If you find yourself at a modern arcade like Dave & Buster’s or Round One Entertainment you’ll likely see one of the “5D Amusements” on the arcade floor. They’re video games that oftentimes feature hydraulic mechanisms to move the sit-down cabinet as you play, surround sound audio speakers, whole cabinet vibrations, and sometimes little puffs of air that coincides with the action happening in the game. Monster Eye is one such game.
The cabinet itself is alluring, with a huge “Look at me” presence and booming sounds to draw you in. It doesn’t even matter how generic the characters and title are: with a game this big how can it NOT be fun?
Monster Eye is a light gun shooter which sees you blasting all kinds of big baddies. You and a partner can take on bugs, monsters, and… bug monsters as you try to escape from the wort vacation ever. The gameplay is standard for any arcade shooter, but some sections where you need to shoot a specific part of a baddie together are cool. The game is designed to eat up your credits, though, so watch out for cheap hits and difficulty spikes.
I can see these types of games being alluring to a younger audience. There isn’t much skill needed to play the game, and you can literally just sit down in the cabinet to immediately enjoy yourself. Still, without any real way to “Beat” the game besides throwing money at it, Monster Eye and others in it’s ilk represent a new age of arcade games. Ones that reward persistence of your pockets over your gaming ability.
*Played at The Fun Dungeon Arcade in Excalibur Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV 2018
