What would a perfect arcade look like?
I have no idea. I’ve never seen one.
But every once in a while, I’ll come across an arcade that really strikes a chord with me. An arcade that may not be perfect, but the very fact that it exists makes me feel like a perfect arcade could exist. The sort of arcade that still fills me with excitement months later. If someone were to ask me what my favorite arcades were, I’d know how I’d answer without hesitation.
Those are arcades I refer to as “S-Class Arcades“. That is to say, arcades that come closest to what I personally think a perfect arcade might look like. It’s not a label I use lightly. Of the 200 arcades I’ve visited at the time of writing this, only four have ever deserved that title. (but there are a couple of arcades I saw before I started this blog that I’d probably consider S-Class arcades if I saw them today)
There’s also a second “A-Class Arcade” title I’ve started using recently. I was very reluctant to start using it, because I felt like it would start turning into a rating system. Unlike S-Class, I’m not entirely sure what it means. It’s a completely arbitrary award I give to arcades that I feel deserve an extra mention but don’t deserve an S-Class. What I do and don’t consider an A-Class arcade depends entirely on my mood.
Both are completely subject to my personal whims, taste, and experiences. For example, my opinion of Galloping Ghost was soured because a lot of the machines I was most excited about happened to be broken at my time of visit. They’re not meant to be objective rankings by any stretch. Just a personal shout-out to the arcades that gave me the most excitement.