I Found a Hidden Game in an Old Arcade

It was the summer of 1993, and my brother had just turned 16. He celebrated his birthday at the local arcade, and I tagged along with my parents into the place of legend. Since I was only 5, I didn’t know how to play most of the games; I just liked making noise on them. My brother had earphones on and was deeply engrossed in a game of Street Fighter, trying to beat Zangief as Ken. I kept on mashing the buttons and making a beeping noise on the “high score” screen to try and get his attention, but he’d constantly just shoo me away. I wandered around the corner, where the classic games of Centipede and Pac-Man greeted me with their flashing lights. I found a game and began to play, but I have no idea what it was about. I think it was Donkey Kong, but I’m not 100% sure. My parents kept looking at it periodically, but they were distracted talking. My brother continued to beat the same level of Street Fighter over and over again. I don’t think he beat Zangief. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a door slightly ajar. It looked completely out of place, and I’m surprised I even saw it in the first place. The door had a large keycard reader next to it, with a long swipe to insert the card. I looked back at my parents, both of whom were focusing on the Street Fighter game. I had the brightest idea in the world. I needed to see if they had more video games in there. I looked up at my brother, who was still engrossed in the game, and I opened the door as quietly as I could. Cool air escaped through the door, which I barely noticed. I stepped through the doorway, and I heard it creak as it shut behind me. I didn’t care; I was in a new place to explore. I looked around.The room was dimly lit, with only a few overhead lights to guide my way. Shelves lined the walls, stacked high with video game systems tied up with rope. Various televisions had been unplugged and leaned against the walls, with screens turned towards the ground. I didn’t see anyone around me. Behind me, I heard a bunch of beeping. I turned around, and saw a classic arcade machine in front of me. It was in a wooden cabinet with a screen at the top, a joystick in the middle, and the buttons for your thumb. I walked over and began to mash the buttons, making random beeping noises. A menu popped up on the screen. It said “Choose Your Game” at the top, and I could choose from a list of options below. The list of options was endless, and the monitor didn’t display all the text. I kept scrolling, and scrolling, until I reached the bottom. I saw the following options: * Pac-Man * Donkey Kong * Centipede * Street Fighter * Pong * Sonic Blast * Dig Dug * Mortal Kombat * Tomb Raider *The Legend of Zelda *Multi-Dimensional Chess I had no idea what the last option meant. I think I had heard of the Legend of Zelda before; a big right arrow pointed to it. I clicked on the option, and the game loaded up. At first,The Legend of Zelda started up as normal. The lady sang the song, the start screen came up, and the game went to Hyrule field. But once the game started, I noticed something was off. At first, I thought it was a normal game, but the controls were laggy. The game also felt a bit weird. I hit the start button hard with my thumb, but nothing happened. I thought it was broken, so I hit the button again. What I didn’t realize at the time is that you were supposed to be pressing the directional pad in a certain direction for the button to work. Instead, I pushed the start button and the joystick at the same time, and it made a strange buzzing noise. The noise got louder and louder, and the screen flickered. The air around the machine began to vibrate, and I started to feel a strange sensation in my stomach. The next thing I knew, I was running in Hyrule. The screen began to play the classic game,The Legend of Zelda. Link was running to my left, carrying his sword. Suddenly, the controller stopped responding. On the screen, Link jumped over a pit onto a rock, and began to run forward, he hit an enemy and died. I mashed the buttons over and over again, but it did nothing. Suddenly, the screen flickeredThe Legend of Zelda game came back up, and the controller began to work again. Link was running right, until his pixels began to distort. I mashed the buttons againThe Legend of Zelda game came back up, and the controller began to work again. Link was running left, until his pixels began to distort. I mashed the buttons a few more times until the screen began to go black, and I heard a loud buzzing noise. The game flickered back to life, and I saw the menu of games again. I noticed that there was now a new option on the list below the menu: * Pac-Man * Donkey Kong * Centipede *The Legend of Zelda *Pong * Sonic Blast *Multi-Dimensional Chess * Dig Dug *Mortal Kombat * Tomb Raider *Infinite Corridor I clicked on it immediately, and the game loaded up. Infinite Corridor was a weird game. It was a simple text-based game where you had to navigate a never-ending corridor. You were supposed to go until you reachedThe Legend of Zelda game came back up, and the controller began to work again. Link was running left, until his pixels began to distort again. The buzzing noise got louder and louder, and the screen began to flicker. The air around the machine began to vibrate again, and I felt like I was in Hyrule. The pixelated and distorted image of Link’s face flashed onto the screen in red, before the screen went black. After a few minutes, the menu screen flashed up, and the controller began to work again. I clicked on Infinite Corridor, and started playing it again. I reached the 100th door, and the screen flickered. The pixelated image of Link’s face flashed onto the screen in red. The screen went black as the buzzing noise got even louder. When the menu screen popped up again, I noticed a new option: * Pac-Man * Donkey Kong * Centipede *The Legend of Zelda *Pong * Sonic Blast *Multi-Dimensional Chess * Dig Dug *Mortal Kombat * Tomb Raider *Infinite Corridor *Infinite Hill I clicked on it without hesitation. Infinite Hill was a weird game, but to me it made more sense than Infinite Corridor did. The game was another text-based gameThe Legend of Zelda game came back up, and the controller began to work again. Link was running left, until his pixels began to distort again. The buzzing noise got louder and louder, and the screen began to flicker. The air around the machine began to vibrate again until I felt like I was in Hyrule. IThe Legend of Zelda game came back up, and the controller began to work again. Link was running left, until his pixels began to distort again. The right arrow on the bottom corner of the window flickered and pointed onto the next option: * Pac-Man * Donkey Kong * Centipede *The Legend of Zelda *Pong * Sonic Blast *Multi-Dimensional Chess * Dig Dug *Mortal Kombat * Tomb Raider *Infinite Corridor *Infinite Hill *Infinite Circuit The screen went black as the buzzing noise got even louder. TheInfinite CircuitThe Legend of Zelda game came back up, and the controller began to work again. Link was running left, until his pixels began to distort again. The right arrow on the bottom corner of the window flickered and pointed onto the next option: * Pac-Man * Donkey Kong * Centipede *The Legend of Zelda *Pong * Sonic Blast *Multi-Dimensional Chess * Dig Dug *Mortal Kombat * Tomb Raider *Infinite Corridor *Infinite Hill *Infinite Circuit *Infinite Labyrinth I remember seeing the screen flicker. I remember the noise getting louder. I remember hearing a gasp as the door behind me opened. I remember my parents looking around, confused. My mom took charge and took me outside into the thunderstorm. I was drenched in a minute. She took me to my dad’s car, and we drove to the hospital where I began to convulse. I have no idea whyInfinite LabyrinthThe Legend of Zelda game came back up, and the controller began to work again. Link was running left, until his pixels began to distort again. Months later, I was still in the hospitalInfinite LabyrinthThe Legend of Zelda game came back up, and the controller began to work again. Link was running left, until his pixels began to distort again. Months later, I was still in the hospitalInfinite LabyrinthThe Legend of Zelda game came back up, and the controller began to work again. Link was running left, until his pixels began to distort again. Months later, I was still in the hospitalInfinite LabyrinthThe Legend of Zelda game came back up, and the controller began to work again. Link was running left, until his pixels began to distort again. How can you play a game that has no end?

I Found a Hidden Game in an Old Arcade

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