Underground Retrocade

This place rules! All the classic games from the 80’s and 90’s. Definitely coming back with friends. More fighting games please!

Visited Underground Retrocade twice this past weekend and spent 3 – 4 hours each day there. It is a terrific blast from your arcade visiting past if you are like me and the guys i went with, in your mid to late 30’s. $ 15 all you can play and all day. Come and go as you please and a number of pubs within walking distance. A wonderful selection of 80’s and 90’s arcade and pinball classics. Vast majority of the games are in excellent playing condition and appear to be in their original cabinets with original controls as well. A few had some trackball issues or some screen burn in but honestly that is to be expected with these machines that have taken constant abuse from players for years. Another major plus is that there is PLENTY of space in between games to not feel claustrophobic in any manner. It is a terrific layout.
The place was not crowded at all on either night (Friday 9pm-​1230am and Sunday 630pm-​10pm)
In fact I would coin the place as dead on both nights which would lead me into my only negative. For an arcade it is very, very quiet. 80’s music playing at an elevator like level and many of the arcade games seem to either have no sound or have their sound kicked down to a minimum. I would prefer to hear the games in all of their attract mode glory when not being played. And the music can definitely be turned up. Would love to see this place a little livelier.
Last point and I will credit my fellow arcade goer last night with the idea. Maybe do some type of marketing package with one or several of the bars in the neighborhood to try to get additional traffic. A couple of drinks and all you can play for $ 20. Something like that.
All in all a great time and I’ll be back soon.

This is now my favorite arcade in the Chicagoland area. A couple years ago it would have been Galloping Ghost, but Underground has added a great deal of high quality games to their arsenal, making them so much better then their competition. Of course, no game is great unless it works. Almost every game on Underground’s floor is completely operational. GG always seems to have 25 games or so with a ‘not working’ sign on them and they’re very slow to repair them. Another nice thing about Underground is that you have a huge amount of space around you. The aisles at GG are jammed together so it’s customary to get bumped when busy. Underground also has a couple of sofa’s up front when you want to take a break, a coat rack (novel idea huh… GG doesn’t offer one) and the ability to play XBox. I’m done with GG… Underground has my full attention now.

Being new to the area and taking the kids out for an exploratory stroll. We saw this place and since the viewing of the movie «Pixels» these kids have a need to play Donkey Kong. Walk in the door was stopped by a younger guy who was nice enough at first. He questioned the ages of my kids. Well apparently they were too young. All under 8. There is no signage on the door stating an age restriction. I didnt question and I didnt even put up a fight. The comment that got me was something along the lines of taking the kids to Chucky Cheese to let them run around cause these games are old and fragile. He then has the minerals to tell me that there are «no hard feelings» as if I had given him any issues. Kid was nice enough but really needs to work on some customer service and social skills. My one son ran back to look at one of the games and I felt like the kid was going to run up and tackle him. Not a great experience. Summary walked in greeted because of kids told we couldnt play and left. Wont be going back with or without kids. Kids are treated poorly here.

I went there with my wife and we both had a great time. The staff is very polite and helpful.

This place is so fun! They have all the classics and then some! For a flat fee you can play all you want. Great place to take kids (if they are reapectful and don’t pound on machines). They even have a pinball room… and Super Mario is the best. The people working were super nice. They have drinks and light snacks. They have a nice sitting place for parents if you are not into games. They even let you get a bracelet so if you want to leave to eat and come back after to play you can.

Nice place! I’ve always wanted to see an arcade in this town! Just wish they had some more modern games like Crusin USA., and SF Rush.

Went here on a double date. Nothing like getting competitive with your significant other while experiencing pure nostalgia. Phenomenal selection, the guy who was working was really friendly and had good conversation. If you’re looking for a great time and a walk down memory lane at the old arcades, this is the place.
My only complaint is that I wasn’t allowed to steal the Star Wars cardboard cut outs in the front window. Haha

This is the best, for those 90s kids of course… Wanna go back to the past of gaming… Retrocade is the place… You get to see how the games were back then, it could be alittle cooler if they had another floor eith the future games.

This is a great place to go if you need a retro arcade fix. They have a ton of games to play and the entry fee of $ 15 is not bad considering you can easily drop a lot more. As some other posters have said their pinball machines are all in a single room and are in excellent condition. The game selection is definitely good and gives a nice dose of nostalgia. Looks like there’s still room to grow as they get more games. I would have liked to see more racing games (similar to VR racing), but that’s just my preference. We had fun playing all the shooting and multi-​player games. There were a couple of games where the joystick wasn’t working or the screen was not perfect, but easy to find other games to play.

Went here with my boyfriend to change up our usually date routines, it was super fun and totally different! Honestly it’s a hidden gem in Dundee, I pass by that area all the time and never noticed it. I will be recommending it to everyone for a fun night out. All the games worked on this 2 floor layout except one who had a label saying out of order with a picture of the game with a thermometer in it quite a cute idea, just shows how fun the people can be. Kid friendly! Super cheap $ 15 for the whole day and loads of fun! Hope to be back soon.

This place has everything I could imagine from my childhood, from the classic Ms. Pacman to Galaga to Super Hang-​On. They even have those multi-​arcade Neo-​Geo cabinets. And the shooters! Man! Love the 1942 series of shooters. The list goes on and on. There are 2 floors of games! And, they have a darkened room full of pinball machines. My mind is blown! There’s something to catch my attention everywhere I looked. 2 hours flew by like it was nothing. The experience took me back quite a few years and made me feel like I was in high school again. I’ve taken my 10 yr-​old son here. He loves Fix It Felix and Ms. Pacman and I think Time Crisis 2 or something like that. All in all, this is great place to spend an afternoon or an evening!

Today we went to the retro arcade with our cub scout pack. Big mistake. Though it may be a great place to search for your inner child and the games he or she played. This is not the place to bring your actual child. The manager is rediculous at best. Hovering over you like a bird of pray waiting for you to do something to his beloved pin ball game that is not in line with his PERSONAL opinion on how these games are played. He also makes assumptions to your behavior just because he thinks your child is an idiot and cannot understand the complex strategy behind hitting a few buttons to make a ball move. I have played countless pinball games in my life and know the basics of each game. What the ENTHUSIAST OWNER doesn’t realize is that while my son may have been click the buttons rapidly he was engaging the upper lever not the lower 2 levers to propel the ball. He told him to wait until the balls descended to activate levers. He assumed my son was an idiot and stood there clicking a button like an ape enjoying the sound of the machine. He pulled him aside and confronted him on the issue mid game and ruined his game play because he is stuck In his vintage world of games and forgets the nature of what these games are intended for, fun! We walked in thinking this may be a wonderful place to host a party for kids and left feeling like this place needs to go away. Stop focusing on the part of the games and what they cost and you can make up for it in volume of customers to off set this. I know old games should be respected and babied. With this I agree. But when assumptions of mistreatment are made when games are respected. One leaves feeling angry not glad he or she was exposed to these beautiful classics. Find some compassion in your business and realize you to were young once and how you learned to play these games and fell in love with them. I guarantee it wasn’t with a turd standing over you criticizing your frequency of clicks. It was about excitement, pressure, and bragging rites to post that high score. Relax buddy it’s a game. Maybe you can enjoy your job a little more when you find pleasure in it and share the treasures you have In your possession.

Had a ton of fun here last night! Loved the 6 player Xmen and 4 player TMNT Games upstairs. But, I spent the majority of my time in the pinball room and playing Fix it Felix. Bathrooms could use some work and I wish they had more hand sanitizer around the place. I liked that they had stools you could move to the different games but I wish they kept some upstairs! It also runs hot here so dress in light clothing!

Getting better and better everytime I go. They are now up to ten pinball tables and they were all working great when I was there on 1−3−15. Loved it!

Galloping Ghost is home, but this is a great getaway cottage in Dundee where there’s not much else to do.
Scott is a great guy who really tries hard to keep everything well maintained and organized. What the UR lacks in quantity compared to Galloping Ghost, they make up for in comfort and space. Plus, they got a few gems that GG doesn’t.
A free soda with a check-​in and paid admission is a nice plus. Especially considering they have butterbeer!
Plenty of parking surrounding the establishment and you can always go for a nice riverfront walk when you need a break with your $ 15 admission.

First off, I have been here twice. The first time with my six year old and we had fun. We played games for almost two hours, left to eat dinner, came back another hour or so. The second time I had fun but honestly I was a bit put off. I’ll tell you why in a bit.
The games bring me back to my childhood! However I obviously cannot play like I used to. I can rock anything on an Xbox 360 but could not get past Level Three on Ms. Pac Man. Nostalgic.
$ 15 is great for an all day pass but they should seriously look into a different kind of pricing. Both times I was there I could count on my hands the number of people that were in there. I think they would fare better by offering hourly/​block/​etc. pricing. I’m in marketing, no one wants the commitment of «all day» unless they are serious old-​school gamers or stuck in town with no fake ID.
Both times the men at the door were pretty unfriendly, stand offish and made me feel like a burden for entering the door. Lovely.
Place is HOT. Sweltering even. Ground floor is almost tolerable but you hit that second floor and you are sweating bullets within a minute. They even have huge fans on the stairs… which do not help. I know they have air somewhere but it must have been set at 85 or all the crucial vents were blocked. I felt like passing out.
Bathroom is unisex and not kept up well. Smelled like a sewer. I could only bring myself to wash my hands.
NOT good for younger kids. I’m sorry. It isn’t. Second time I went I realized that for sure.
I went with my sister and her two daughters (10 and 15) and my son (6). We hit the pinball room and even as we were teaching the kids how to use it (or step away if you can’t abide by the rules) the man working the door was there. Asking the kids to come by him. Yep, two girls and a kid with Asperger’s are going to talk to a strange man they have never met. Good luck with that. He should have spoken with me or my sister first, the adults, so we could have helped him. And we would have, of course. We were there to have fun with our families, not cause problems.
After that it went downhill. Said man took a seat by one of the bar chairs near the entrance to the pinball area. The kids did not want to stay because they were upset and uncomfortable so we obviously left. I get it, they do not want anyone ruining their games — I wouldn’t either. But no one likes being watched like that. It was embarrassing. We all left feeling quite small.
All in all no. Even without my son I doubt I will be back here. It’s unfriendly, hot as Hades and the fact I am locked-​in to a day pass or nothing is just not for me.

An absolutely great arcade. I didn’t have time to stay in long, but I do like the selection of games here, and the fact that I noticed some games I’d never seen at Galloping Ghost, Headquarters, Emporium, or anywhere else in the Chicago area, such as Kangaroo and Fix It Felix Jr. If only they had F-​Zero AX, but I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed I run into that game I never quite played years ago when it was at one arcade and disappeared as of my next visit, one day. Another plus too that since I didn’t have a lot of time on the day I visited, that there is an admission fee for just an hour here ($ 10), vs. being here all day. But I liked this place so much, that I hope I have more time the next time I’m out in this area, so that I can purchase a $ 15 admission for all day.
Even noticed after I left on the Unilocal app, that there’s a check-​in special for a free soda specifically if you purchase a $ 15 all day admission. That’s a special I’ll definitely take advantage of, next time I go here! Nice downtowns to walk around (both West and East Dundee) that this arcade is located in, which reminds me of Geneva, Elgin, and other Fox River communities. Glad I could tell most of the arcade machines survived the flooding that their original East Dundee location got, and successfully made the move over to this location.
BTW, I could tell all the pinball games they owned (something like 5 – 6 machines) were working, unlike at the time what a past reviewer mentioned. And I was told by the person working at the front counter (unsure if it was the owner, or not) that they were planning to make the space towards the front part of the 2^nd floor that overlooks Main St (aka IL Hwy. 72) a party room, but that they hadn’t started construction on that yet. I’ll also note that there are 2 floors of arcade games, at this place.

I am not a gamer. At all. Never had video games growing up and any experience I had with them were at friend’s houses and maybe a pinball machine or pacman at the local pizza joint. So I’m not big into them. However, this place was great! My boyfriend, his brother and I were planning on going to Chuck E. Cheese (lol) because they felt like gaming it up, until a friend mentioned this place being right around the corner. Heck, why not!
Located in the middle of a strip of shops on Main Street of West Dundee, it can be easy to miss (we were pointed in the right direction by a bar a few doors down). There are two floors of games, I’d say over 70 for sure, most of which (from my understanding from my more game-​savvy friends) are classic childhood games. Pinball, Pacman, Area 51, X-​Men, Asteroids, you name it. For all of this, you pay $ 15 and that gives you unlimited play time for the day! A perk is you are given a wristband so if you want to step out for a bite to eat elsewhere you can come back! Also, checking in gets you a free can of soda, yay!
Staff was nice, gave us a brief summary as we paid about the games and also the treatment of them (these things aren’t invincible, so naturally they don’t want customers, including their children, banging senselessly on them). I admit I’m a little baffled at how $ 15 a person keeps this place up and running, but I don’t know, maybe it gets really busy, though it wasn’t when we went.
This place has long hours, don’t remember them exactly off the top of my head, but during the week it sounds like it’s open until 11pm and on weekends (Friday-​Saturday/​Sunday?) until 1am! So if you’re in a gaming mood, totally give Underground Retrocade a try. Even I, a non-​gamer, thought it was great fun.

The admission pricing is a little weird, but I don’t care the games this guy has literally takes you back to video game heyday! I can spend all day here. such great games! Also have some craft sodas which is nice. only critique is have a few more pinball machines!
A++

Cool place to get your fix for old school video games. When we went on a Tuesday it was 2 for $ 20 and you could play all the games you wanted for as long as you want. They give you a wristband, so if you want to go to the pub on the corner, Dylan’s, for a quick drink, you can walk back in a game some more.

Although not as a good of a selection as galloping ghost (hard to beat that game count anywhere in the country), $ 15 is really reasonable, and they’re much more local than GG is. I was really bummed when I heard the previous location got flooded out, thank goodness he got most of the games out in time. The owner is really nice and friendly, and you actually see him working on games (unlike No limit, where they typically stand at the front counter, or clean the glass of their half working games).
What sets this place apart is how the owner really tries to bring that feeling of the 80’s arcades with his decorations, playing deep cut music, playing video on the TV’s, offering snacks and pizzas for purchase. Having acquired 7 pinball machines in such a short time is astounding, I really hope he expands this. Although not as many (or as new) as enchanted castle, sometimes you get bored with playing the same Sterns (which is all EC has besides oz). I myself collect older williams pins, and I like playing the older titles too (even pre-​DMD).