Wednesday night packed the house for another Trivia Night at Time Rift Arcade (hosted by The 8-Bit Guy), and this one was a nostalgia minefield. Four rounds, eighty questions, and a whole lot of confident wrong answers. We ran the table through Pokémon, Terminator, The Simpsons, and a Name That Video Game round that exposed exactly how old everyone in the room actually is. Some of you were untouchable. Some of you should be embarrassed. Either way, here’s everything we asked, every answer, and a recap of how the night went down.
Pokémon Trivia Recap
Round one sent everyone straight back to Pallet Town. Twenty questions on the anime, from Ash’s first Pikachu to the one Master Ball that never fails, and it turns out plenty of you have been quietly hoarding decades of Pokédex knowledge. The original 151 were easy money for most tables, but ask who replaced Ash in the newest season and suddenly half the room was staring at their pizza like it had the answer. (It’s Liko and Roy. Your pizza did not help you.) Here’s how round one played out.
Q1: Which pokemon does Ash’s mom have?
A1: Mr. Mime
Q2: True or False, All of the police officers are named Officer Jenny.
A2: True
Q3: What does James, one of the members of Team Rocket, collect?
A3: Bottle Caps
Q4: Name at least one of Ash’s first two human companions?
A4: Brock, Misty
Q5: Name Ash’s final human companion.
A5: Goh
Q6: What was the first legendary Pokemon Ash Ketchum ever saw?
A6: Ho-Oh
Q7: What Pokemon is Team Rocket’s mascot? He is one of the only Pokemon that ever speaks something other than his name.
A7: Meowth
Q8: How many Pokemon were there originally?
A8: 151
Q9: What is Charmander’s most evolved form?
A9: Charzard
Q10: What is the name of every nurse at a pokemon center in the anime?
A10: Nurse Joy
Q11: What town is Ash Ketchum from?
A11: Pallet Town
Q12: What starter pokemon did Ash receive at the very beginning of his journey?
A12: Pikachu
Q13: What is Pokemon short for?
A13: Pocket Monsters
Q14: What do you catch a pokemon in?
A14: Pokéball
Q15: What starter Pokemon becomes the powerful water-type pokemon Blastoise?
A15: Squirtle
Q16: What is the only fossil Pokemon Ash ever received? Kabuto, Amara, Lileep, or Drakovish?
A16: Dracovish
Q17: Who replaced Ash as the new protagonists in the newest season of the Pokemon Anime?
A17: Liko and Roy
Q18: What is the highest level a pokemon can reach?
A18: 100
Q19: Which starter pokemon has the awkward middle evolution of Ivysaur?
A19: Bulbasaur
Q20: What Pokeball always catches a pokemon without failing?
A20: Master Ball
Terminator Trivia Recap
Round two jumped from the cartoon world to a future ruled by killer robots. We threw the full timeline at you: the original 1984 film, T2, and the deeper cuts from The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The bar-hopping T-1000 and “Bad to the Bone” got the room nodding, but the Chronicles questions separated the casual fans from the people who clearly own the box set. Bonus respect to anyone who remembered Cameron stashed her time machine in a bank vault. Here’s the damage from round two.
Q1: Who started the war, humans or Skynet?
A1: Humans
Q2: What is the name of the company that created Skynet?
A2: Cyberdyne Systems
Q3: Who is sent back in time to protect Sarah Connor and ends up becoming John Connonr’s father?
A3: Kyle Reese
Q4: What is the date of Judgment Day in Terminator 2?
A4: August 29, 1997
Q5: Which actor portrays the T-1000?
A5: Robert Patrick
Q6: What song plays in Terminator 2 after the T-1000 leaves the bar on a motorcycle?
A6: Bad to the Bone
Q7: What does Sarah Connor carve into a picnic table while thinking about Miles Dyson?
A7: No Fate
Q8: Who plays the Terminator Cameron Phillips in the TV series?
A8: Summer Glau
Q9: What is the name of the chess playing AI developed by Andy Goode that becomes important in The Sarah Connor Chronicles?
A9: The Turk
Q10: In the original film, the terminator sets out to kill every woman he can find with the name Sarah Connor. Where is he getting this information?
A10: Phone Book
Q11: What did Sarah Connor work as before the Terminator arrived from the future?
A11: Waitress
Q12: In “The Terminator”, what do they use in the future to detect Terminators?
A12: Dogs
Q13: In the first movie, Sarah Connor crushes the terminator in a hydraulic press. What does she say to it as it dies?
A13: “You’re terminated!”
Q14: In “The Terminator”, how many police officers did the Terminator kill in the police station?
A14: 17
Q15: What was the name of the psychologist assigned to Sarah Connor at the mental hospital?
A15: Doctor Silberman
Q16: What was the date the first terminator arrived in Los Angeles?
A16: May 12, 1984
Q17: When traveling through time in the terminator universe, what is one notable unfortunate thing you can’t take with you?
A17: Clothes
Q18: Agent Ellison, who was assigned to the Connor case, worked for which government entity?
A18: FBI
Q19: Catherine Weaver turned out to be a Terminator, what kind was she?
A19: T1000
Q20: In the first episode of the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cameron Philips has a time machine, where does she keep it stored?
A20: Bank Vault / Safe Deposit Box
The Simpsons Trivia Recap
Thirty-five-plus years of Springfield meant round three rewarded the people who grew up with this show on every single night. Easy points for “eat my shorts” and the three-eyed fish, but we got specific too: Selma’s iguana, the Leftorium, and the fact that Shelbyville drinks Fudd instead of Duff. The carnage question opened things up early, because at this point the show has killed off enough characters to fill a Springfield cemetery. Here’s how round three shook out.
Q1: Name at least one character that has been killed off.
A1: Maude Flanders, Bleeding Gums Murphy, Frank grimes, Edna Krabapple, snowball the cat, Mona Simpson, Alice Glick.
Q2: What famous comedian wrote the monorail episode?
A2: Conan O’Brien
Q3: What was the name of Homer Simpson’s snow plow service?
A3: Mr. Plow
Q4: How long does it take for Homer Simpson’s facial stubble to grow back after shaving?
A4: Instantly
Q5: How many eyes does the fish have that lives in the pond near the nuclear reactor?
A5: 3
Q6: Name at least one of Homer Simpson’s co-workers.
A6: Lenny, Carl
Q7: Bart has a handheld weapon he causes havoc with, what is it?
A7: Slingshot
Q8: What type of jewels are on Marge’s necklace?
A8: Pearls
Q9: Name at least one of Marge’s sisters.
A9: Patty, Selma
Q10: Bart Simpson always asks people to eat what?
A10: His shorts
Q11: Which regular character was written out because the voice actor passed away?
A11: Edna Krabapple
Q12: What does Bart always have to do in detention, which is always seen in the opening credits?
A12: Write sentences on a chalkboard.
Q13: In the intro sequence to The Simpsons all the different characters are on their way home when they all arrive at the house together where do they go?
A13: The couch
Q14: In Springfield they drink Duff beer, but in Shelbyville, the next town over, what is the beer of choice?
A14: Fudd
Q15: What is the name of the business that Ned Flanders runs that sells products to left handed people?
A15: Leftorium
Q16: Who is the mascot of Duff beer?
A16: Duffman
Q17: Who is the owner of the Springfield nuclear power plant?
A17: Mr. Burns
Q18: Which character has a hobby of collecting Malibu Stacy dolls and runs the fan club?
A18: Smithers
Q19: There are at least two characters besides Maggie that are know to be illiterate. Name at least one of them.
A19: Mayor Quimby and Krusty the Clown
Q20: What pet does Marge’s sister Selma have?
A20: Iguana
Name that Video Game Trivia Recap
Round four was a retro gauntlet, and it did not care about your reflexes. We described twenty games and made you name them, spanning from a 1971 mainframe wagon trip to a polygon-chested archaeologist in 1996. The crowd that grew up on a Commodore 64 ate well here. Everyone else got to learn that yes, Oregon Trail is older than most of their parents, and yes, you still died of dysentery. Tomb Raider and Crash Bandicoot kept the younger tables in the game, but the deep cuts like M.U.L.E. and Master of the Lamps belonged to the gray-haired assassins in the back. Here’s the final round.
Q1: 1996- An adventurous archaeologist with polygon shaped breasts, travels the world exploring ancient ruins, solving puzzles, and battling dangerous enemies in search of legendary artifacts.
A1: Tomb Raider
Q2: 1996 – a 3D first person shooter where the main character is an obnoxious ultra masculine male who loves to crack his one-liner jokes while battling aliens that have invaded earth to steal our women.
A2: Duke Nukem 3D
Q3: 1993-The first widely successful game to be distributed on CD-ROM. Explore a mysterious island filled with strange machines and environmental puzzles, where almost every clue is hidden in the world around you.
A3: Myst
Q4: 1985- Before the Sims was ever though of, this game existed on 8-bit computers. Watch and interact with ttiny people who live inside your computer, responding to your commands and going about their daily life.
A4: Little Computer People
Q5: 1986-Lead a medieval noble in a quest to unite England through jousting, castle sieges, sword fights, and strategic conquest.
A5: Defender of the Crown
Q6: 1989-Build a city from the ground up, balancing roads, utilities, taxes, and disasters while trying to keep your citizens happy.
A6: Simcity
Q7: 1993 – Arriving on the Super Nintendo with 3D graphics that seemed impossible at the time, you must pilot a futuristic fighter through space, blasting enemy forces while your animal teammates provide support over the radio.
A7: Starfox
Q8: 1990-A point and click adventure game where a young man called Guybrush Threepwood dreams of becoming a pirate, facing ghostly foes and hilarious puzzles with plenty of witty dialogue along the way.
A8: The Secret of Monkey Island
Q9: 1987-What video game starts off with the Defender of the Crown intro, but is then revealed to be a mistake, and then the characters find the correct intro? Based on a comedy trio from the 1930s.
A9: The Three Stooges
Q10: 1996- A linear 3D game where you play a mutated bandicoot, battling mad scientists by jumping over pits, riding wild animals, and destroying countless wooden crates along the way.
A10: Crash Bandikoot
Q11: 1987-A point and click adventure where you must create a team of teenagers to sneak into a creepy mansion operated by a mad scientist and rescue your girlfriend Sandy, while solving puzzles.
A11: Maniac Mansion
Q12: 1984-Two rival spies who look like large birds race through a booby-trapped building, setting deadly traps for each other while searching for secret items before escaping in an airplane.
A12: Spy vs. Spy
Q13: 2004-A side-scrolling platform game where a brave knight fights through hordes of monsters to rescue a kidnapped princess, and losing a hit leaves him running around in his underwear.
A13: Ghosts and Goblins
Q14: 1984-Guide a rolling marble through obstacle-filled courses using precise control while racing against the clock.
A14: Marble Madness
Q15: 1986 – Originally released on the Nintendo, it is a side-scrolling platform game where you must wield a whip to battle vampires, skeletons, and other monsters as you make your way through the castle of history’s most famous vampire.
A15: Castlevania
Q16: 1985 – Sold primarily as a game for 8-bit computer systems, it copied many of the mechanics from the arcade game Karate Champ, leading to a landmark lawsuit. The Commodore 64 version was especially influential with its amazing soundtrack from Rob Hubbard.
A16: International Karate / Word Karate Championship
Q17: 1985-Inspired by Alladin, you must play a a prince who travels through a vortex on a magic carpet to defeat a genie by ringing gongs in the right order.
A17: Master of the Lamps
Q18: 1983-One of the earliest economic strategy games, you land on the planet Irata and must purchase land and produce resources to buy and sell by outfitting special mules with different abilities.
A18: M.U.L.E.
Q19: Originally released in 1971 on mainframe computers, but later brought to home computers in 1985, You must lead a wagon party westward, hunting for food, crossing rivers, and trying to survive disease and other hardships on a historic journey. And if you are lucky you won’t die of dissentery.
A19: Oregon Trail
Q20: 1990-Match colored capsules to eliminate viruses inside bottles in this falling-block puzzle game starring Nintendo’s famous plumber.
A20: Dr. Mario
That’s a wrap on this week’s Trivia Night. Whether you swept all four rounds or just showed up for the pizza and the open bar, you made it a good one. Trivia Night runs every Wednesday at 6:30 PM here at Time Rift Arcade in Bedford. Round up a team, study up on whatever obscure 1985 computer game you’ve been ignoring, and come take your shot. Bragging rights are free, but you have to earn them. See you next Wednesday.
