Galloping Ghost Arcade — Local services in Lyons Township

This is a special review for me to write, as I waited many years until now to finally visit Galloping Ghost. The preponderance of my Google reviews is of retro arcades and locally owned retro video game stores in the United States as well as in Japan, where I lived five years. All that to say: I’ve been to a LOT of retro arcades, and GG was the last “world famous” location on my bucket list.

I went on a Tuesday around midday and had the place to myself for quite a while. My initial impression was, “Wow, this seems really big.” There are cabinets lining every wall as far as the eye can see. I didn’t appreciate until wandering around that the arcade isn’t just big… it is absolutely MASSIVE. It feels like three or four large warehouse buildings pushed together - you don’t get a sense for just how many games there are until you walk through them all. Nearly 1,000 cabinets are shoved into every nook and cranny of the building. At this point I think there just isn’t enough floor space to fit any more. It truly is a sight to behold: an overstuffed time capsule that captures the history of arcades from the 70’s into the 00’s across a multitude of genres. The breadth and depth of the games offered is simply unparalleled compared with anywhere else I’ve been. Most retro arcades in the U.S. only feature games originally released in the States, so it made me so happy to see extensive Japanese offerings, especially those in the “shmup” category (my favorite genre). I won’t list every title that made me smile, but I’ve shared photos of some of my favorites below.

Know when you walk in that this is a no-frills experience. You pay $25 a person for free play, and there’s some merchandise for sale like hoodies, beanies, stickers, and some small artwork. There is also a limited and basic snack / drink menu (no alcohol). There are a few things on the wall, but the space is overall sparsely decorated. I bring this up to say: come to play video arcade games. This isn’t a barcade nor a Dave & Buster’s. There are no skee ball lanes, air hockey tables, or places for you to sit around chatting with friends. This is by no means a criticism since it puts the games themselves on center stage, as they should be!

I’ve given GG Arcade a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. I truly believe it is the largest arcade in the world in terms of unique individual titles available. This is obviously in the “S Tier” when comparing arcades around the world.

But how does it rate against what is, in my opinion, the greatest Japanese arcade in existence, Hirose Entertainment Yard (HEY) located in Tokyo’s Akihabara district? Galloping Ghost crushes HEY in terms of quantity of available titles. It’s probably double the number of machines, with some extremely old and obscure titles HEY doesn't offer. Nevertheless, HEY beats GG due to the quality and condition of its cabinets. I imagine the cost and labor time associated with maintaining a thousand machines must be astronomical, and unfortunately there were quite a few games out of order at GG when I visited. More disappointingly, numerous cabinets weren’t in great condition. I encountered a few levers (“joysticks”) that were either too loose or, in the case of the older games, very difficult to move. The biggest culprit was blurry, discolored, and/or dim monitors that looked to be on their last leg of life. I’d guess about a third of all the cabinets on the floor were in “fair” condition, i.e., significant signs of wear and/or minor-to-moderate defects. By comparison, nearly every cabinet at HEY is in immaculate shape: bright, vivid CRT monitors with well-maintained Sanwa or Seimitsu levers and buttons. And I realize this is an unfair nitpick, but I’ve also gotta say that it felt unnatural to play games like Dodonpachi, Ketsui, and Batsugun on a standing cabinet using a battop lever...

Feel free to ignore the preceding paragraph. Galloping Ghost is a fantastic arcade committed to providing almost a thousand titles. It may not be my personal favorite arcade, but it is undoubtedly one of the best...

I was born in 77. I grew up to see Atari evolve into Nintendo, then Super Nintendo and PlayStation. All the while frequenting local arcades, and comparing the steady pace that consoles were making to catch up to these arcades. I have the utmost love and respect for vintage video games. I appreciate the Galloping ghost arcade and thank God that they exist.

That being said, I've been here twice. Last time the admission was $15 a person. 20 is still pretty cheap, but only if you're going by yourself or with one or two friends who are also adult retro game fans. But $20 becomes too expensive if you're bringing your family or a bunch of kids who are only mildly interested in retro games. The Galloping ghost management crew should work out some family packages or discounts for children to make it more fair. It would probably build their business significantly to make it more welcome to families.

My other main criticism is the condition of the facility and the machines, and the cleanliness. I understand it's very labor-intensive to keep this many machines running in Tip-Top condition. I imagine the parts are very expensive and hard to find as well. But about 50% of the machines had some kind of major defect. The biggest problem was significant screen burn, fade, or pixel damage that was so bad it affected game play. Another big issue was missing guns or broken controllers, especially on 2 player games where it wasn't worth playing if the controllers aren't working perfect. Then there were several games that were just out of service. MOST of these cabinets had pretty significant wear and tear on the trim pieces, artwork, and buttons as well. I saw so many machines that had their Marquee replaced with a cheap looking print out from a computer. Like they used a home PC HP printer or something and slapped it in there. They now boast 700+ games, but I found this deceptive, because they have several multi-systems in one cabinet. I am only guessing that they are cobbling systems and cabinets together rather than preserving the original state of these games. I would suggest that the Galloping ghost management crew hire some people to clean and work on tech during opening hours, to show the customers that they do care about the state of their equipment and the cleanliness of their facility. The carpet in the middle section of the arcade has not been changed in over 5 years and it looks old and it is bubbling and wrinkling up in spots and looks unsightly.

There are many gems to be found here, however. In my opinion, the most epic game they have that you must play is The Spectre Files: Deathstalker. This game is a perfect example of how the gaming industry has come full circle. It is a full length interactive movie that was shot in the mid 80's, but was never completed and released until crew from the Galloping ghost Arcade actually wrote the software and put it into their very own cabinet for the arcade. It is very impressive how they pulled a lost game from the 80s back from the grave. And this game is CHOCK FULL of B-Movie horror, cheap thrills and laughable Halloween costumes that are sure to hook you the first time you play and try to survive the haunted house. I could easily pay the $20 just to sit in front of this game for hours until I discovered all the correct movie...

Review Date: January 23rd, 2013

The largest arcade in the United States of America.

Are you still with me? Good. The Galloping Ghost Arcade is the largest arcade in the United States of America at a staggering 650+ games. That is astounding.

My friend, Jacob, offhandedly mentioned this place during a conversation one day. After looking into it, I knew I had to go. Lucky enough, a lot of my friends are gamers and I was able to convince a lot of them to go with me.

While it was an early morning drive to get there at a decent time, it was worth every second. Entry cost was $10 at the time for admission. That got you unlimited gaming time for the day. You can hop from one machine to the next without worrying about having enough quarters or tokens. It is a great business model. Price has crept up to $20 for admission but for what you get, it is still a fantastic deal.

During our visit, I think they had around 300-400 games. Over the last few years, they have expanded into the next building to increase their gaming floor. With almost 700 cabinets and games, you’ll need all the floor space you can get.

One thing I noticed is the temperature in Galloping Ghost. With all the machines, even in the winter, it was warm in there. They probably don’t need to run any heat with all the machines in there. Keep that in mind if you visit during the summer. While it was comfortable in the winter, it might get a bit warm in the summer? That’s just a guess.

My friends and I spent the whole afternoon here and we barely scratched the surface of what they offer. Now that they have expanded, you may need a whole week to play everything. They seem to offer modern games and tournaments on top of just being a place to play arcade games.

Galloping Ghost also had a small shop of drinks and odds and ends for sale. I picked up a Pokeball perler bead magnet before I left. It still hands on my fridge to this day. Hopefully they still sell small stuff like that as I would like to get more in the future.

Speaking of, I have plans to return in 2019 with my dad. He grew up in an arcade so this will feel like home to him. I just hope he doesn’t plan on moving in! I will snap some new photos when I go back since most of the ones from 2013 are of low quality.

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