This past week,a major fixture at the North Dartmouth Mall has closed its doors. This place was known as Dream Machine. Since 1979,Dream Machine was a hangout for teenagers throughout the years. I remember first going there back in the day. It had games like
Pac-Man,Ms. Pac-Man, and even
Baby Pac-Man. Heck,I even saw
Galaga &
Arkanoid there! When I started my first job at Ruby Tuesday in the North Dartmouth Mall back in 1995,I try to do frequent visits over there at Dream Machine! I played games like
Super Street Fighter 2,Mortal Kombat 3,X-Men:Children Of The Atom,Marvel Super Heroes,Mortal Kombat 2, &
Martial Champion. But I never beat an arcade game even though I can beat games on consoles at home but I NEVER beat a game at the acrades until 1997 on an early work day at Ruby Tuesday. It was a slow day over there and my manager sent me home for the rest of the day since I came in early that day. The date was March 24,1997--the time --10:40 AM. After changing,I headed up to Dream Machine to take on the newest game from Capcom:
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter. I used the teams of Chun-Li & Gambit and Chun-Li & Wolverine. It tooks me a few tries but on March 24th,I have finally beat the game! I was happy and I will NEVER forget that day! I went on to beat that game for a total of 20 times! How awesome is that?!?! Then 2 more games invaded Dream Machine:
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 &
Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter. On
Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter,I beat that game as well. I did it 15 times! I used teams like Chun-Li & Wolverine,Spider-Man & Captain America,and the thunderous team of the Incredible Hulk & Zangief. But the challenge was the end-boss:Cyber-Akuma--he was a tough customer! Then when the North Dartmouth Mall Food Court was put in Dream Machine's place,Dream Machine was moved across from the Food Court. While there,I only played one game there:
Marvel Vs. Capcom. I wasn't able to beat it despite the fact that I used Chun-Li & Morrigan with fighters like Megaman,Gambit, & Wolverine. The end-boss,Onslaught,is the toughest boss yet in the game. But I managed to rank #1 in high scores,that was it. But once it was removed from Dream Machine,I never went back to play there again. Years later,I changed jobs to actually work for the North Dartmouth Mall and about 3 and a 1/2 months later I got the job at the North Dartmouth Mall doing exterior housekeeping,it was gone. After being the mall stalwart for 31 years,Dream Machine is no more. I will never forget Dream Machine,so many good times there. Farewell,Dream Machine---you will be missed. Now a new arcade has replaced Dream Machine and it is called Tilt and the arcade store is like the Dream Machine of old,featuring some of the old-school arcade games I played back in 1995,'96,and '97.
