There’s something eerie about tiny dark game arcades. Fair enough, it needs to be dark so you can see the zombies before you blow their heads off but does every gamer need to be right on the other gamers’ lap? Along Hillarys’ Leisure zone is somewhat inappropriately positioned– like a black hole for people to escape the beautiful day outside and the life and love around them(spot the virtual world nemesis.) The arcade has a «game of skill» out the front full of some miscellaneous yellow and green fluffy toys, inside is a collection of racing cars, video games and a sign that says tickets and change leading to the left.. I thought it got bigger and just the entrance was cramped but no, the«tickets and change» is a pokey window in the corner. I didn’t have a look at the prizes, I just wanted to get out of there but I did enjoy the grungy/rock music– at least that had some life to it. Leisure zone– when life gets too much.
Happy P.
Place rating: 4 Australia
I actually really miss beach-side arcades. Being originally from the UK every beach town has one and not that Leisure Zone is anywhere near the same it is still a great part of Hillarys and still makes me happy. And to an extent fills the void. The arcade isn’t big at all and all the games aren’t particularly ‘good’ but it is still fun. It could partly be because there is still a 10 year old inside me, or because other than eating and sitting at the beach, what else do you do at Hillarys? I think the real reason I spend my dollars at Leisure Zone, is because it is a nice blast from the past and takes me back to a happy time.
Matthew C.
Place rating: 2 Sorrento, Australia
Call it the Hemingway impulse, but I can’t walk past one of those big game hunting arcade machines without sinking some money into it and shooting at bison. I say«shooting at» instead of «shooting» because I invariably miss the bison in question. If I occasionally do this at Sorrento Quay’s Leisure Zone, it undoubtedly has something to do with the fact that there is actually not much else to do there. As video arcades go, this one is tiny, with few games worthy of noting. Indeed, there are fewer games than there are those ridiculous machines that tempt you to try your luck in the interest of procuring cheap watches or fun-sized chocolate bars, but which are rigged in such a way that you will more than likely never succeed in doing so. Between throwing my money away on such machines and shooting at pixelated cattle – and I’m fully aware that some people fail to see the difference – I choose the plastic shotgun.