When I was in elementary school in Baltimore, we had an in-school arcade called the PAL Center. It was an effort to keep kids off the streets after school. I loved it. Of course, Donkey Kong and Arkanoid were some of my favorites - they were everyone’s favorites - but the game that I loved the most was Mappy.

Mappy is a very simple yet extremely fun cat-n-mouse game - literally. As the star of the game, Mappy the police mouse is set out to recover stolen goods from the bad cats. To recover the ill-gotten gains, Mappy must bounce off of trampolines to reach different platforms all the while stearing clear of the cats who roam around to stop Mappy.

I loved that game when I was a kid and, much to my surprise, a local arcade has it. This arcade is Ground Kontrol. I first ventured to Ground Kontrol sometime around October 2005 and I was instantly taken aback. You see, it’s not your typical arcade; it’s a retro arcade as well as a bar. It’s an arcade for the kids who grew up with the first, second, and third generations of video games (through 1996 or so). Those kids are all adults now; Ground Kontrol fully understands this, so they’ve integrated a bar (open after 7PM) and loud music into their outfit. GK also has the more pinball machines than any other arcade in the region.

GK has recently rearranged their floor, which provides more space to move around the floor but also shows off the game cabinets better. We had our Quasi-Quarterly Team Outing at GK tonight and it was a blast. Since the event was company-sponsored, all the games and pinball machines were free. I got to play Mappy to my heart’s content, as well as the multitude of other games including their new Independence Day pinball (which I highly recommend; it’s among the best pinball I’ve played). For those who don’t drink alcohol (like me), they serve Thomas Kemper and other sodas. Anthony is a cool guy and treated us well, as did the bartender (didn’t catch his name). This was my fourth time there; I look forward to going back again soon.