Location Play: 1Up Colfax (Denver)
A recent business trip took me to Denver for a few days. Naturally I had to seek out a place to play pinball for one night of my trip. I decided on an arcade/bar called 1up Colfax. Not only did it have the most games of any location (according to Pinball Map), with several new games I was eager to try out, it was also very close to the Denver Convention Center where my business was being conducted. 1up's original location in the Lodo neighborhood opened in 2011, featuring 16 pinball machines. The 1up Colfax location is described as follows on their website:
"On June 5, 2012, we opened a second location in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The 1up – Colfax boasts the largest collection of pinball machines in the metro area and one of the largest in Colorado. Our arcade bar features more than 90 classic arcade games, 42 pinball machines, 6 lanes of classic Skee-Ball, and multiple sets of Giant Jenga making it the largest arcade bar in the nation. We feature 12 beers on tap as well as offer our Hall-of-Fame collection of classic beers in vintage cans, a solid selection of 40 oz bottles of malt liquor and a full bar featuring all your favorite liquors. We even have a Touch Tunes jukebox so you can select your favorite music."
So on a Tuesday afternoon, after a great dinner, I headed over to check it out, dragging my friend and business associate Rich with me. Rich hadn't played pinball for years and is a huge Beatles fan, so he was looking forward to getting time on that machine and renewing his flipping skills.
The front of the building is very unassuming. From the street it's clearly a "barcade" but what's maybe not so clear is how big it is. There are a total of 43 pinball machines available to play. Since I didn't have time to play everything, I gravitated mostly to games I hadn't played before, along with a few old favorites. Many games are $.50 but newer games are $1. I'll offer my usual quick takes below, and as I've done previously, games I haven't played before appear in red text, while games I have played before are in green text.
The Beatles (BEAT) - This was one of two highlights of the night. The theme is great - I like their music - and Franchi's artwork is stunning. Fortunately the game music was barely loud enough to be heard over the location's house music, which helped the experience. (Note: why arcades play loud house music so that the games can't be heard is totally mystifying to me). The spinning record was cool, and I loved moving the ball from flipper to flipper, knocking down drop targets and hitting loops. It's just a beautiful game, and so much fun. It proves that you don't need a ton of ramps and toys to enjoy pinball. At $8000 for a gold model, it's just too expensive (and I'm sure the cost of license drove it that high), but at about half of that price it would be a no-brainer. Almost every game Rich played was on this machine, and he was enthralled. A very nice machine by Stern, they should be proud of this one.
Stern KISS (SKISS) - I do like quite a few of the band's music, especially the Destroyer, Lick It Up and Asylum albums. I was never a huge fan of the KISS machine made by Bally in 1978, although I have played it extensively. But have to say, the Stern version is pretty awesome! I only played it once, but had a really long game filled with multiballs and extra balls. One ball eject from the big Gene Simmons head went SDTM, but otherwise it behaved well. I understand that a recent code update has improved the game tremendously. I don't know whether or not this game has had the update, but I will say it was very fun to play and I really enjoyed it. The only negative was that I couldn't hear the game's audio over the house music that was playing, which was a constant issue. Another great machine by Stern, well done guys!
Stern Star Wars (SSW) - I've seen this game get ripped repeatedly on Pinside, but I thought it was awesome. My game seemed like it was over pretty quickly, and I had no idea what to shoot for, but I still liked it immensely. I think the decision to use the original trilogy as source material was the correct one, as I don't care much for the new movies. Although I don't have the space and it doesn't fit my game room's theme, I wouldn't mind owning this someday.
Total Nuclear Annihilation (TNA) - This game is highly regarded, but I will admit I don't totally get it. The game looks beautiful, and the sound was fantastic, easily heard over the house music. (Note: TNA's opening music sounds a lot like Lady Gaga's Do Want U Want intro). But I thought the game was brutal, I didn't like the shots and the playfield seemed as if it was just a bit sparse. I bet it's a great party game, but as a single player experience I wasn't really sold on it, and would go for The Beatles over TNA 9 times out of 10.
Munsters Pro (MUN) - I really wanted to play this to see how it would compare to my Munsters LE. In most ways it plays very similar to the LE, so I think it's a great location machine. I did find myself missing the lower playfield tremendously, and the center of the playfield on the Pro model is a bit dark without the lower playfield providing additional lighting. I liked the Pro, but I'm very happy with the LE.
Tron Legacy (TL) - I don't see a lot of Tron machines in the wild and I was itching to play it again. I didn't do well and moved on. But man it sure is pretty!
Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) - Rich and I both put a game in on this one. It's fun, I do like it. Maybe not as much as some others, but it's definitely worth putting quarters into.
Twilight Zone (TZ) - This was once my favorite game, but over the years I think I'm less enamored with it. Rich and I both put a game in on this as well and it was over pretty quickly. I don't even think I'd put this in my top 10 anymore...not that it's bad, it just speaks to the quality of machines that have been released in the past decade.
Attack From Mars Remake LE (AFMRLE) - I had played the remake before but not the LE version. Since I think I've talked Kelly into owning this game, I wanted to give it a flip. This was my other highlight of the night. What a blast! I blew up the mothership multiple times and earned a few multiballs...it was definitely an epic game. Rich was impressed, both with the game and my fervor in playing it. The original AFM was once my second favorite game behind TZ, but I have have to say the AFM remake has now reached my top spot. Though I've played it many times, there's just something about it that's timeless and keeps me coming back for more. This game had the awesome martian topper and I finally got to see it in action. It's probably the best topper ever made! I had no issue with the flippers that other people seem to find fault with. The sooner I get my hands on one of these, the better.
Final thoughts: I probably could have stayed all night, but Rich was ready to go and we were sharing a Lyft ride back to the hotel. The lighting in 1up Colfax was perfect, and I can't speak to the quality of the drinks since I didn't have any. As I mentioned above, the music is annoyingly loud, drowning out many of the music and sounds on various machines. There's not a lot of frills, but if you are just looking for the best pinball experience in Denver, I don't think you can go wrong here.
Time spent: 1.5 hours
Total cost: $7
# of games played: 10
1up Colfax Offical Website
"On June 5, 2012, we opened a second location in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The 1up – Colfax boasts the largest collection of pinball machines in the metro area and one of the largest in Colorado. Our arcade bar features more than 90 classic arcade games, 42 pinball machines, 6 lanes of classic Skee-Ball, and multiple sets of Giant Jenga making it the largest arcade bar in the nation. We feature 12 beers on tap as well as offer our Hall-of-Fame collection of classic beers in vintage cans, a solid selection of 40 oz bottles of malt liquor and a full bar featuring all your favorite liquors. We even have a Touch Tunes jukebox so you can select your favorite music."
So on a Tuesday afternoon, after a great dinner, I headed over to check it out, dragging my friend and business associate Rich with me. Rich hadn't played pinball for years and is a huge Beatles fan, so he was looking forward to getting time on that machine and renewing his flipping skills.
The front of the building is very unassuming. From the street it's clearly a "barcade" but what's maybe not so clear is how big it is. There are a total of 43 pinball machines available to play. Since I didn't have time to play everything, I gravitated mostly to games I hadn't played before, along with a few old favorites. Many games are $.50 but newer games are $1. I'll offer my usual quick takes below, and as I've done previously, games I haven't played before appear in red text, while games I have played before are in green text.
The Beatles (BEAT) - This was one of two highlights of the night. The theme is great - I like their music - and Franchi's artwork is stunning. Fortunately the game music was barely loud enough to be heard over the location's house music, which helped the experience. (Note: why arcades play loud house music so that the games can't be heard is totally mystifying to me). The spinning record was cool, and I loved moving the ball from flipper to flipper, knocking down drop targets and hitting loops. It's just a beautiful game, and so much fun. It proves that you don't need a ton of ramps and toys to enjoy pinball. At $8000 for a gold model, it's just too expensive (and I'm sure the cost of license drove it that high), but at about half of that price it would be a no-brainer. Almost every game Rich played was on this machine, and he was enthralled. A very nice machine by Stern, they should be proud of this one.
Stern KISS (SKISS) - I do like quite a few of the band's music, especially the Destroyer, Lick It Up and Asylum albums. I was never a huge fan of the KISS machine made by Bally in 1978, although I have played it extensively. But have to say, the Stern version is pretty awesome! I only played it once, but had a really long game filled with multiballs and extra balls. One ball eject from the big Gene Simmons head went SDTM, but otherwise it behaved well. I understand that a recent code update has improved the game tremendously. I don't know whether or not this game has had the update, but I will say it was very fun to play and I really enjoyed it. The only negative was that I couldn't hear the game's audio over the house music that was playing, which was a constant issue. Another great machine by Stern, well done guys!
Stern Star Wars (SSW) - I've seen this game get ripped repeatedly on Pinside, but I thought it was awesome. My game seemed like it was over pretty quickly, and I had no idea what to shoot for, but I still liked it immensely. I think the decision to use the original trilogy as source material was the correct one, as I don't care much for the new movies. Although I don't have the space and it doesn't fit my game room's theme, I wouldn't mind owning this someday.
Total Nuclear Annihilation (TNA) - This game is highly regarded, but I will admit I don't totally get it. The game looks beautiful, and the sound was fantastic, easily heard over the house music. (Note: TNA's opening music sounds a lot like Lady Gaga's Do Want U Want intro). But I thought the game was brutal, I didn't like the shots and the playfield seemed as if it was just a bit sparse. I bet it's a great party game, but as a single player experience I wasn't really sold on it, and would go for The Beatles over TNA 9 times out of 10.
Munsters Pro (MUN) - I really wanted to play this to see how it would compare to my Munsters LE. In most ways it plays very similar to the LE, so I think it's a great location machine. I did find myself missing the lower playfield tremendously, and the center of the playfield on the Pro model is a bit dark without the lower playfield providing additional lighting. I liked the Pro, but I'm very happy with the LE.
Tron Legacy (TL) - I don't see a lot of Tron machines in the wild and I was itching to play it again. I didn't do well and moved on. But man it sure is pretty!
Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) - Rich and I both put a game in on this one. It's fun, I do like it. Maybe not as much as some others, but it's definitely worth putting quarters into.
Twilight Zone (TZ) - This was once my favorite game, but over the years I think I'm less enamored with it. Rich and I both put a game in on this as well and it was over pretty quickly. I don't even think I'd put this in my top 10 anymore...not that it's bad, it just speaks to the quality of machines that have been released in the past decade.
Attack From Mars Remake LE (AFMRLE) - I had played the remake before but not the LE version. Since I think I've talked Kelly into owning this game, I wanted to give it a flip. This was my other highlight of the night. What a blast! I blew up the mothership multiple times and earned a few multiballs...it was definitely an epic game. Rich was impressed, both with the game and my fervor in playing it. The original AFM was once my second favorite game behind TZ, but I have have to say the AFM remake has now reached my top spot. Though I've played it many times, there's just something about it that's timeless and keeps me coming back for more. This game had the awesome martian topper and I finally got to see it in action. It's probably the best topper ever made! I had no issue with the flippers that other people seem to find fault with. The sooner I get my hands on one of these, the better.
Final thoughts: I probably could have stayed all night, but Rich was ready to go and we were sharing a Lyft ride back to the hotel. The lighting in 1up Colfax was perfect, and I can't speak to the quality of the drinks since I didn't have any. As I mentioned above, the music is annoyingly loud, drowning out many of the music and sounds on various machines. There's not a lot of frills, but if you are just looking for the best pinball experience in Denver, I don't think you can go wrong here.
Time spent: 1.5 hours
Total cost: $7
# of games played: 10
1up Colfax Offical Website
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