Boardwalk Arcade Whac-A-Mole, Multi (402)

This was a Father’s Day present for my son, in his late 30’s, who is old enough to remember playing the original arcade game with his father. My grandkids thought it was for them, but my son wouldn’t let it go. It was a total hit. It was a bit pricey (hence the 4 stars in Value).

There is a lot of damage on the liquid crystal surface. I want a partial refund.

Totally playable. So awesome

Slightly taller than a bottle of nail polish; this is closer to a keyring sized game than the mini arcade games you see at the store. The sound is really loud, I ended up putting tape over the bottom where the speaker opening is. It does appear that you could unscrew the cabinet and put tape over the inside of the slotted bottom to muffle it a bit and not have tape over the outside.EDITIt seems that leaving it off overnight got it out of demo mode, and now it works as it should. Also, now you push the little button to hit the hammer, its not automatic.Classic Whack A Mole graphics, and surprisingly easy to see on the small screen. You don't have an actual mallet, but move one around the screen with the mini D pad; it automatically hits a mole if it's present. The directions are slightly less than helpful. It doesn't tell you what the different colored moles are worth, if anything different, and despite doing what they said (over and over) I can't get it out of demo mode.*the lines in my third picture are not visible to the eye, that sometimes happens when taking a picture of a screen.

Whac-A-Mole is certainly a classic boardwalk physical game and this tiny arcade replica, while not exactly like standing on a pier on a hot summer day swinging a mallet trying to win a stuffed bear for your date, does the job of replicating the thrill of clobbering multitudinous moles who pop out of the ground seemingly just to taunt you. In the package the game is in demo mode which doesn't use both the control pad and the button; once removed you can set it to the real game and are off to the races.The screen is bright and clear despite its pint size. The lag is not terrible with the controls and it is certainly entertaining enough to while away a chunk of time. The key ring makes it easy to hang from a bag (I assume relatively few people actually attach something this size to their keys but could be wrong - it is an option if that's your thing!). The sound is quite loud so perhaps not the best choice to bring out when you're bored on a ten hour intercontinental flight.Worth checking out and if you enjoy vintage-style arcade experiences you'll have a good time with this diminutive toy.