Thursday, May 21, 2020

I wrote this on the Facebook Arcade1up fan page.



I bought the Star Wars Arcade when Walmart had that package deal with the Robot for $350.

I had much more difficulty building this one. My step-dad usually helps me. He is 83 and I am almost 60, so we are not real fast. It usually takes us a while. The problems started when we tried to attach the second side. We couldn't get anything to line up properly, so later I attempted this on my own. I started with the lower front and worked my way around the bottom and up the back and finally the light-up marquee. Often I had to loosen screws that I had already put in to adjust it so that I could get the next screw to line up. Then I had big problems with the marquee getting it to line up.

However, the biggest problem was attaching the display panel to the second side. The holes did not line up at all. It was like the cabinet was slightly too wide. I had to remove the plastic brackets from the display panel, attach them to the side, and then reattach the display panel. The trouble was that the most I could get were 3 of 4 screws in each of the two brackets, which is probably good enough to hold it forever.

I had trouble with the display brackets with the other two arcade1up's I built, but they weren't near this difficult.

My total build time was around five hours. I spent well over an hour trying to get those display panel brackets to line up, and I spent quite a bit of time trying to get all the other holes to line up.

So was it worth it?

This was my all-time favorite arcade game, so I definitely wanted this one. After playing a couple of games, my feeling on the yoke controller is that it might not be as good as the original but close enough to have fun with it. I feel like the buttons take more effort to press, and this is where I started to have a problem. I absolutely loved this game in the 1980s when it was in the arcade, but the last time I would have had an opportunity to play it was around 1990 give or take a couple of years. That was 30 years ago. I was 30 years old then, but now I turn 60 in three weeks. I found my fingers getting sore from all the button mashing on just a couple of games, so I am wondering if the buttons really do take more effort to press compared to the original arcade? I may have to limit how much I play if my fingers bother me too much. However, I also figure that this might be good exercise for my hands.

I am happy to have the Star Wars Arcade. I'm sure that I'll have some fun with it.


Comments
  • Gerardo Follano
    Gerardo Follano I had both the sitdown and upright original arcade back in the 90's and the buttons feel very like i remember, but the yoke was smoother less resistance
  • Dusty Potter
    Dusty Potter Where's the robot?
  • Chad Kirstein
    Chad Kirstein That cabinets was a bugger to put together. I usually have my son do it but I had to jump in and assist him.
  • Patrick Prevenas
    Patrick Prevenas This is my favorite cab by miles, but it was a bit harder to assemble. The kickplate had some trouble staying in place while lining up the second side panel, and the control deck screws didn't quite line up with the holes in the mounting boards. Overall I spent between and hour and 1.5 hours to put it together, but I've been loving it ever since.
    • John Coffey
      John Coffey On the other arcade1up's, the kickplate just slid in. Not with this one. It is a real pain to get everything to line up.
    • Patrick Prevenas
      Patrick Prevenas John Coffey Yeah, I think it's because of the orientation and assembly of the control deck. It was kind of frustrating, but once it's done, man, what a great cabinet.
  • John Marx
    John Marx Yeah getting the marquee to line up with the 2nd side panel with everything else was a pain in the ass.
  • Attila Tihanyi
    Attila Tihanyi Yep. I have 6 and SW was the most stressful built. As you said the wholes for the monitor don't line up. I also had issues with other wholes... the finished product is outstanding tho
  • Mark L Morrissey
    Mark L Morrissey Glad to see I wasn't the only one who struggled with that part... i just stayed quiet because i didnt want to look dumb...
  • Paul da Silva
    Paul da Silva The buttons on mine are and have always been easy, and the yoke feels like I remember it in the arcades. A few people on here have mentioned that they had stiff yokes that loosened up over time, so perhaps your buttons will do the same. Can you use the triggers instead? And is there any chance that your hands are just sore and over-sensitive from five hours of wringing hand tools? Congratulations on wrenching that monster together! I remember it took me twice as long as usual to assemble mine. I hope the buttons work out and you enjoy the heck out of it.
  • Richard Ortiz
    Richard Ortiz I'm 59 have suffer from RA and arthritis. So I'm with you there on the hands not being as fast or as flexible as they used to be. My Star Wars and the 12in1 are my to favorite cabs. Love vector graphics games.
  • RJ Chellman
    RJ Chellman I'm 36 and I had problems with that side too
  • Lucas Singer
    Lucas Singer I had nearly all these problems with building it too. It was by far the hardest out of my 5 cabinets to setup and took me several hours. I really feel like everything wasn't aligned very well or maybe there's just too many variables to make everything See More
  • Chris Gibson
    Chris Gibson Love mine.
  • Neal Giordano Jr.
    Neal Giordano Jr. Love it, but SW is the one that gave me the most trouble with assembly. Getting the 2nd side to line up with everything was rough, then I had problems getting the marquee to line up correctly. Took a little over an hour, when all was said and done. Two people would definitely work better than one.
    John Coffey
    Write a reply...

  • Duane Davis
    Duane Davis Don't feel bad. Twig is 107 & had to hire the Geek Squad to finish his. He tried on his own and it looked like a Picasso painting. 🤣🤣
  • Ron Ailurophile Hall
    Ron Ailurophile Hall So the consensus is there are assembly issues and we are all getting older! Well done though it looks great!!!