Shiftyj1

In 1989, pizza artist Robby Asaro was killed when he accidently got sucked into the pizza oven at the Funcave arcade a la Mangler style. Dude was cooked to a crackling, greasy, pepperoni skinned perfection.

21 years later the Funcave is still rocking the old classic arcade games and has added some new games and a bowling alley, as well. It is the place to be if you want to hone your Ms. Pac-Man skills, play some Skee-Ball, or grab a mini pizza. (Microwave, of course…the Mangler pizza oven, long since removed.)

The conscious electric current formerly known as Robby Asaro is also there, watching over the arcade, ever present. Who could have known all it took was some new energy to give Robby the ectoplasmic boost he needed to really take over the place. Too bad it was the mean kid and his hate that he absorbed as well.

Now, nobody is safe. Not even Tiffany, the princess of the arcade.

Let the games begin.

I really dug this story. “Dig-Dug it” you could say. (Haha) I frequented an arcade in my hometown, called The Game Station, when I was a kid. Hanging out, smoking cigarettes, trying to pretend I was cool. My games were Centipede, Joust and Defender. I wasn’t very good at any of them, so it was a big deal to get placed onto the leader boards on the games.

By the time they tore it down, I had graduated myself to smoking something a wee stronger, grew my hair down to my butt and was rocking a Slayer t-shirt. Still trying to pretend I was cool, although if you asked me I would have told you there was nobody cooler. I have some very fond memories of all the time I spent at that arcade and I still have flashbacks and blackouts from my time in the Slayer t-shirt. Go figure.

I really enjoy the kind of old school flavor meets new school horror that Adam Cesare is really good at. Zero Lives Remaining is a great example. I really felt the nostalgia coursing thru this one. A solid storyline with strong character development in a short format. Well done.

I should also mention that I pre-ordered the signed hardcover for this one a long time ago from Shock Totem and received it a month or so ago. It was well worth the wait because the HC for this one is bad ass. It is formatted like an old school VHS tape complete with plastic “cassette” case. Very, very cool. (Of course, I had to wait to get the e-book to actually read it because I didn’t want to F up the hardcover.)

I was struggling with exactly how to star this bad boy. A 4+ star read for sure. If I take into account, the great packaging and presentation of the HC, I have to go 4.5 and then add the overall nostalgic experience, rounds it up to 5. Yep, that’s me doing math. Bam! Done! If you don’t like it, you can go Donkey Kong yourself until your Tempest gets raw and your Galaga falls off.