Insert Coin

Insert Coin takes viewers back to a simpler time in video game history—the late 1980s to 1990s—when the arcade machine reigned supreme. With these games, the goal for programmers was not so much to let the player win but to impress them with enough seemingly limitless challenges that they would gladly put more quarters into the machine to see what happened next. Into this world rose Midway Games, which briefly dominated the arcade era with some of the most discussed, acclaimed, and controversial titles. Its story, as documented by director Joshua Tsui, is one full of passion but frustratingly constrained by the limits of your standard talking-head segments and an overly long running time.

The story begins in 1988 when Williams Electronics—then retitled WMS Industries—successfully acquired its pinball/arcade machine competitor Bally/Midway. This set up a powerhouse pairing, as between the two companies, Midway had previously released Ms. Pac-Man and Williams’ staff included programmer and future gaming icon Eugene Jarvis of Robotron: 2084 and Defender fame.

That same year, Jarvis and fellow programmer George Petro would elevate things further with Narc. Using photorealistic digitalization to animate more believable character movements, the game was unabashed in its graphic violence, letting players walk through red-light districts, observe blood pour out of enemies, and even watch their limbs go flying when hit by a rocket launcher. To place that coin-op title alongside family-friendly games like Pac-Man and Dig Dug was uncharted territory for any company hoping to achieve financial success, lest they suffer a backlash.

Thankfully, gamers embraced these risqué features, and WMS, eventually adopting the Midway name for its game marketing in the ’90s, began to think bigger. Arcades were still a place of noteworthy gaming innovation, and Midway had its thumb on the scale. Among their biggest products of that era included a Terminator 2 adaptation that excited James Cameron on the possibilities of licensed video game adaptations, as well as Mortal Kombat, whose breakout success needs no introduction.

Tsui, a former Midway art director who also provided the likeness for the characters Sub-Zero and Liu Kang, interviews a wide roster to understand the impact these titles had on pop culture. These include some major A-list names from game designers like Jarvis, Petro, and John Tobias; director Paul W.S. Anderson; and Ready Player One author Ernest Cline, all of whom highlight how many boundaries Midway broke even as it raised controversy from the non-gaming public.

T2 might have received a “gotcha criticism” moment over a segment where you kneecap LAPD officers (just like the Terminator himself did in the movie), but Mortal Kombat was something else entirely. Its uber-brutal fighting mechanics and fatalities scared parents into thinking this was an endorsement of violence. These fears seem bizarre in 2020 where Kombat is a beloved ongoing franchise but, as the film points out, it was hardly the first time adults misunderstood an entertainment product as a sign of the corruption of youth.

Unfortunately, you can really feel Insert Coin’s length at over an hour and 40 minutes long. The film doesn’t so much breeze by as loop around itself with the interview segments amplifying the company’s sprawling history. As cool as it is to watch archived footage of classic character animations being recorded—corny dialogue included—these behind-the-scenes moments are framed within a conventional Icarus-type narrative on how Midway reached the height of its power, only to fall into a rut of sequels and less popular new games. With the Sony PlayStation leading a more sophisticated console war driven by 3-D graphics and CD technology, Midway found itself in a new landscape that it never fully adjusted to in the long run.

This doesn’t make Insert Coin a bad film, just one whose structure doesn’t match its scope. Still, if you’re a gaming enthusiast or someone who grew up playing Mortal Kombat in the ’90s—be it arcade, SNES, or Genesis—this is worth a watch. It emphasizes just how much of a risk-taker Midway was, animating surreal character designs and yanking spines off bodies because no one else was doing them and they thought it would be fun.

That we’re still feeling that vibe in Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate’s latest additions, like Rambo and character models from the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, all voiced by their original actors, says that its legacy is secure.