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I wasn’t entirely sure what I would be walking into last Thursday night when I arrived at Main Street Pinball.

It was a for a story on the new business that you’ll be seeing this coming Saturday, so stay tuned. While I didn’t know exactly what I might be seeing, I did forge a pretty good idea ahead of time of what I might see.

I wasn’t wrong.

In meeting with Brian Heil, Duane Felt and Nick Gerhart, who brought the gaming center to Main Street along with a fourth partner, Kody McEdward, I expected sounds and sites that could easily transport me to the past.

I believe the phrase I used was, “Punched in the face with nostalgia.”

I say that, not because pinball machines in and of themselves bring me back, but more so because of the public gaming atmosphere that came with it.

When I was growing up, pinball machines, while available, weren’t as popular in places like Pizza Hut as the newer gaming consoles. Back in those days you had a hard time finding a Pizza Hut that didn’t have a Mrs. Pac-Man machine. Even Dar’s Pizza, the local pizza stop in Pipestone had something of an arcade that had some pinball machines, but mostly it had video games and that was my childhood jam because these were the days of arcades in malls.

These were gaming Meccas where kids and young adults would congregate to play on newer video games with ever increasing qualities. I remember sitting in the cockpit of the line-art display that was Star Wars, zooming in for my own run on the Death Star shaft while strafing tie fighters throughout.

There was Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man, of course, but there was also Golden Axe, Gauntlet, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ninja Gaiden, shooting games, games you had never heard of and games that swallowed quarters like you scarfed down food from the Food Court.

It was heaven for a kid that had a stack of quarters to burn through and an imagination to feed.

One of the best experiences though was a rainy afternoon at Isle O’Dreams Lodge on the Bad Axe. For those that haven’t been with me for awhile, that is our family vacation spot and as such it had pool, ping pong and of course gaming choices from pinball to video games.

For at least three years, the game Ikari Warriors was my go-to. It was a slowly and constantly advancing game that had you shooting and grenading the bad guys for as long as quarters and gaming lives provided.

I was pretty good, if I do say so myself, but it was a co-op game and really was near impossible for a kid to beat on his own. That’s when the owner, Kevin, stepped up. Turned out that was his game, too, and in one of the moments that has always made him enduring, was what we did that afternoon.

Because it was raining, he kept the lodge open so people had something to do and he even stopped by to watch my next crawl up the layout of the game.

He offered meaningful and important pointers as I rolled and I was actually doing pretty well, but also I was getting overwhelmed with how fast the game was rolling.

Kevin disappeared suddenly and when he returned he came bearing a $10 roll of quarters. He plugged his first quarter in and we were off and running.

Both of us were determined to finish the game and if it meant going through that $10 then so be it. Honestly, I lost track of how long we were at it, but the afternoon passed brilliantly to the sounds of virtual and cartoonish combat and the “chink” of quarters slotting into the machine to keep the battle going.

By the time we finished (you bet we completed the game) we had a sizable crowd watching us, cheering and hooping throughout. Once done, Kevin and I exchanged high-fives and celebrated, committing the afternoon to memory.

It’s something I cherish to this day and I hope those visiting Main Street Pinball have that same thought or a similar memory when they come in.

The sites and sounds immediately took me back to a time where turn-of-the-quarter games captured an experience often spent with friends and family. They didn’t rot brains, but they did enhance moments in time.

What I wouldn’t give for a $10 roll of quarters and four hours free to leave the real world for a little bit and lose myself to imagination again.

Wonder what Kevin is doing?