Tokyo’s Best Video Game Arcades in Akihabara: Where to Go, What to Do

If you’re a racing crippled enthusiast, this halt volition beryllium delightful for you. The crippled center’s past arsenic a Sega arcade leaves truthful galore chill classics disposable to ride, from Manx TT Super Bike machines to a Rad Mobile crippled that you play portion seated wrong a mini car. I could person spent astatine slightest an hr conscionable bouncing betwixt the antithetic steering wheels of these retro machines.

Compared to erstwhile we visited the Namco crippled halfway earlier successful the time down the street, the enactment of bushed games—where tapping controllers to the bushed earns you points—were reasonably similar. Although successful Gigo 3 we were capable to play aggregate bushed games without feeling the request to determination owed to different patrons waiting successful a enactment down us. It was delightful trying retired each of the bushed experiences for the archetypal time, and my idiosyncratic favourite was Sega’s Maimai machine. I was astounded watching adjacent players smash each of the 8 buttons astatine precisely the close clip on with the music, swiping fingers crossed the surface arsenic they rack up combos—I was contented to play connected the approachable, casual trouble levels, alternatively than hazard breaking retired successful a wicked sweat.

Another enjoyable acquisition successful Gigo 3 for travelers is the representation booth section. While it’s chiefly filled with teenage girls perfecting their makeup, utilizing hairsbreadth irons for touchups, and trying connected crunchy blonde wigs, we had a blast taking photos successful the booths and couldn’t halt laughing arsenic the bundle warped our facial features retired of proportionality until we looked similar ghostly aliens. One booth we tried adjacent had a fearfulness taxable with a airy communicative arsenic you deed the poses.

We went hard astatine the games and ne'er went implicit 5,000 yen (around $33) astatine immoderate of the arcades successful Tokyo. Overall, our acquisition astatine Gigo 3 was budget-friendly and magnetic.

If You’re Traveling With Kids

After riding an outdoor escalator to scope the entranceway of 1-chome Playland, located connected Tokyo’s artificial island of Odaiba, I was surrounded by nostalgic neon hues and the astir mechanical arcade games I’d seen each trip. Yes, it had a fewer different options for games, but the main attraction present was an assortment of vintage machines, often with immoderate benignant of interactive, mechanical element. Despite the property and nationalist use, a bulk of the games present were successful large shape.

The abstraction isn’t huge, but astir each country we bumped into unsocial experiences and happily spent fistfuls of yen coins. I utilized a tiny chef's skillet to mash rodents arsenic people lights flashed crossed the screen. My spouse and I got a spot excessively competitory spinning the cursors and trying to triumph our ping-pong shot game. I astir landed 3 pinballs successful a enactment playing the Sailor Moon-themed tic-tac-toe.

At 1-chome Playland, I saw galore families with young children arsenic good arsenic couples retired connected aesthetic dates. The determination is casual to overlook, close adjacent to different family-oriented options similar the Legoland Discovery Center and Tokyo Joyopolis, but it’s honestly worthy the bid thrust by itself. We spent an hr and a fractional trying retired machines, and astir apt could person spent different 30 minutes connected a little engaged night.

Just beryllium forewarned, immoderate household outing astatine this arcade is astir guaranteed to extremity with a travel to immoderate adjacent ice cream store connected the mode backmost to the hotel. It conscionable feels right.

Looking for different Japanese crippled centers worthy visiting successful Tokyo? We besides enjoyed our clip astatine Namco, HEY Taito, and GiGO #1—all successful Akihabara and lone a fewer blocks apart. For a much intimate experience, caput to Takadanobaba, wherever the Mikado Game Center has a coagulated enactment of retro machines, and the adjacent Natsuge Museum is simply a fantastic halt for pinball fanatics.