# Arcade1Up Mortal Kombat & Street Fighter Toppers - Szabo's Arcades

**Source:** RetroRalph  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2019-07-07  
**Duration:** 7m 1s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYKWizcLsB0

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## Analysis

RetroRalph reviews arcade toppers created by Joe Sabo for Arcade1Up fighting game cabinets, featuring moves lists for Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat III. The toppers use double-sided tape for easy installation on existing marquees and are praised for their high-quality artwork and practical utility for learning game mechanics.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Joe Sabo produces some of the best arcade artwork, not just for Arcade1Up but for arcades in general — _RetroRalph directly states his appreciation for Sabo's work quality across arcade restoration and artwork_
- [HIGH] The toppers are extremely easy to install, taking longer to remove protective coating than to mount — _RetroRalph demonstrates installation and confirms the process takes approximately 2 minutes_
- [HIGH] The toppers use double-sided tape mounts that adhere to the back of existing marquees — _Product packaging and installation demonstration clearly show mounting mechanism_
- [MEDIUM] Having a moves list topper will improve player performance at fighting games — _RetroRalph speculates this will help him play better, framing it as a practice tool rather than equipment advantage_

### Notable Quotes

> "It's not about the octagonal gates. It's about hardcore brute force practice"
> — **RetroRalph (Jon)**, ~0:50
> _Frames the toppers as a learning/practice tool rather than a shortcut, emphasizing skill development_

> "I just have such an appreciation for what Joe does. I mean, he probably produces some of the best artwork I've seen, not for just Arcade1Up, but for arcades"
> — **RetroRalph (Jon)**, ~2:30
> _Direct endorsement of Joe Sabo's work quality and scope across the arcade restoration community_

> "Joe Sabo just continues to deliver quality artwork that uh you know we don't see a lot of in the Arcade1Up community"
> — **RetroRalph (Jon)**, ~16:00
> _Identifies Sabo as filling a unique niche in the Arcade1Up aftermarket product space_

> "It's going to take you longer to peel the protective coating off"
> — **RetroRalph (Jon)**, ~2:45
> _Emphasizes ease of installation as a key product advantage_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Joe Sabo | person | Founder/operator of Sabo's Arcades, arcade topper and artwork designer; creates custom marquee and restoration products |
| RetroRalph | person | Video host and content creator reviewing Sabo's products; known for arcade and pinball reviews |
| Sabo's Arcades | company | Company specializing in arcade artwork, toppers, marquee design, and restoration services |
| Arcade1Up | company | Home arcade cabinet manufacturer; RetroRalph reviews aftermarket products compatible with their systems |
| Street Fighter II | game | Fighting game featured on one of the arcade toppers with moves list artwork |
| Mortal Kombat II | game | Fighting game featured on one of the arcade toppers with moves list artwork |
| Mortal Kombat III | game | Fighting game featured on one of the arcade toppers with moves list artwork |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Arcade1Up aftermarket products and accessories, Arcade artwork and restoration services
- **Secondary:** Fighting game learning and practice, Arcade cabinet customization, Product installation and ease of use

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.92) — RetroRalph is enthusiastic and praising throughout, with no critical complaints. He expresses appreciation for Sabo's work quality, acknowledges initial skepticism that was overcome, and gives clear recommendations for the product to multiple audience segments.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Arcade content creator partnering with arcade restoration expert to create niche products for home arcade enthusiasts (confidence: high) — RetroRalph actively testing and endorsing Sabo's products; describes them as filling unique market gap in Arcade1Up community
- **[market_signal]** Growing aftermarket accessory ecosystem for Arcade1Up cabinets, with third-party creators developing complementary products (confidence: medium) — Sabo's Arcades operating as specialized vendor for arcade toppers and artwork; RetroRalph notes Sabo's expansion from general arcade work into Arcade1Up-specific products
- **[product_strategy]** Joe Sabo creating aftermarket toppers for Arcade1Up fighting game cabinets to display moves lists, addressing a practical gameplay need (confidence: high) — Video demonstrates functional product with moves lists for SF2, MK2, MK3; RetroRalph confirms utility for learning gameplay

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## Transcript

 Hey guys, welcome back. In this episode we're going to take a look at a unique product by Sabo's Arcades. Joe Sabo over there is trying to be like our Mr. Miyagi, right? Sometimes, you know, we go into things and we just need to go back to basics. We just need some training, right? And that's what Mr. Miyagi was all about, right? It seemed unorthodox, but we really needed that training to get to that next step. So, what does Joe Sabo have? He has created these toppers to show us the moves list on specific games. Now, you know, sometimes, you know, various sports, no matter what we do, you know, video games, let's call it skiing, right? You go skiing sometimes, you buy the best equipment, or you go mountain biking, or some sport you haven't done before, and you're like, man, I need the best, right? Well, sometimes you just need practice, my friend. Present company included, right? You know, you know there's some of you guys out there that are like, Uh, if I could just install some octagonal gates, I'd bust out Hadoukens like no one's business. No! No! No! It's not about the octagonal gates. It's about hardcore brute force practice, and that's what we're gonna do. So not only is Joe Sabo gonna show us how to do Street Fighter, he's gonna show us MK3 and also MK2. So sit back, relax, and let's do this. Alright, I'm always super excited when I open up a box from Sabo's Arcades. This is a really cool one actually that I been waiting for for a while now I super excited So this is actually their arcade toppers for moves lists for a specific game So this one going to include Street Fighter 2 it going to include Mortal Kombat 2 and Mortal Kombat 3 So these arcade toppers are really neat. You'll notice there's some protective film on each one of these. That's actually just so that they're protected in transport. We're going to take that off in a little bit and I'll show you how to do that. And this one actually has some mounts taped to it. These are the mounts that's just some double-sided tape. It sticks to the back of your marquee, your existing marquee, so super easy to install. And then there's just a little sort of instruction sheet in here, too. And this is really easy to do, guys. Once John Youssi the video, you'll realize, oh, wow, that's something you can do in two minutes. It's going to take you longer to peel the protective coating off. So that's everything in the box, and we'll move on to installation. All right, I know you guys are eager beavers, so we're going to try to speed this thing up. So there's your mount, and you've got double-sided tape. Here's your little instruction book, but super easy. We don't really need that. And then we're going to need to peel off this protective coating here. The artwork on this thing is so nice. I mean, I just have such an appreciation for what Joe does. I mean, he probably produces some of the best artwork I've seen, not for just Arcade 1-Up, but for arcades, which is really where he started. He's done a lot of print work and things in the past, but his arcade artwork is really what I know him for. and now he's bleeding that over into Arcade 1-Up and offering some pretty unique products that no one else offers. So you can see even right now the detail, but I'm going to give you a closer look in a second before we do the installation. Look how awesome that is. It just looks great. I'm super excited to give you guys a closer look. Okay, it's time to mount this thing. So remove that strip from the double-sided tape and stick it right there in the middle of your marquee the middle back and Press it into place and just give it a couple good presses to make sure it's on there really good And then you're pretty much done All right, let's put the topper on and test this bad boy out Looking good Okay, so I gotta admit I was a little skeptical at first to see how this would look on the cabinet But it looks really cool and Joe did an awesome job at the artwork So I'm just sitting here and I'm glancing up there from time to time to you know Look at specific moves because back in the day. I didn't play as much of these types of games I did play Street Fighter, but I wasn't the best at it So having this here is only gonna make me better at the game now Which is cool because I've invested a little bit more time in it lately than then I did back then So anyways, we're about to beat chung-li here courtesy of Joe Sabo. So oh Yeah, dad did it. That's how America does it and it's worked out pretty well so far. Oh Oh, Joe Sabo, you're the man. You're making me better at Street Fighter. Loving it, kid. So I know those of you at home are wondering, you're on an MK cab, and so where's the MK? So here is the graphic artwork for MK2 with the moves list as well as MK3. So the cabinet I am playing on actually has artwork that is also featured by Joe Sabo, and I'll have links in the description of that, but he's got you covered, man. Whether you an MK fan or a Street Fighter fan Joe got your back Okay I know I wouldn hear the end of it if I didn show the MK2 or 3 so here they are in deeper detail You can see the artwork just awesome So take a look and then I show you the MK3 here in a minute All right, here's a closer look at the topper for the MK3. Take a look at this real quick, and then I will give you my final thoughts, and we'll wrap this thing up all right guys it's final thoughts time sorry i couldn't be here in the flesh but anyways so cool product man really cool product so if you're into fighting games if you acquired the street fighter 2 cab or you have the mortal kombat cab or even if you have just a a cab that you modified and you have fighting games on it a bunch of different things whether that be a retro pie or pandora's box or whatever you did a pc dude this is a really cool addition it's a the artwork's really neat and so if you're into the artwork of these original games it's just a compliment you can take it on and off so it's really portable and easy to you know put on and then take off and put another one on so i really like the product i have nothing but good things to say about it and joe sabo just continues to deliver quality artwork that uh you know we don't see a lot of in the arcade one-up community so i'm super stoked on that um please if you like the content please like the video please consider subscribing if you enjoy what John Youssi here and um turn on notifications so you can be informed of future videos and please put your comments below we want to hear from you anyways guys that's it for now and we'll see you on the next one

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 897f18bb-b773-47c5-9581-30cb27cccbe5*