Nostalgia isn’t the only perk to retro gaming. Many of us have been playing classic arcades, pinball and Nintendo games for (quite literally) decades – and with experience, comes wisdom. Watching our customers rack up unforeseen high scores, practice perfectly timed tilts on the pinball machines and skee their way to near-900 has inspired us to share a few of the gaming tips, tricks and hacks we’ve observed along the way.

Warp Your Way To Victory

We’ve all used warp zones to shortcut our way to the castle, but this one was new to us. With a specific combination of brick-breaking and jumps, you can warp from 1-2 straight to 5-1 and save the Princess in record time (hack begins at 1:30)!

Shoot Firepower As Small Mario

Albeit somewhat complicated, a quick maneuver under Bowser + a mushroom will allow you to maintain the speedy moves of small Mario – with Firepower.

Avoid Bloopers

Take a slow stroll along the seafloor in Super Mario Brothers to stay safe from those pesky Bloopers, as they’re programmed to back up just before they hit the seafloor, or if you play it right, Mario.

Own The Lanes

After years of observing our weekly skee ball tournaments at our Raleigh bar and arcade, we’ve picked up on a few things. Although you may not come out with a perfect 900, you’ll likely outscore your friends by focusing on the 50 point target. So often people aim for the 100 point targets, but unless you’re nailing that tiny target on every throw, chances are you’ll rack up more points by perfecting your power and aim at the 50 marker.

Control Your Turns

We hear you can make sharper turns in Mario Kart by pressing the R button repeatedly, or by jumping up and down during the turn. Give it a try before our upcoming Mario Kart tournament at our arcade and bar in Raleigh (details coming soon)!

Don’t Slip

We’ve heard numerous tips on avoiding the dreaded banana slip in Mario Kart. See how it’s (supposedly) done here.

Pin Like A Pro

There’s a pinball trick that, unless you’re an avid player, you probably haven’t practiced. While we trust you’ll always practice caution on our pinball machines, you can get in on the secret of nudging and tilting here (#5).

Got some tricks up your sleeve?

We’d love to hear about it! Tweet your go-to arcade gaming hacks to our Raleigh bar and arcade @BoxcarRAL or to our newest arcade and bar in Greensboro @BoxcarGSO.