Kennesaw arcade powers up the pinball classics

KENNESAW, Ga. - If you’re of a certain age, you remember the feeling of filling your pockets with quarters in anticipation of an afternoon at the arcade.

Well, good news.  You can experience that excitement all over again – minus all the heavy change.

The Good Day feature team spent the morning in Kennesaw at Portal Pinball, a game-lover’s paradise opened in 2018 by Bryan and Amanda Broyles.  Filled with dozens of retro and new pinball machines and arcade games, Portal Pinball hosts “free play” during operating hours, which means the price of admission covers all the games you want to play.  And what games are we talking about, exactly?  There’s a full list posted online, but here are a few names that might be familiar to veteran arcade goers: Centipede, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Ms. Pacman, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.  

The pinball collection, meanwhile, runs the gamut from 1973’s Jumping Jack to 2019’s Jurassic Park (Pro).   

So, who’s up for a game…or five?  Portal Pinball is located at 3600 Cherokee Street #102 in Kennesaw, and it’s open from Noon to 10:00 p.m. on Tuesdays through Thursdays, Noon to Midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sundays.  Admission is $8 for an hour or $20 for daily free play.

We spent a morning with the Portal Pinball gang just after it opened back in 2018, and we couldn’t wait to make a return visit to check out some of the new games.  Click the video player in this article to check out our skills (Spoiler Alert: We don’t have any!).