Critic Reviews

The film somewhat fizzles out and doesn’t feel like it has a satisfying ending, but in a way, I wonder if that’s intentional. Insert Coin comes to a close suddenly, not unlike the arcade game renaissance of the 1990s. But it does leave you with the hope and inspiration of whatever the next generation of video games holds, even if it’s no longer powered by 25 cents.

Despite being overall quite enjoyable, it feels very rushed in places, especially towards the end, and it fails to cap off Midway’s epic rise and fall as it deserves.

For those yearning for the dimly lit, stale smelling room, crammed in that weird corner of the mall, where blurps and bloops rang in your ears and faces were filled with a phosphorescent CRT glow, “Insert Coin” will tickle the wistful longing for that unique and exciting atmosphere. And for those who couldn’t experience it for themselves, this scrappy documentary earnestly tries to convey the giddy and anarchic spirit of the golden age of video games.

Rebellious game developer Midway's rise and fall gets a surprisingly tame retelling in the doc Insert Coin.

Insert Coin doesn’t tell gamers anything they didn’t already know, and non-gamers won’t care – so unless you're a hardcore fan, maybe just save your quarters.