☆ I Stormed Bowser's Real Life Retro Gaming Castle ☆ @ReplayEvents #PlayBlackpool #Retrogaming

Norbreck Castle was the perfect setting for a Retro Gaming event such as Play Blackpool. 

From the outside it looked like Bowser could quite easily reside there in comfort.

The Castle Ramparts were clear to see and I half expected one of the Koopa Clan to pop their heads up as I approached the venue on the Blackpool Queens Promenade.

 

Once inside the castle a vast array of retro gaming goodness was there for me to drool over.

 

A Sunday Castle Raid

I mounted my trusty steed and raided the castle on the Sunday and there were hundreds of like minded gamers in attendance to lap up the monumental amount of Arcade Cabinets, Games Consoles and Indie Releases that were there for everyone to indulge on.

 

Everything was set to Free Play and it was a case of diving straight in to this interactive exhibition of video games past, present and future.

 

Play Blackpool really did manage to represent the full spectrum of video games interests in a vast hall of good times.

 

There were some awesome examples of Video Games cabinets such as Pole Position, Space Harrier, NBA JAM Tournament Edition, Ghouls N Ghosts and Out Run. 

There were rows upon rows of great arcade machines just begging to be played. It was a pure delight to see everyone getting so much joy from playing these fine examples of Arcade Cabinets.

A Smorgasbord Of Console Delicacies

In the middle of the hall was the one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Pretty much every original console you could think of was set up ready for anyone to plot up and play for as long as you like. I was truly overwhelmed by the range of consoles on offer to play. Starting from a 70's Pong machine right up until the XBOX 360 from the last generation, they were all there to play.

 

It didn't stop there! There were XBOX One's set up alongside PS4's with a range of new games and some cool Indie Games to flex your joypad thumbs to.

 

There was even room for some Oculus Rift games to make their way into this party of video games delight!

 

Working my way round these beauties took me a hours but I enjoyed every last minute of it and in the process I managed to play some games that I had never got round to playing previously such as the brilliant UN Squadron on SNES and believe it or not Mega Man on the NES!

 

I was in Video Games ectasy, but it didn't stop there…..

 

The Main Stage

The stage was set up for the Retro Gaming World Championships and also doubled up as the Cosplay Parade which was great fun. 

 

There was also a brilliant trading hall that hosted some awesome retro games and consoles for sale along with some cool custom arcade machines. There was a great selection for gamers with all sorts of budgets catered for.

Whilst doing the rounds I also stumbled across the cool retro gaming gadget called The Blissbox which I have seen on Kickstarter and Twitter before. It's a really cool gadget which allows you to play with literally any type of controller you can think of whilst emulating. It was really cool to get a hands on with it as I had a quick bash at the NES version of Contra.

 

My First Play But Not My Last

Overall I couldn't recommend Play highly enough, it has the kind of atmosphere that makes you want to stay there all weekend. Everyone was super friendly and as one guy I was chatting to said, 

"IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GAMES!"

Spot on my friend....SPOT ON!

Games Freezer "Play Blackpool" 

Best In Show Awards 2015

BEST FREEBIE: 

A cool SkySaga Rubiks Cube thingy, my daughter can't stop playing with it!

FAVOURITE ARCADE GAME: 

Ghouls & Ghosts Arcade. Having never played Ghouls & Ghosts on the arcade, this was a special treat for me.

FAVOURITE CONSOLE GAME:

Tough choice, but my time with UN Squadron on the SNES was special as I had never played it before and it turned out to be one tough cookie (just like the Mean Machines Review had said all those years ago!)

Did You Make It To Play Blackpool?

What Were Your Favourite Moments?