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Arcades. Seems like they're a thing of the past in most places, right? Either that, or if you do happen to have one near you, it'll be packed full of nonsense like this (Yes, they thought that would sell better than just putting the actual Injustice fighting game in an arcade cabinet. Thing is, they're probably right, and I'm not sure if that reflects worse on the state of the arcade industry, popular taste, or the Injustice fighting game). Even so, there are still a few "proper" arcades on the go, existing somewhere on a spectrum from "just like you remember from the '80s/'90s if you're of a certain age" to something more like a recreation of a Japanese-style game centre. For example, there's Heart of Gaming, which I visited on a trip to London last summer, where if you're a fan of classic Capcom and SNK fighting games like I am, you will feel like you've died and gone to heaven.
I've shrunk this down to 640x480 for the purposes of this post, but I really recommend clicking here for the full-size picture to get an idea of just how good the monitor on this SFA3 cabinet is. Just *chef's kiss*
Or for sheer scale, there's Arcade Club which runs three huge locations in the north of England, including their flagship venue in Bury which is the largest in Europe with over 400 games.
There's also the "barcade", where you can come in, have a pint and/or some food, and enjoy some arcade gaming once you're done, which is the category that Token - which reopened last December after having operated in its previous location in the Smithfield area from 2017-2024 - falls into.
I was in Dublin for Day of Champions XVI and decided to stop by here afterwards, before getting my train home. I bought a pint of Moretti and a bag of 32 tokens for €28 and headed over to the pinball area, which contained the following games:
Is there any game that epitomises this more than Road Show? Let's see: it's got the talking head from Funhouse, but now there are two of them, and one of them is voiced by the singer of a country song that plays at various points in the game, mostly during multiball. (The other one, by the way, is Tim Kitzrow, most famous as the announcer in NBA Jam.)
I can personally attest that even though I don't have a country bone in my body, I have heard this song outside the context of the game (and Carter herself is part of a famous country music family), so this seems like this was a significant get for Williams.
The patrons of Token were treated to the song quite a few times during this game.
There's also an interesting gameplay mechanic that I've not seen in any other pinball game - there's a shop where you can spend your score on souvenirs. Most of the souvenirs are associated with one of the cities you can visit in the game. If you have the souvenir for a city you've already visited, you get 10 million points for each one at the end of each ball, mutiplied by any bonus multipliers you may have, so they pay for themselves (and then some - the most expensive is 20 million points, and the cheapest is only 750,000) very quickly.
As mentioned previously, Road Show's spiritual predecessor, Funhouse, was also there. This game's talking head, Rudy, is voiced by future Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon.
In general, the machines were in good condition, although one of the flippers on Simpsons - the one which is used to make the shot to lock balls for multiball - wasn't working properly, and I noticed Theatre of Magic having a few problems as well. Overall though, if it's pinball you're after there are worse places you could go.
...Oh yeah, there are also video games at Token! The line-up includes Pac-Man, Mario Kart Arcade GP, Spiderman, Point Blank, Bubble Bobble, Metal Slug 3, Donkey Kong, The Simpsons, Tekken Tag Tournament, Time Crisis 2, X-Men, Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition, WWF Wrestlemania, Mortal Kombat 2, Space Invaders, Guitar Hero, Golden Axe, Ghosts 'n' Goblins, Tetris, and Final Fight. There was also a DDR cabinet - the marquee said Dancing Stage Euromix 2, but it seemed to be one of the more recent versions.
Again, a good selection, but there was a problem I noticed with quite a few of the games - the colours looked washed out on some of the monitors.
If anything, that picture makes it look better than it actually was. This could well be just an ageing CRT, but the Final Fight cabinet, with its CRT replaced with an LCD panel, wasn't looking great either.
It wasn't all bad news - Tekken Tag Tournament looked nice and crisp. But overall, I think the games could stand to be a little better maintained.
Other stuff
Other attractions at Token include projector-based "artificial reality" darts, F1 watch parties, and some karaoke rooms. I didn't have anything to eat while I was there, but I remember the food being rubbish - although that was at their original location, shortly after it opened, and I don't doubt that it's improved since then.
Conclusion
Despite some game maintenance-related issues, Token is a welcome (re-)addition to the available entertainment options in Dublin. There are a few Belfast-based locations I'm planning to look at in this series, so keep an eye out for them. Until next time...
I've shrunk this down to 640x480 for the purposes of this post, but I really recommend clicking here for the full-size picture to get an idea of just how good the monitor on this SFA3 cabinet is. Just *chef's kiss*
Or for sheer scale, there's Arcade Club which runs three huge locations in the north of England, including their flagship venue in Bury which is the largest in Europe with over 400 games.
There's also the "barcade", where you can come in, have a pint and/or some food, and enjoy some arcade gaming once you're done, which is the category that Token - which reopened last December after having operated in its previous location in the Smithfield area from 2017-2024 - falls into.
I was in Dublin for Day of Champions XVI and decided to stop by here afterwards, before getting my train home. I bought a pint of Moretti and a bag of 32 tokens for €28 and headed over to the pinball area, which contained the following games:
- Dialed In
- Family Guy
- Funhouse
- Jurassic Park
- Medieval Madness
- Red & Ted's Road Show
- The Addams Family
- Theatre of Magic
- The Simpsons Pinball Party
Is there any game that epitomises this more than Road Show? Let's see: it's got the talking head from Funhouse, but now there are two of them, and one of them is voiced by the singer of a country song that plays at various points in the game, mostly during multiball. (The other one, by the way, is Tim Kitzrow, most famous as the announcer in NBA Jam.)
I can personally attest that even though I don't have a country bone in my body, I have heard this song outside the context of the game (and Carter herself is part of a famous country music family), so this seems like this was a significant get for Williams.
The patrons of Token were treated to the song quite a few times during this game.
There's also an interesting gameplay mechanic that I've not seen in any other pinball game - there's a shop where you can spend your score on souvenirs. Most of the souvenirs are associated with one of the cities you can visit in the game. If you have the souvenir for a city you've already visited, you get 10 million points for each one at the end of each ball, mutiplied by any bonus multipliers you may have, so they pay for themselves (and then some - the most expensive is 20 million points, and the cheapest is only 750,000) very quickly.
As mentioned previously, Road Show's spiritual predecessor, Funhouse, was also there. This game's talking head, Rudy, is voiced by future Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon.
In general, the machines were in good condition, although one of the flippers on Simpsons - the one which is used to make the shot to lock balls for multiball - wasn't working properly, and I noticed Theatre of Magic having a few problems as well. Overall though, if it's pinball you're after there are worse places you could go.
...Oh yeah, there are also video games at Token! The line-up includes Pac-Man, Mario Kart Arcade GP, Spiderman, Point Blank, Bubble Bobble, Metal Slug 3, Donkey Kong, The Simpsons, Tekken Tag Tournament, Time Crisis 2, X-Men, Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition, WWF Wrestlemania, Mortal Kombat 2, Space Invaders, Guitar Hero, Golden Axe, Ghosts 'n' Goblins, Tetris, and Final Fight. There was also a DDR cabinet - the marquee said Dancing Stage Euromix 2, but it seemed to be one of the more recent versions.
Again, a good selection, but there was a problem I noticed with quite a few of the games - the colours looked washed out on some of the monitors.
If anything, that picture makes it look better than it actually was. This could well be just an ageing CRT, but the Final Fight cabinet, with its CRT replaced with an LCD panel, wasn't looking great either.
It wasn't all bad news - Tekken Tag Tournament looked nice and crisp. But overall, I think the games could stand to be a little better maintained.
Other stuff
Other attractions at Token include projector-based "artificial reality" darts, F1 watch parties, and some karaoke rooms. I didn't have anything to eat while I was there, but I remember the food being rubbish - although that was at their original location, shortly after it opened, and I don't doubt that it's improved since then.
Conclusion
Despite some game maintenance-related issues, Token is a welcome (re-)addition to the available entertainment options in Dublin. There are a few Belfast-based locations I'm planning to look at in this series, so keep an eye out for them. Until next time...
