Nostalgia is one of the most unappealable feelings and also, they say, one of the best forms of business, so no one is surprised that Barcelona has opened a bar dedicated entirely to what was the great fun of a generation before home video game consoles: arcade machines.
We are talking about the Next Level Bar, a two-storey premises in Maragall square (Guinardó) that rescues the atmosphere of the arcade bars of the 80s and 90s to bring back to the people of Barcelona, even for a while, to another era of the city and that does not confirm that adult games are the future.
350m2 of bar and free machines
The 350sqm space occupies the former Oasis pub and is the first Barcelona location of four Madrid partners who have already opened two similar bars in Madrid since 2017. Here , entry is free, the machines are free and the only requirement to play is to consume some drink at the bar.
The venue has about 40 arcade machines, mostly multigames, with classics such as Pac-Man, Tetris, Street Fighter or Super Pang. But there are also more sophisticated booths such as Daytona USA, the mythical House of the Dead with a pistol or Dance Dance Dance Revolution, with more than 4,000 songs to get your feet on the dance floor. The atmosphere is not far behind: posters of Indiana Jones, Top Gun or Gremlins, 90’s music in the background and 80’s aesthetics to the fullest.
At the moment, it is open every day from 6 p.m. to midnight, and until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Unfortunately, minors are not allowed to enter, as the place is licensed as a bar, so parents will have to come, unfortunately, to have fun without them.
More fun
The Next Level arcade bar promises to be one of the great successes of fun in Barcelona, but if you are more into the classics, in the city there are also bowling alleys, jumping areas to jump between trampolines as if you were a kid and even bars full of board games to spend the afternoon without the beer being the main objective.