198X review – discover your inner Kid
When I was a child in the late 1980s, my brother and I would watch every Saturday morning as a crescent of teenagers gathered around an arcade machine in our local sports club. Even if we had been allowed to spend our pocket money on something as transient as an arcade game, there was no barging in here. All we could do was watch as the older boys jeered and cheered each other on, making it a little further each week as their skills improved and muscle memory set in.
Diversion became ritual and, soon enough, a crowd stopped by to watch their weekly quest. I remember wishing that today - perhaps today! - would be the day they conquered the dragon and made it to the final credits. I remember the elation in the room when it finally happened, the backslaps and lingering grins. Within a pastime outsiders considered to be almost debauchedly flippant, we had witnessed something quietly meaningful, perhaps something like our parents felt the first time they saw Dylan play live, or similar to that our own children would experience years later when they first saw the music video to Single Ladies.
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