Retro Arcade Games on Magnum PI
Magnum PI is not only a great show, but it is filled with pop culture references. From clothing to cars to computers to video games, Magnum had it covered. Today I would like to draw your attention to a wonderful moment in Season 4, Episode 11, Jororo Farewell.
In this episode, Magnum gets involved with protecting the young prince of Jororo from a group of terrorists. It has a great guest turns by Robert Ito and John Saxon, as well as a wonderful arcade as a shooting location.
About half-way through the episode, Magnum suspects that the young prince has run away to an arcade and goes to investigate, only to find that the prince has already been kidnapped.
While Magnum might come away from this location empty-handed, we get a nice tour of the place as well as a very nice voice-over from Magnum talking about the generational timelessness of the arcade.
In my dad’s day, it was pooI haIIs. Me, I sometimes hung out in pinbaII arcades. And these days, a Iot of kids Iose themseIves in computer expIosions of Iights and sounds. But whatever your game, you couId aIways count on one thing in pIaces Iike these, you couId in the space of a coupIe of hours, temporariIy escape and forget the probIems of the outside worId.
Magnum, P.I. Episode: Jororo Kill
A very kind and understanding assessment of arcades during a time (1984), when not everyone understood the draw of arcades.
So in addition to this glowing endorsement of arcades, we get a great walk through with lots of classic games including:
Asteroids
Basketball
Frogger
Drag Race
Looping
Pac-Man
Robotron
Scrambler (cocktail)
Super Pac-Man
Zaxxon
These were some of the most popular arcades games from the era. And even though many were already a few years old, they still would have been a common site in a 1984 arcade. The one uncommon game would be Looping. So it great to see that thrown into the mix. I played this game very infrequently at the arcade, but did get to play it on my friend’s Colecovision.
Fun Fact
Looping was developed but never released on the Atari 2600. The ROM file is available online for you to emulate, but be warned, it is a very difficult game. Which is probably why it was never released.
Here is a gallery showing all of the fun arcade action:
If you are a classic arcade or video game fan, watching old television and movies is a great way to spot some of your favorites in action. Spotting pop culture artifacts is a wonderful way to add another level of enjoyment to your viewing time.
