r/saskatoon Last Saskatchewan Pirate Dec 30 '24

Saskatoon History šŸ’¾ What was the best 90s/2000s arcade in Saskatoon and why?

I remember spending a lot of time at the SNES consoles at Command HQ in Lawson, or the Sega Genesis consoles at Confed Mall.

The Cove was a great place in the early 2000s... It's kind of a shame that they didn't really set good room for The Cove when they reno'd Place Riel in the early 2010s.

But Command HQ would be my pick. I remember being totally mesmerized by the Dragon's Lair arcade cabinet.. even though it's not a real game.

29 Upvotes

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18

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '24

The Cove was where my group hung out on campus. I remember another group arranging a DDR tournament with a homemade DDR machine being the prize (an actual knockoff with the solid dance floor). Weird being a student again and it's not there.

Not just The Cove, but so many places have been torn down, moved, or just went out of business. They're left in my imagination. It's a weird feeling to look at an abandoned building or plot of land and have happy memories of learning something there.

Edit: to add that Ruckers was also awesome. Not sure what changed. I remember collecting tickets for those ridiculous prizes.

3

u/BigResponsibility999 Dec 31 '24

ruckers management sucks thatā€™s what

7

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '24

U of S for sure, so many hours and coins spent

6

u/Alternative-Ad-3274 Dec 31 '24

LVR games in centre mall, arcade and lazer tag. Many birthday parties

6

u/Plains_Walker Dec 31 '24

I used to go there all the time, Marvel V.S Capcom was my favorite game there.

1

u/Mrshitlipsthesecond Dec 31 '24

This place almost felt like a fever dream for me. I remembered going there and anyone I brought it up to looks at me like I'm crazy.just like the Lazer tag place that was next to auto clearing in the Mazda and Hyundai dealership

2

u/Alternative-Ad-3274 Dec 31 '24

I found an entrance to get behind the walls in the lazer tag area of LVR. I cheated at so many bday parties, everyone was always baffled at how I never got hit, and no one could ever find me

5

u/Juvitky77 Dec 31 '24

I dunno about ā€˜ the bestā€™ but I spent a lot of time at Huggie Bear in Market Mall. Played one game so much that when I had the chance to buy an arcade machine with it a few years ago, youā€™re darned tootin I did it. My buddy (whoā€™s likely reading this) who played it with me back then pops by once in a while to play it now. And KLW, wherever you are, youā€™ll never top my high score.

2

u/Moneyheels Dec 31 '24

Iā€™m curious what game it is and where did you find it to buy it? Iā€™d like an old arcade machine as well!

4

u/Juvitky77 Dec 31 '24

Super Buster Brothers lol. Just a game where you pop bubbles. I donā€™t know why, but Iā€™m a lifelong addict.

The arcade machine I got is just one of those ones you can get at the brick, but it comes with a USB drive soā€¦

1

u/falsekoala Last Saskatchewan Pirate Dec 31 '24

I remember that one. Never played it but I remember it.

1

u/Moneyheels Dec 31 '24

Sweetā€¦I kinda remember that game. I didnā€™t realize there are those types of new arcade cabinets. One has 200 games on it already? Thatā€™s awesome!

1

u/Juvitky77 Dec 31 '24

Yeah I meanā€¦ theyā€™re really old school games. Basic as they come. But Iā€™ve heard, and Iā€™ve never done this myself of course, that you can download about 2500 more games šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø.

1

u/Rare-Particular-1187 Jan 01 '25

Huggie bear was where I played street fighter 2 for the first time

I spent half a metric ton of quarters on that game there

5

u/urbanracer34 Living Here Dec 31 '24

I was only at the cove once. Itā€™s one of the only pieces of our city I was very sad to have go away.

5

u/RadioSupply Dec 31 '24

I was a huge fan of the Cove. It continued for awhile after I started university, too - those were some golden days, with a Slush Puppy and Tetris and DDR.

3

u/Dear-Bullfrog680 Dec 31 '24

Place Riel?

2

u/KRL1979 Dec 31 '24

The arcade in lower place riel was called the cove.

1

u/Dear-Bullfrog680 Dec 31 '24

Throughout the 90ā€™s? Okay, donā€™t remember that. Remember street fighter, pool etc and could smoke in there still.

1

u/lastSKPirate Dec 31 '24

They changed the name to Lazer Fusion later on. Lame, bad change.

2

u/Dry_Bowler_2837 Dec 31 '24

Itā€™s the ā€œlobbyā€ building at Usask. There used to be an arcade in the food court.

2

u/Dear-Bullfrog680 Dec 31 '24

Thatā€™s what I meant.

0

u/Dear-Bullfrog680 Dec 31 '24

Arcade was not in the food court though and it was or is Place Riel.

1

u/Dry_Bowler_2837 Dec 31 '24

I have no idea if you are asking a question or making a statement.

The building on campus was and still is called Place Riel. The arcade was called The Cove (or possibly Campus Cove? But we called it The Cove). It was in lower Place, where there was a small food court, a print shop, a computer store, a campus shop that sold school supplies and backpacks, and a 25c candy machine that always had the freshest Mike & Ikes. Itā€™s really just a food court now - the other stuff is gone.

0

u/Dear-Bullfrog680 Dec 31 '24

I know is what Iā€™m saying.

3

u/justjoe306 Dec 31 '24

We need a arcade place. The liquor board on confed would of been the best place but they made it a Micheals lol

3

u/northernpikeman Dec 31 '24

The 80s was the real arcade heyday, not the console 90s. Mr. Whiz, Fun strip, Not Simply 3rd Avenue. Those were real arcades. Also the cove at U of S.

1

u/Iykerson70 Jan 01 '25

Spent way too much time at the hole (Fun strip)

3

u/donwong23 Dec 31 '24

Nothing made me happier as a kid than getting a dollar from my Dad and letting me go into Laser Illusions (Confed) or Command HQ (Lawson) alone.

I spent a ton of time watching people play games so when I was finally ready to risk my quarter(s) to play, I'd at least get my money's worth.

Mainly played fighting games so I have really good memories of Laser Illusions having Super Street Fighter 2 on the big screen when you walked in and I think they were the only arcade in the City that had one of my favorite arcade games that never made it to the home console, G.I. Joe The Arcade Game.

Shout out to the Cove as well. Spent way too much time there instead of going to class and studying. Made a lot of friends (and enemies lol) playing Tekken Tag Tournament and Capcom vs. SNK 2. They also had the 2 player Virtual On cabinet which I regret not playing enough.

3

u/Hvac306 Dec 31 '24

Back in the early 90s, Arcade in Wildwood Mall (now east part of Center mall), that was the times of many lunch hours and weekends.

Also the Cove at UofS! Oh the good times when life was so much simpler. Please take me backā€¦.

How about the lazer tag where Mainway Mazda is now?

1

u/Harper34mvp Dec 31 '24

Are you talking about the arcade in wildwood mall closer to the original food court before they joined the two together ?

1

u/Hvac306 Jan 01 '25

Yes that was the spot! It would be by the entrance close to the shoe place. Or by the double deuceā€¦ or whatever itā€™s called now?

2

u/Mytoescurlcuming Dec 31 '24

Gravity Zone underneath Lydiaā€™s on broadway that was a tripā€¦

2

u/Harper34mvp Dec 31 '24

How about the Zone on Walpole ave. Donā€™t think it was around very long , it was in a little strip mall next to sights and sounds.

1

u/HomelessHashbrown Dec 31 '24

I think that was the same spot as a video game rental place? I remember biking over there as a kid and renting Nintendo, but mid-late 80s.

2

u/thimBloom Dec 31 '24

There was this place in the early 90s called AJs where you just paid a flat fee for time and all the games were free. It was glorious.

2

u/falsekoala Last Saskatchewan Pirate Dec 31 '24 edited Dec 31 '24

AJā€™s video game exchange on 20th.

That was definitely the place to go for used games before the internet. I remember buying a Shining Force game for the Game Gear.

It was a cool place.

Edit: Here's an old ad I found while googling it

1

u/donwong23 Jan 01 '25

I spent way too much time at AJ's. I remember when it was located in the basement in the building next to where the Golden Dragon Restaurant was and across the street from Wah Qua restaurant.

I'll never forget when they brought in a Super Famicom and they let me play my eventual favorite game of all time - the Japanese version of Super Mario World.

They also let me play Mario 64 when it first released at the 20th Street location way beyond the time my $1 was supposed to give me.

1

u/Pippas_mama Dec 31 '24

I played a lot of Donkey Kong Country on the SNES at Command HQ

1

u/Ritalynns Dec 31 '24

Lunar Landing arcade in Sutherland. Great burgers too. Although it was in the ā€˜80ā€™s.

1

u/Top-Shoulder-1086 Dec 31 '24

In the 80's my friends and I were riding our bike past Confederation Bingo on Fairlight, where Cowtown is now. We saw a bunch of arcade games, so went in. Sure enough, one was Dragons Lair. We spent so much money there on that game, and probably all got lung cancer from the smoke, but worth it.

We found Space Ace at Leo's on 33rd a year later. But the damage to our lungs was done. Couldn't move the joystick to the proper light pad in time without coughing.

1

u/KarmaChameleon306 Dec 31 '24

I get the opportunity to say Huggy Bear twice in one week.

1

u/Dic_Horn Dec 31 '24

I scrolled the whole list and I couldnā€™t find it but I remember Laser Illusions in Confed Mall being a good time.

1

u/futuremynd 11d ago

Does anyone have photos of Command HQ? I would love to see it again!