Wonderland reviews: Regina’s best, and worst, arcade games

Regina arcade is still the best bang for your four bucks

It was several years ago when Ominocity first discovered Wonderland, the Regina arcade where you pay four dollars for unlimited game play for an hour. A bastion of joysticks and Jr. Pac Man, Wonderland is one of the last true arcades in the province. Tellingly, since we first walked into those doors we’ve been back many, many times.

Of course, not all the games are worth your precious, precious time – some are actually really awful. We used to be of the mindset that any video game was better than no video game, but, after our most recent trip, we aren’t so sure anymore.

Skeeball is always fun, as is air hockey. But Ominocity decided to review the games and separate the good from the bad – here are the results:

Wonderland - Regina, SK

Elevator Action II

Apparently a sequel, the plot of Elevator Action II seems to be based around a badass loner wandering around an abandoned building in search of baddies to shoot. There is graffiti on the walls and wild dogs roaming about. And there are also elevators, which are really easy to die in. Apparently you can step on top of the elevator and when it automatically goes up it slowly crushes your character. Another anxiety run amok… I lost interest when the stage boss blew up the building, which killed everyone inside except for the hero. Plot-wise it was so they could fight one-on-one – but not in an elevator. Meh.

Rating: 5/10 – Mildly fun for fans of nonsense shooting-type games

Wonderland - Regina, SK

Police 911

Without a doubt, this was the most fun game I encountered in Wonderland. Combining police shootout drama with actual physical movement – you can literally dodge your way out of a barrage of bullets – Police 911 was surprisingly something of a good workout. Until, that is, I hurt my knee while attempting to capture a white suited gangster boss. Adults beware, there’s a reason a lot of these games are meant for children.

Rating: 9/10 – Provided you are physically up for the challenge

Wonderland - Regina, SK

Lucky & Wild

A buddy cop game, this game actually incorporates the real-life concept of chasing after bad guys in a high-speed pursuit – one player drives and shoots and the other, well, just shoots. In any case, Lucky & Wild is a fun game, albeit a little more involved for one buddy. The only part of the game I didn’t care for was when the characters would visit the bar/automotive center where the workers all wore short shorts and had cat tails and ears. Zuh?

Rating: 7.5/10 – It’s actually 8/10 if you’re driving

Wonderland - Regina, SK

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

One of my favourite childhood movies, the video game version actually traumatized me. See, in the film you are a robot charged with protecting John Connor, and, ultimately, the survival of the human race. Ditto for the game, where you are placed in the not-so-distant future, battling Terminator robots among human soldiers. Except it’s impossible to not shoot the humans even though you aren’t supposed to. The source of many pre-adolescent nightmares – hopefully not adult ones as well.

Oh yeah, the gun was sort of broken so I ended up dying a lot. Humans are doomed.

Rating: 6/10 – This is one of those games that is exponentially better if you’re playing with a buddy

Wonderland - Regina, SK

Marvel VS. Capcom

Remember how many quarters you spent playing Street Fighter back in the day? What about the Uncanny X-Men game? You probably could have saved, or spent, a lot more if they had just rolled out the Marvel VS. Capcom game a lot earlier. Lots of familiar characters, surprising team-ups (Ryu meets Wolverine? Awww yeah!) and endless button mashing. An enduring classic!

Rating: 10/10 – Beware – you could likely spend an entire hour playing this game

Wonderland - Regina, SK

Sharpshooter

Pitted against disc-like shapes that you are supposed to shoot – and probably can’t – this game sucks. It’s essentially a turd amidst some total gems. Avoid.

Rating: 1/10 – Kicking rocks down the street actually got a better grade!

Wonderland - Regina, SK

San Francisco Rush 2049

One of the better racing games in Wonderland, San Francisco Rush 2049 is what would happen if Mario Kart had a baby with F-Zero.

Rating: 8/10 – Would have gotten a 9 except I kept losing

Pinball

Unfortunately, both of the Terminator 2 pinball machines were out of order – we remember these being among some of the better games out there. Hopefully they get well soon.

Wonderland - Regina, SK

Jokerz

This was, by far, the worst pinball game at Wonderland. The controls were sticky and other than keeping the ball afloat, there was little in the way of a storyline. The graphics did depict a woman with ample cleavage playing poker against a drunken Santa Claus though – ugh. Confusing!

Rating: 0/10 – Blatant sexism sinks this one to the bottom of the list

Wonderland - Regina, SK

Goldeneye 007

Goldeneye 007, however, actually managed to cram the movie plot into the game – somehow, I managed to use the satellite to destroy the base, just like in the movie. Otherwise, this was pretty much your standard game of pinball, except for the gun trigger that launched the ball. Mediocrity!

Rating: 4/10 – The movie wasn’t really all that good either… play the N64 version instead

Wonderland - Regina, SK

Wizard of Oz

This was by far the most modern of the pinball games in the entire building, which is strange considering how old the Wizard of Oz is. In fact, including a TV-like monitor that flashes images of the movie isn’t exactly optimal for pinball game-play, considering you sort of have to pay attention to where the ball is and not what Judy Garland is singing. Baffling!

Rating: 4/10 – Nice graphics, but not sure if this is meant to be a pinball or a musical experience