Las Vegas Weekly

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Let’s cut to the chase: The biggest difference between Hi Scores/Players Club (Henderson’s new 2-in-1 bar and arcade) and Downtown’s Insert Coin(s) is that most the games at Hi Scores are free. That doesn’t necessarily make Hi Scores better, it just illustrates an important point: This place is different.

The Hi Scores arcade—which features a four-player Pac-Man Battle Royale console, a Street Fighter II console and a respectable blend of old and new—is separate from the bar. That gives the bartenders space to prepare fresh sour and fresh grenadine for cocktails and the gamers space to, well, game.

Hi Scores offers an “adult-driven” food menu, so your steak salad arrives with a mini-beer, your tacos come with a shot of tequila and your Dogfish Head Ale Bundt cake comes with more Dogfish Head Ale. When you’re done at Hi Scores, walk over to the Players Club, where they serve slightly swankier tequila and bourbon concoctions. I went for the La Zanahoria Margarita (Siete Leguas tequila, fresh-pressed carrot and lime, and French triple sec), and my girlfriend got the Rose Reale (wine-infused Courvoisier, Lillet Rose, egg white, sour and champagne.) After, we tried our hands at arcade golf. She beat me. Similar to the way Amanda the arcade manager beat me at Pac-Man and Freddy the assistant GM beat me at Street Fighter II. I’ll return for my revenge.