The owner of the Retro Room in Belfast has been “blown away” by the response from local residents, after opening the retro arcade at the Cityside Retail and Leisure Park earlier this month.

Marty Neill decided to establish the permanent venue after co-founding successful pop-up arcade brand Base, installing many of the company’s classic cabinets and consoles in the new arcade.

“This started as an idea in 2021, and became Base Arcade, and the guys decided to keep the pop-up going and I wanted something more permanent,” Neill told Belfast Telegraph.

“We were very happy to find a former arcade premises in Cityside. This had been a VR arcade, so it made a lot of sense for us.”

Speaking to Time Extension, Neill added the arcade’s first weekend went “better than anything we could have dreamed of,” and made “the last four years of getting here worthwhile.”

Retro Room includes fan favourites such as Pac-Man, Double Dragon, Street Fighter II Turbo, Wonder Boy, Time Crisis, as well as consoles such as N64 and Mega Drive.

“We’ve spent a few years hunting down a great selection of retro arcade titles in particular,” Neill added in an interview with the News Letter. “We’re sure most people of a certain vintage will find something they loved back in the day on our arcade floor.”