YESTERcades of Somerville — Local services in Somerville

This place is AWESOME!!! Truly magical lol! Sadly, I've only been here twice though. It's an adult gamers dream come true. Old school arcade games, consoles and memorabilia. NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Game Cube and I might have saw an Atari. Play all the games you want, for as long as you want for a little over $8 an hour or for only $25, you can purchase the all-day pass and play...all day! Although some of the arcade games may be out of order. They also have skee ball, a pool table, Foosball and air hockey as well. Of course, it's packed on the weekends. I was here this past Thursday night and it was fairly empty. I got the chance to play SNES on one of the couches, which seems to be the most popular section. Although after a while, your neck starts to ache from staring up at the screen, but worth it!

As for parking, there's street meter parking, if you can find a spot. But there are also a few parking lots, which I believe are fairly cheap. A friend parked in one of them and she only paid $2/hour until 8PM. These past two times I've been there, I've parked at Shop Rite and just walked over. It's a little over a five minute walk from Shop Rite.

Staff was courteous as well and they have a good system on keeping track of how many hours you've played.

I love this place! I hope it stays open for as long...

I took the boys there (aged tween and up), figuring that it might be fun, and it sure was! It was crowded, but I think that's because a lot of people had off for a weekday holiday. When you walk in, each person gets a wristband and you pay when you leave based upon the amount of time you spend there. The three of us played all the games we wanted for less than $40. There is a great selection of classic arcade games, many of which are recognizable to even the youngest of gamers. Pinball machines line one wall with skeeball on one end and pool tables on the other. For those who want more of a living room feel, there are gaming consoles and seats that remind me of home in the nineties, with the exception of the newer television screens. Towards the front, there is an air hockey table and a place to sit down and play a game of chess with a worthy opponent. This is a great place to hang out and keep playing your favorite games without committing your entire afternoon or evening to. It is nestled in an open and safe alleyway lined with shops and cafés, and right off of the main street. If I lived in town, I would make this a...

This place is neat & sort of tucked away. If you miss old school arcade nostalgia, this is the place for you. A friend of mine was disappointed at the faux DDR machine here. Be warned that some of the machines are in need of some TLC: on the Street Fighter II cabinet, the 2nd Player Fierce Punch (FP, for you who prefer GameFAQs move guides -- get out of here with that 1,2,3,4 bullcrap!) -- doesn't work.

Some arcades were down for maintenance purposes. It should go without saying, but note that they do not allow food & drink at the cabinets. You can order food & bring it in; I do not know if this is their rule generally, or a rule they allowed us due to being a group.

I guess growing up, I didn't recall how games varied in subtle ways compared to their console counterparts. Playing TMNT: Turtles in Time, some of the enemy actions & some of the visuals don't quite look the same to me.

I look forward to coming back with my friends & hopefully, my friends have improved at their fighting game skills. :-(

(If you read this review & you are skilled at Mortal Kombat, we'll...