Quazar's on location

Quazar's maintains games on location across Southern Vancouver Island. Please support our friends who are helping keep arcade and pinball culture alive! If you are interested in having an arcade or pinball machine at your place of business, send us a message through our contact page.

Cherry Bomb Toys

719 Yates St, Victoria, BC V8W 1L6, Canada

Games on location:

Tempest,

Tempest

Atari, 1981

Tempest is a 1981 arcade game by Atari Inc., designed and programmed by Dave Theurer. It takes place on a three-dimensional surface, sometimes wrapped into a tube, which is viewed from one end and is divided into either 15 or 16 lanes, depending upon whether the tube’s shape was closed or open, respectively. The player controls a claw-shaped “blaster” that sits on the edge of the surface, snapping from segment to segment as a rotary knob is turned.

Tempest was one of the first games to use Atari’s Color-QuadraScan vector display technology. It was also the first game to allow the player to choose their starting level (a system Atari dubbed “SkillStep”). This feature increases the maximum starting level depending on the player’s performance in the previous game, essentially allowing the player to continue. Tempest was one of the first video games to sport a progressive level design in which the levels themselves varied rather than giving the player the same layout with increasing difficulty levels.

Asteroids Deluxe,

Asteroids Deluxe

Atari, 1981

Asteroids Deluxe is a vector graphic multidirectional shooter released in arcades in April 1981 by Atari Inc. as the sequel to Asteroids. It was followed by Space Duel in 1982 and Blasteroids in 1987. Key changes in Asteroids Deluxe were designed to combat the saucer-hunting strategy of Asteroids, which allowed experts to play for extended periods. The game is significantly more difficult than the original. Ports of Asteroids Deluxe were released for the BBC Micro in 1984 and the Atari ST in 1987.

Missile Command.
Missle Command

Missile Command

Atari, 1980

Missile Command is a 1980 arcade game developed and published by Atari, Inc. and licensed to Sega for European release. It was designed by Dave Theurer, who also designed Atari’s vector graphics game Tempest from the same year. The 1981 Atari 2600 port of Missile Command by Rob Fulop sold over 2.5 million copies.

View Location

Haunted Manor

711 Yates St, Victoria, BC V8W 1L6, Canada

Games on location:

Ghostbusters.
Ghost Busters

Ghostbusters

Stern, 2016

The Ghostbusters pinball experience highlights the humor of the film as the player progresses through the game. The game also includes custom speech by original “Ghostbusters” cast member, Ernie Hudson, who guides the player into becoming the newest member of the Ghostbusters team!

View Location

Victoria Event Centre

1415 Broad St, Victoria, BC V8W 2B2, Canada

Games on location:

AC/DC.
ACDC

AC/DC

Stern, 2012

The new AC/DC LED Pro features technological upgrades implemented by Stern in its current Pro models. In addition to the LEDs and the swinging bell, the new AC/DC LED Pro is manufactured with Stern’s updated modern metal and wood back box with a decaled cabinet and speaker housing.

View Location

Herald Street Brew Works

506 Herald St, Victoria, BC V8W 1S6, Canada

Games on location:

Metallica.
Metallica

Metallica

Stern, 2013

The newest addition to the iconic Stern collection of rock and roll machines honors one of the world’s foremost rock bands. Metallica’s notoriously fast tempos and aggressive musicianship sets the tone for an exciting player experience. Players will be able to bang their heads and their flippers to 12 classic Metallica hits including “Master of Puppets,” “One” and “Fade to Black.” Other action-packed game features include an electric chair, snake, grave marker and unparalleled magnetic action.

View Location

Quazar’s Pop Up Arcade at The Bay Centre

6-1701 Douglas St, Victoria, BC V8W 0C1, Canada

Games on location:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Konami, 1989

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is a 1989 beat ’em up arcade game released by Konami. It is based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, including the first animated series that began airing two years earlier. In the game, up to four players control the titular Ninja Turtles, fighting through various levels to defeat the turtles’ enemies, including the Shredder, Krang and the Foot Clan.

Karate Champ,

Karate Champ

Data East, 1984

Karate Champ, known in Japan as Karate Dō (“The Way of the Empty Hand”), is a 1984 arcade fighting game developed by Technōs Japan for Data East. Karate Champ established and popularized the one-on-one fighting genre. A variety of moves can be performed using the dual-joystick controls using a best-of-three matches format like later fighting games.

A separate arcade game that allows two players the option to compete against each other was released in 1984 under the title Karate Champ — Player vs Player (“The Competitive Way of the Empty Hand: Pretty Maiden Edition”), a distinct video game featuring a multiplayer mode and more varied gameplay. It was released for the arcades shortly after the original during the same year, also published by Data East. This version would serve as the basis for the home ports of Karate Champ.

Donkey Kong,

Donkey Kong

Nintendo, 1981

Donkey Kong is an arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981. An early example of the platform game genre, the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game, Mario (originally named Mr. Video and then Jumpman) must rescue a damsel in distress named Pauline (originally named Lady), from a giant ape named Donkey Kong. The hero and ape later became two of Nintendo’s most popular and recognizable characters. Donkey Kong is one of the most important games from the golden age of arcade video games as well as one of the most popular and greatest arcade games of all time. The game was the latest in a series of efforts by Nintendo to break into the North American market. Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo’s president at the time, assigned the project to a first-time video game designer named Shigeru Miyamoto. Drawing from a wide range of inspirations, including Popeye, Beauty and the Beast, and King Kong, Miyamoto developed the scenario and designed the game alongside Nintendo’s chief engineer, Gunpei Yokoi. The two men broke new ground by using graphics as a means of characterization, including cutscenes to advance the game’s plot and integrating multiple stages into the gameplay.

Although Nintendo’s American staff was initially apprehensive, Donkey Kong succeeded commercially and critically in North America and Japan. Nintendo licensed the game to Coleco, who developed home console versions for numerous platforms. Other companies cloned Nintendo’s hit and avoided royalties altogether. Miyamoto’s characters appeared on cereal boxes, television cartoons, and dozens of other places. A lawsuit brought on by Universal City Studios (later Universal Studios), alleging Donkey Kong violated its trademark of King Kong, ultimately failed. The success of Donkey Kong and Nintendo’s victory in the courtroom helped to position the company for video game market dominance from its release in 1981 until the late 1990s.

Ms. Pac-Man,
Ms Pacman

Ms. Pac-Man

Midway, 1982

Ms. Pac-Man is a 1982 maze arcade game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It is the sequel to Pac-Man (1980), and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the titular character, the player is tasked with eating all of the pellets in an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing “Power Pellets” will cause the ghosts to turn blue and flee, which can be consumed for bonus points.

Bubbles,

Bubbles

Williams, 1982

Bubbles is an arcade video game developed by Williams Electronics and released in 1982. It is an action game that features two-dimensional (2D) graphics. The player uses a joystick to control a bubble in a kitchen sink. The object is to progress through levels by cleaning the sink while avoiding enemies.

Development was handled by John Kotlarik and Python Anghelo. Kotlarik wanted to create a non-violent game inspired by Pac-Man. Anghelo designed the game’s artwork and scenario as well as a special plastic cabinet that saw limited use. The game was later released as a web-based version and on home consoles as part of arcade compilations.

Mario Bros.,

Mario Bros.

Nintendo, 1983

Mario Bros. is a 1983 arcade game developed and published for arcades by Nintendo. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo’s chief engineer. Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatures emerging from the sewers by knocking them upside-down and kicking them away.

DigDug,

DigDug

Namco, 1982

Dig Dug is a 1982 maze arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was distributed by Atari, Inc. in North America and Europe. Controlling the titular character, the player is tasked with defeating all of the enemies in each stage, done by either inflating them with air with a pump until they pop or crushing them underneath large rocks. It ran on the Namco Galaga arcade board.

Dig Dug was programmed by Shouichi Fukatani, who worked on many of Namco’s earlier arcade titles, and designed by junior colleagues of Galaga creator Shigeru Yokoyama. Music was composed by Yuriko Keino, becoming the first game she worked on for Namco — the short jingle made when the character moved was made when executives wanted a walking sound in the game. It was described as a “strategic digging game” by Namco for its large amount of strategy used to defeat enemies, which was heavily used in the game’s marketing.

Upon release, Dig Dug was well-received by critics for its addictive gameplay, cute characters and strategy, and was a popular title during the golden age of arcade video games. It was met with a long series of sequels and spin-offs for several platforms, alongside ports for home consoles and digital storefronts. Dig Dug is also included in many Namco video game compilations for a number of systems. Characters from the game appear throughout the Mr. Driller series, itself based on the Dig Dug gameplay.

Snow Bros.
Snow Bros

Snow Bros

Toaplan, 1990

Snow Bros. is a 1990 platform arcade game released in 1990 by Toaplan. The gameplay of Snow Bros. is similar to Bubble Bobble, released in 1986. The game supports up to two players, with each player taking the part of one of two snowmen, Nick and Tom. Each player can throw snow at the enemies. The player must throw snow at each enemy until it is completely covered and turns into a snowball. An enemy partially covered in snow cannot move until it shakes it off.

View Location

Sign up for our newsletter!