AttractionsKids

Namco London Review

Namco Funscape (London) Review

When we were kids video arcades were all the rage.  It was so exciting to go in with a pocketful of 10 and 20 pence pieces and spend hours playing on all the different games; Tetris, Streetfighter, air hockey.  Nowadays, with the introduction of the games console in almost every home in the UK, kids miss out on what we had.

When I was asked to review Namco with my family I was excited!  I hadn’t been to an arcade for years and I couldn’t wait to take my 6 year old along and show her the place I thought so wondrous when I was her age…and it didn’t disappoint.  When we walked in my partner and I were automatically transported back to being small again (although we didn’t have to tiptoe to reach the buttons this time).  Flashing lights everywhere, music playing – though neither obnoxiously so we could still chat and not be offended by the noise. My daughter was in awe.  We did, however, have one dilemma; “What shall we do on first?!”

We headed for the main desk downstairs where I was told we’d be expected and any of our questions would be answered.  The girl that was working had just come on shift did not know about this, but she was supremely helpful and did everything she could to find who I was looking for.  She was polite and spoke clearly, which is what we find with the rest of the staff throughout the day.  Kin, the manager on duty that day came to us and was very pleasant.  He explained that you needed tokens for most of the machines and the bumper cars – these can all be exchanged very easily for cash at machines around the complex.

Due to majority demand we jumped in the bumper cars first.  There is always a worry when riding in the bumper cars, especially when you have smaller children, however, there are safety harnesses for both passenger and driver in each car, and the staff come around and make sure everybody is strapped in safely and that you’ve put your token in, then the siren rings and away you go!  We had so much fun, many go’s were had, and we even returned for a couple more rides later on in the evening.

Next was bowling.  This is usually an expensive activity for a family, however, it works out extremely cheap, myself and and my partner could not believe it!  You get a full game and don’t need to change your shoes – those who have been bowling with small children or drunk adults will appreciate this!  For the price you also get full games, which we enjoyed, however, for young children this can be a little long so you end up taking their turns if they’re bored, however, the many flashing lights keep them distracted. There are two places to bowl, each with a few lanes; upstairs in the main part, then also downstairs where the bar is.  Children are not allowed in the bar area after 5 o’clock, which is great if you fancy a kid free night out. The bar menu is inexpensive, and they also serve food which looked very nice.  There are pool and snooker tables and if you fancy it, they rent karaoke lounges!  You and a few friends can go in and choose from a HGE range of songs and caterwaul ‘til your heart’s content, and without doing it in front of a room full of people you don’t know.

We needed to use the facilities so I went in with my daughter.  This is always a concern when you’re out in London, with or without your children, and with it being such a big place I wondered what we would encounter. We needn’t have worried.  The toilets were clean and well kept, they were clearly checked on regularly.

My daughter wanted to play on some of the machines, so we went around choosing some old favourites and some new to try out.  The racing games were a lot of fun, and you can play against each other…I never knew my 6 year old was such a good driver!  She also enjoyed the shooting games where you actually get in what looks like a jeep and shoot at pre-historic animals.  The jet-ski simulation games were a lot of fun, as were the motorbike ones.  There are also a few virtual reality type rides that you can get into and drive, or fly a plane.  You actually get into the pod and it closes you in.  These were a lot of fun and were enjoyed by both ourselves and our daughter.

For those of you a little more competitive there are games where you can win tickets.  You accumulate as many tickets as you can and win prizes, anything from a pencil to a television set.  You would think that it would be the kids distracted by this, however, it was mostly the dads who were keen on this, which is fantastic and amusing to watch.

All in all it was a fantastic day out, enjoyed by both adults and kids.  Namco was clean, the staff were polite, friendly and helpful and the value for money was so much better than expected.  My daughter is keen to go back very soon, and so are we!

Namco London is situated near the London Eye and Westminister Bridge.

For more details visit: http://www.namcofunscape.com/#/london/

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