Arcade Paradise Review 

Game: Arcade Paradise
Genre: Action, Arcade, Simulator
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam (Windows & Linux) PS4 and Xbox)
Developer|Publisher: Nosebleed Interactive | Wired Productions
Age Rating: EU 12+ | US Teen
Price: US $19.99 | UK £15.99 | EU € 19,99
Release Date: August 11th, 2022

Review code provided with many thanks to Press Engine.

Arcade Simulator

Arcade Paradise is a simulation game where I got to live out my 90s kid fantasy of running my open arcade. Missing the famous ‘simulator’ tag from the title was probably a smart decision since games in that category can be hit or miss in terms of quality. Arcade Paradise, I’m very pleased to say is one of the better games in the genre. This title is best suited to those who are looking for a more relaxing game experience. But it also helps if you love your retro games.

Your rich old Dad has decided to set you up in the business world by handing you the reins of a run-down laundromat. Soon after inspecting the business, you discover a few forgotten arcade cabinets in the back and you decide to start the slow process of turning the laundromat into a fully-fledged arcade and more successful business. But wealthy Pappy is not quite so keen on this plan, so you have to sort of build this new business under his nose with him assuming all the money is coming from a super successful laundry service instead. The narrative of the game is drip fed to you over time through emails and answer phone messages. It keeps things light and simple without getting in the way of the gameplay. 

Making Chores Fun

The goal of the game is to earn money in order to purchase more arcade cabinets and increase the size of the arcade. To start with your main money earner is the laundromat itself. Orders for washing get dumped on the counter and you have to manually pick them up and place them in the washing machine… because customers are too lazy to do this themselves. When the cycle completes you put them in the dryer and when that completes you put the order down on another table and earn a nice little paycheck.

This initial formula comes across as quite tedious but I’ll admit this pointless busy work was very therapeutic for me. You have a handy digital wristwatch which will beep when a washing cycle completes so there is no need to stand around waiting. There are plenty more ways to earn money in the meantime. You can pick up rubbish on the floor and throw it in the dumpster when the bag is full. Chewing gum can be picked off various surfaces also netting you a little bit of money which makes absolutely no sense. The toilet will sometimes get blocked too so you need to hold your breath (not literally) grab a plunger and see to that issue.

Mini-Games

All these seemingly pointless tasks are made more appealing by being dressed up as mini-games such as pressing the button when the meter fills or rotating the analogue stick in the correct position before mashing a trigger button. Maybe this mentality is how we should view chores in real life to make them more interesting. The better you perform these mini-games the more money you earn. The game is played in a first-person perspective with controls being pretty straightforward. Button prompts will often present themselves if you do need a gentle reminder on how to perform an action. 

Into the Arcade

It won’t be long before your main money earner is the arcades themselves. You do have to manually crouch to the coin hopper to take its contents which is more fiddly than it should be. Using your very 90s PDA you can adjust the arcade settings such as difficulty and price per credit. And yes, you can play the arcade games themselves. I was very surprised by just how good the quality of the arcade games on display was.

If you have any familiarity with the arcade scene many of the games will show clear inspiration from popular titles you remember. Only the developers have altered them just enough that they form their own personalities. An example is one of the first games you come across is a Pac-Man clone only you drive about in a car escaping police. If you get caught you don’t lose. You can run out on foot looking for another vehicle whilst stunning the police with music from your boom box.

Good Standalone Titles

Some of the games in your arcade make pretty good standalone titles. They even trump the quality of some of the arcade games I’ve experienced in the eShop. It’s not all fun and games though you still need to run the business. Spending your day managing your jobs and time remembering to bank your profits in the safe, then logging online to buy more cabinets and upgrades. But don’t stay too late or you’ll pass out from exhaustion. You need to go home and rest.

Overall, the game is a casual experience. The only stress comes from racking up a high score in the arcade games. If you leave the laundromat messy or don’t deal with the chores all it does is just kinda delay progress and that feels a good fit for the experience. New content is drip fed at a steady pace with new arcade cabinets to play and position in the arcade. You are also given daily missions to earn a little extra money and can even post your arcade high scores on a leaderboard. There is plenty here to keep you busy for some time.

The 90s Look

The main in-game graphics are realistic looking trying to recapture the feel of a laundromat and arcade from the 90s. Your venue starts out pretty run down at the start but over time starts to modernize. You can see NPCs in your business waiting to go to the toilet or playing on a cabinet but when you move close to them. They sort of pixelate out of existence which makes them feel more like ghosts than actually a presence in your venue. The soundtrack is pretty great, totally recreating the 90s arcade feel and it can be customized to your liking with a jukebox. The graphics for the arcade games are widely variable from various pixel designs to 3D-like racers. As mentioned, the attention to detail in these games is really impressive. 

A Few Niggles

Arcade Paradise is not without a few niggles, particularly in the form of glitches. Sometimes I just couldn’t collect rubbish off certain surfaces which were quite irritating when I really liked my laundromat looking spotless. When you place a new arcade cabinet in the arcade you pull up a map and in the game’s current state it cuts off the top of the map so you can’t precisely see where to place cabinets.

You are able to upgrade your abilities which cost pound sterling instead of the dollar currency which is used for new cabinets and upgrades to the business. I unlocked a sprint ability which took a while to acquire only to discover it just didn’t work in-game. I feel these issues will be patched in time. A more unusual critique is I kinda wish the game put more depth into the laundromat. Such as choosing wash cycles or maybe letting you separate clothing colours. I will likely be in the minority on this point but I really enjoyed the tedium of the laundromat sections. Maybe it’s a sign I need to change my career.

Conclusion – A Paradise of Sims

Arcade Paradise was quite a nice surprise for me. Trying one of these simulators can often feel like a roll of the dice. Not only that these types of games feel very marmite to gamers, some will love them some will hate them. A few glitches and bugs hold the game back from two thumbs up. However, there is something to be said for a game that turns tedious chores into something entertaining. I loved running the laundromat probably more than one should. But setting that aside the wide variety of arcade games to play alone in this experience is better than some retro collections available out there. 90s kid or not I found plenty to love in Arcade Paradise and see myself continuing to play it in the future.

Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot