Greg's Life #149: An evening at the Starfighters Arcade in Mesa, Arizona

An evening at the Starfighters Arcade in Mesa, Arizona

November 2025

A warm, August Friday night in Arizona spent with my friends Kevin and Brian became an incredible retrogaming experience. I had the rare occasion to visit family, whom I hadn't seen in over 13 years. It was a mixed bag but my friends proved to be better people than some of my relatives. It's a long story, but I won't get into that here. Here in Japan, video game arcades (called "game centers" here) are not what they used to be. They still exist, but they stay in business with dedicating most of their floorspace to UFO catchers, which are what the claw arm prize redemption machines are called here. The rest of the floorspace is dedicated to pachinko, pachislo (slot machines), gimmicky kids' games, music games like Taiko no Tatsujin, and perhaps a racing game if you're lucky. It's sad, because in my experience with Japan since 1998, I've seen the decline in Japanese game centers. They used to be filled with Sega Astro City, Taito Egret, Namco Cyber Lead, and other such game cabinets (erroneously referred to as "candy cabinets" among the Japanese gaming scene online in the West), but now, sadly, that era is mostly over.

There was one game center next to an Indian restaurant called Tamanna on Route 17 in Maebashi, perpendicular from the Lirica Mall we often go to. It was called Game Park M-1 and I enjoyed going in there. That game center had some Astro City cabinets in the back featuring Street Fighter III, King of Fighters, and maybe a mahjong game. Also there was a Virtual On cab, and several Nesica cabinets that feature newer arcade-style fighting games, shmups, etc. I was rather fond of that game center. Once we went to eat at Tamanna for my birthday and afterwards I scored a huge, plush Slime from Dragon Quest in one of the UFO catcher games! My wife and I enjoyed the Fun Fun Cup Noodle game there too. A Mandai Shoten store opened up on the other side of that game center(a secondhand store selling anime figures, video games, plastic models, toys, etc). But next to that was a big game center that's nothing but UFO catchers and rows of gachapon (capsule toy) dispensers. Sadly, the past few times I've driven by, I've noticed that the game center is shuttered. It probably lost business due to the new competition two doors down.

Anyhow, despite my love for Japanese arcade cabinets, I of course have quite fond memories of the stand-up arcade game cabinets I grew up with, with their unique controller layouts, graphic design, the artwork on their marquees, and the giant artwork adorning the sides. My friend Makoto told me that in the '80s, Japan also had such cabinets. He was rather fond of playing Atari games like Star Wars and Temple of Doom. I unfortunately do not see such games anywhere in Japan. Not even at Taito's HEY game center in Akihabara or the Mikado game centers, all which provide a vintage game arcade experience. I have seen pinball games in Mikado though, and apparently they've opened a location devoted to pinball games near their game center by Takadanobaba Station.

I believe my friend Kevin was the first to tell me about Starfighters several years ago. I've been following their YouTube channel for years and would comment on their videos. I'd decided that whenever I went to visit Arizona that Kevin and I would definitely visit Starfighters. On that day we spent together, we did go to Tilt Studio at AZ Mills Mall in Tempe. While it was cool, they have a system where you have to get a card to pay for the games and we didn't bother with that. We just hung around and took pictures. After that, we skipped dinner and just went to Starfighters.

The location is not what I expected, as it is in a business park rather than a strip mall. We arrived around sunset. From 7pm to 11pm on weekends, one can pay an entrance fee of $15 and enjoy all-you-can play arcade and pinball games while absorbing the wonderful retro ambience. Aside from all of the great games, Starfighters features awesome movie posters, toys from our childhood, great '80s music, and other nostalgia. When I first walked in, a Psychedelic Furs song was playing. Some non-functioning sit-down cabs were lined up by the entrance, which was unfortunate because Atari's Red Baron was one of them.

I had already left comments on their YouTube channel that I would be visiting them from Japan, so I got to meet the owner Jacob who was looking forward to meeting me. I talked with him for a bit and he's a nice guy, of course. There were games I had never seen before, which had eluded me among all the arcades I visited when I was a kid. I was faced with wanting to play so many games while also talking pictures as well as video. Four hours wasn't enough time. I wish I could've gone back a second time. Perhaps the next time I have the occasion to visit Arizona.

Here are the photos I took.