I’m all for a healthy dose of nostalgia and Leve1UP Arcade offers just that! They have a multitude of the classic arcade games that many of us grew up playing, available in a fresh, fun, and thrilling environment that truly appeals to anyone of any age! For name clarification, it’s called “Level Up” Arcade, the “1” in Level is a cute play on the thematics of the establishment. This spelling enhancement was the first of many ways I fell in love with Leve1Up Arcade.
Although they opened back in October, we hadn’t had the opportunity to go till just the other night and I can confidently say that now that we’ve finally been, we will most definitely be returning again and again!
Leve1Up Arcade is where the old GED facility used to be on Niedringhaus.
We knew as soon as we got inside this place was going to be cute and we weren’t at all wrong. I couldn’t resist taking a cute picture of Melissa with these cute pixelated guys. I should definitely know because I played all these games that night, but I think they’re from Space Invaders, I could be way wrong though. Shame on me for my uncertainty!
Each of these game machines featured several others on it. So while the marquee may read “Donkey Kong Junior,” you aren’t limited to playing just that game. There were at least a dozen unique options on each arcade machine. I kept playing the original “Donkey Kong” and while I was a master at it about twenty-five years ago, I couldn’t quite rescue Princess Peach this time around. Still though, it was such blast playing! Definitely took me back a couple years!
Space Invaders is hard! I couldn’t master that game to save my life, but there was this World War II game on here, “1942” that I was really loving and played for quite a while. You flew a plane and shot down other planes. I was loving every single second of it and had never heard of it much less played it in all my life before this night! That’s what I loved about all these options! There was plenty of familiarity for me, but plenty of newness as well!
Nancy, on the right, was a Skee Ball Queen! She ruled over both of us each time we went up against her!
The “Burger Time” machine had all the various Pac Man’s on it and I was so, so happy as that’s a real fan favorite of mine! While it had “Ms. Pac Man,” “Pac Man Junior,” and a sequel or two, I stayed with the classic original and played it time and time again. I seriously love that game so much and had the best time eating those ghosts up!
I couldn’t get the hang of “Defender” down to save my life. Apparently, a lot of these games were beyond my skill level, but that didn’t stop me from trying over and over again to beat someone else’s high scores. Losing after fourteen seconds of play only made me hungrier to do better next time around!
The Popeye machine had a “Batman Forever” game on it that Melissa played quite a bit and that one really took me back since my brother and I used to play it all the time on our Super Nintendo! This machine also had the original “Mortal Kombat” and that’ll forever be a fan favorite of mine! Definitely “GET OVER HERE” and try this one out!
“Frogger” is HARD! Oh my goodness was it hard for me! Sadly, it took me forever to figure out, but once I finally got the hang of it, I still couldn’t get past the second row of moving barriers! I watched some kid do it and he was effortless! Like with all the other games though, I had the best time playing down memory lane.
I’m not very good at Skee Ball, but love it nonetheless. Nancy scored 20,000 more points than I did here later in the hour, but I failed to capture a picture of her and her 44,000 score! Regardless, her moment of triumph will live on in our memories forever.
Plenty of table space to place your belongings down on or just sit and take a break between games. We very much appreciated this amenity.
These two LOVE them some “Beetlejuice” and were ecstatic when they saw it was an option to play!
They played “Beetlejuice” on this Classic Nintendo. There were several other games available for play too including my all-time favorite, “Super Mario Bros. 3!”
They offer a wide variety of sweet treats and drinks to keep your sugar levels high while facing off against some of the fiercest foes in the pixelated universe!
I treated myself to the seasonal option of Blue Ice Creamery’s ice cream cup, which at this time, is pumpkin pie. It did NOT disappoint! My only complaint was I didn’t treat myself to a second cup because it was delicious!
Leve1UP Arcade (the well lit one in the center) is sandwiched between JJ’s Barbecue and Kimara’s Pizza with The Speakeasy just down to the left of it. Plenty of places to eat before you go and game and with the Speakeasy’s late hours, you can even grab a drink to wind down from all that gaming! The District is fast becoming a night out destination spot!
We found the pricing to be extraordinarily reasonable! It’s $15 for one hour of game play or for an even better value, $20 for two hours of play! They also offer monthly memberships for unlimited game play! Those are $50 for a single member, $70 for a couple (Melissa and I know what we’re getting!) or $100 for a family of four! With the monthly memberships you start saving upon your second monthly visit, so if you plan on going even just twice, this is definitely something to consider!
You are welcome – and encouraged – to bring your own food in, which I thought was a lovely feature! Like I mentioned above, there are several eateries literally right nextdoor, so that’s the perfect way to grab something to eat while gaming it up! They also have several tables. Two inside the gaming area and two more in the front where you check in and purchase or reload your gaming cards.
Speaking of food and fun, Level1Up Arcade is also an awesome place to host a birthday party, or any kind of get together for that matter! Private parties start at just $200 and come with unlimited game play for up to ten players! Each additional player is $15 thereafter. An especially awesome place to consider getting together while these freezing temperatures rage on for the next couple months!
Leve1UP Arcade is open from 5:00 p.m. till 10:00 p.m. Fridays, noon through 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and noon till 9:00 p.m. on Sundays. They’re closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Leve1UP Arcade is located at 1314 Niedringhaus Avenue in Granite City, Illinois. They can be reached by phone at (618) 219-2652 or email [email protected] for any further inquiries. Be sure to follow their Facebook Page for all news and announcements!
We really and truly had THE BEST time gaming it up the other night! Sara the owner was a complete and total delight who has a wealth of passion for her establishment and the games housed in it. She was welcoming, encouraging, and a wonderful host. We are so blessed to have this unique place in town and I hope you and your loved ones get out and experience the fun at Leve1UP Arcade like we did! Most definitely a 10/10! Highly Recommend!
As always, THANK YOU so much for viewing! Your support is always appreciated! Feel free to leave a comment below as I love reading and responding to them! I’ll return soon with another all-new post, so until then, I wish you all, all the best!
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Used to love playing me some Pacman myself! Looks like a real neat little place!
It’s great & Pac Man is always a classic!
What a neat place! I remember playing those games!
We’ll have to go! You’ll love it!