Jason
- Aug 20, 2021
- 3 min read

ARCADE REPORT: Barcade, Jersey City, NJ (January 2020)

Updated: Aug 26, 2021

A couple of weeks ago I did an arcade report on Barcade in Newark, NJ. Today it’s the Jersey City Barcade’s turn. Today was family day at that normally 21 and over location. My wife, youngest son and I got there right when it opened at noon. That gave us our run of the place for an hour or so.

By far, the highlight of the trip was the side by side Bally Elektra and Spectrum. Those are two super unique games that I was dying to play. Elektra is one of the few pins ever produced that has three playfield levels. Spectrum has no out lanes and balls launching from all over the playfield when you hit certain shots. Such cool pins and by far our most played games of the day.

The pinball lineup at the Jersey City Barcade was much stronger than Newark’s was. In addition we to the aforementioned sick Ballys, they had the newest Jersey Jack Willy Wonka and a Stern Pinball Black Knight Sword of Rage Premium. Two games that are high in the list of pins that I like to play right now.

On the arcade game side of things, Barcade had a small row of Cabarets. Those are always cool to see. They also had several neat games that you don’t see very often, including Super Monkey Ball and a Namco 3D shooter that I’ve never seen before called “Golly! Ghost!”

Of course Barcade also had all of the classics that people normally look for in an arcade like The Addams Family, Donkey Kong, Tetris, etc...

Like all Barcade locations the beer on tap and drinks were plentiful and the food was surprisingly good. A couple of the games went down and there was a few minor issues with some games but for the most part they were maintained well, certainly better than a Yestercade. Barcade games were priced at one to two tokens for vids, two for older pins and three for newer pins, $0.25 - $0.50, $0.50 and $0.75, respectively.

Everything about the experience was great, other than the crowd. It’s a good thing that we got there when it opened because by an hour or so in it was PACKED. When we went to the Newark location a couple of weeks ago, we were practically the only people there. Regardless, to me the better game selection (IMHO) makes Barcade Jersey City the place to go over Newark.

Thanks for reading. If you’re interested in even more pictures from this and other arcade locations, make sure to follow my Instagram account @knapparcade .

Here’s a complete game list for Barcade JC for anyone who’s interested:

Addams Family (pin)

Asteroids Deluxe

Bad Cats (pin)

Black Knight: Sword of Rage (pin)

Bubble Bobble

Centipede

Challenge

Cheyenne

Contra (PlayChoice)

Crazy Taxi

Daytona USA (Twin)