterburner sitdown that flips over. The giant gyroscope one.

Oh man, glad to see the Showbiz love in here. *sigh*

Showbiz > Chuck-E-Cheese

SouthtownKid said:

I miss the Afterburner sitdown that flips over. The giant gyroscope one.

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The R360

WoodyXP said:

Word.. same here. But that was like 20 years ago. Maybe times have changed.

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Definitely have. Much more kid safety conscious than ever before, with people trying to sue anyone at the drop of a hat. Are there even any 2-story Chuck E Cheeses around any more? I see most these days are one story.

Jedah, that's cool man. Glad you enjoyed the evening. Yeah, it's funny how an innocent "why the hell not" night often turns out more memorable than those heavily planned evenings. Ironically, last month I too hit CEC for the first time in years. It was my niece's 4th Birthday bash and ya know what, all in all it wasn't bad. Caught up with the cousins, played hoops, etc.

Have you ever walked into a Toys R Us today? Def. not the same. Long game and toy aisles been replaced with lame "hubs." I stopped by over the holiday season and couldn't believe the state TRU is in these days. Even just 4 years ago, they weren't so bad. Hell, you could still get Dreamcast stuff back in 2004 at TRU. Nowadays, they are a far cry from the TRU of old. A la EGM.

SouthtownKid said:

I miss the Afterburner sitdown that flips over. The giant gyroscope one.

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That was G-Lock.

WoodyXP said:

Hell yeah man.. Putt-Putt for the fun of it.

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I practically lived in my local putt-putt from 8th to 9th grade. I'd go every Saturday and get rolls of tokens because they were half price. That shit would last me all week and then some sometimes. I went there so much I was offered free tokens to put a putt-putt costume on and be in a commercial. Did I do it? Fuck yeah.

Those were my fighter days. SSFII:TNC, SFA2, MK2, MK3, KI, and of course, there was a 4-slot there which mostly got played for SS and KoF '94 (I hold onto this cart just for the nostalgia). Fond memories.

ki_atsushi said:

Oh man, glad to see the Showbiz love in here. *sigh*

Showbiz > Chuck-E-Cheese

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<3 Showbiz. The Chuck E Cheese I used to go to had all the Showbiz characters on stage.

RocketLawnChair said:

<3 Showbiz. The Chuck E Cheese I used to go to had all the Showbiz characters on stage.

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Inferior port!

Yeah I loved Putt-Putt... the game were great and in the early nineties they brought out the glow-in-the-dark balls for golfing in the dark... which was the shit... fuck... that was awesome.

Lovergoat said:

That was G-Lock.

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Well, I played one that said Afterburner on it.

RocketLawnChair said:

I miss the old Chuck E Cheese so much... On the plus side, the one you went to looks good compared to the other newer ones I've seen.

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Agreed the ones run today sure are diffierent compare to the 80's.

It's kind of a shame it takes a place to entertain kids to carry the,latest arcade machines.

Guess if i had kids i would go there for aftherburner climax.

Mushiki said:

I see a Pump it Up machine.

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They probably only have it because it's cheaper to rent than a Dance Dance Revolution machine. Though if there were one in my town, I'd probably be the only one who cared. [/DDR popularity hate]

Most of the Chuck E Cheese places were remodeled recently to give them a friendlier, brighter atmosphere. Though their food is on the expensive side, their 'every game is one token' policy is a great idea for the kids. I'm very surprised that one had an After Burner Climax, especially for one token (most I've seen go for at least one dollar a play) and an Alien gun game (ones in Phoenix don't allow any violent themed games).

And yes, I remember Billy Bob and the Rock-a-Fire Explosion Show from the old Chuck E Cheese - Showbiz Pizza days. Good times

After Burner Climax is dope... even though I have no idea how to play it very well. I tried it out in Tokyo last month.

I had fond memories of Chuck E. Cheese back in the day, where I played Gorf, Leprechaun, Tugboat and Gyruss... but I think the most fun I had was at my other local pizza places in town. One was called Pistol Pete's Pizza (been gone for a while) and another is still around (Peter Piper Pizza).

Did you guys have the puppet band setup? It was cool to watch that at Chuck E. Cheese back in the day... was my favorite part when I went there.