Let me tell you the story of a guy who went to Level Up Games and bought some stuff and then traded…read morein some stuff. Normal, right? Then fast forward at least 15 maybe even 20 years and this guy entirely forgot he had credit because his job took him away from Santa Cruz. But one day he returns to get the batteries changed in his old Pokemon games (which they did quickly and for a very reasonable price) and he was informed he had almost 20 bucks sitting there. That's me. I'm the guy. It's been so long that they could never have told me and I would never have been the wiser. Also, even if I remembered they could have kept the money after so much time had passed and I would have fully understood. But nope, they held on to it and even told me about it. Their collection of retro games is amazing and you can buy modern games there too? It's all you could want in a game store.

If in the area, you must come by and check this place out. My son loves comics and collectibles, a…read moregreat find during our last visit was definitely the 'FALLOUT' Jones cola! He was super excited as he had been on the hunt for this drink for a while. He originally bought 2 but then decided to go back and just get the pack. Definitely a new place to keep coming too.

I was worried going in, because 1.) I have a very low opinion of the current culture surrounding…read moreretro gaming, collecting, and reselling. It's really disgusting how 80% of people in the hobby are larping manchildren that are no better than TCG resellers. 2.) I find that retro game shops across the US are generally really terribly ran with insane pricing, dirty interiors, bad selection, and rude staff. I'm happy to say that Gameshop Downstairs is the SOLE EXCEPTION. Their staff are very polite and genuinely want to help you find what you're looking for, even when swamped with customers on a busy day. Their selection is unlike anything I have seen in any game shop in the entire NorCal region, especially for late 2000s-2010s era games such as Wii, DS, and 3DS. I also appreciate that they have a wide selection of DVDs and BluRays - old anime, movies, and cartoons alike. They even regularly stock CRTs, and while a bit expensive, they do in fact sell at fair market price. On that note, their pricing is extremely fair, and even the more contentious pricing I saw was actually on the dot with fair market pricing when checking online. Even if some things are slightly marked up, I think they easily make up for it with the sheer amount of stuff they carry. I can't emphasize enough how good their collection is, I spent a whole hour here. The museum is really cool too. The mix of 80s-90s and 2000s-2010s gear made it a perfect trip for my Dad & I, since that represents the generations of technology we grew up with respectively.

Freaking amazing I love this shop! There's so much cool shit they have in store-South Park VHS…read moretapes, old-school movies and games, awesome case with the Power Glove and other Nintendo stuff!!! Anthony is very knowledgeable and helpful and so his is his wife. One of my favorite places on East Santa Clara st. I recommend everyone to visit this shop when they're in San Jose

EXTREMELY UNWELCOMING…read more -I went here for a pre release event a few months ago, One Piece OP-09. It went Ok, worker behind the counter was somewhat helpful as I have never been to a pre release event before. But him and no one else would have any kind of friendly/communication. I get it most people in this scene tend to be socially awkward. But that isn't what this review is about. Today I went to the next pre release event. A full house compared to last time. The "locals" crew was there looked me up and down, wasn't greeted and just looked at as if I should not be there. Very bad and unwelcoming energy. The guy behind the counter, (same as last time) verified me through the Bandai + app before i went to the room where the event and games would take place. One more "local" showed up and then he comes to the back, asks to look at my application again, and made an excuse saying I have the wrong one and that I am not part of the event anymore. Instead of causing a scene I just left. Absolutely terrible. Bandai makes the app and these events a specific way. Just because your group who comes to locals night regularly wants in and shows up late, you make up a reason to eject someone who was properly registered for an event. F- Will not be going back to this place again.

Came in to get some games and some trading cards. Guy working said hi and pretty much ignored us…read morethe rest of the time, he was to busy chatting with another customer and looking through Pokémon cards to help anyone else. Extremely disappointed. I would rather drive to the Capitola location where they are friendly and actually help people.

So many games! And puzzles! I love going here to buy gifts for little ones and people that I don't…read morealready have a gift idea for.

While it's cool to have a place like this in Capitola and I'm happy it exists, I have a couple of…read moreobservations. First all the positive stuff, amazing displays of the CRT's available, quite a bit if you're in need of a CRT this is the place hands down. Go check em out! The cards are very well displayed and look to be one of the biggest draws of the store. Now for the downside at least for me as a game collector I cannot walk up and touch a case and read a spine from the area they allow you to look from. I'm 56 yo full disclosure, I cannot read the damn title spines even with glasses, you know what else I have at 56 other than my eyesight? Actual money to spend at your store. So, fix this, I just walk out after 5 min of eyestrain and will check eBay instead. I love looking at the game boxes looking at the condition of the discs, it's why I walk into retro game stores, if I cannot see your product, well...

Bought a "refurbished" DS here for my kid's Christmas present here Dec. 2025 (and a bunch of other…read morevintage consoles and games over the years). Seemed to work fine to me, but my kid found a problem with the contrast and/or screen when he tried to play Christmas morning. We took it back to the location on Campbell Ave where I bought it. Showed the manager/owner and provided receipts. He said they would fix the DS because it was sold "refurbished." He said it would be ready in a few weeks, after the new year, and took my contact into. Never heard back. Called the store after the first month came and went. No answer. Months go by and my kid keeps asking about it. I keep calling the location but then I read on their instagram that the shop is permanently closed. But they they're still doing business online. So I reach out to their instagram and email the address on their Shopify, where in fact they are now selling a metallic blue DS, just like the one I bought in December! Still no reply. Hope to hear back now that I'm posting about this problem.

What a gem! These guys are why we all love to support small businesses! My son was able to get…read moreanime comic books at a great deal here. The sweetest part about this shop is how there are many arcade machines for kids (of all ages) to play with. They've got a deal where you pay by the hour or buy an all day pass. They've got a section in the back for group gaming too! Bring the kids for a few hours on the weekend or before summer is over.

I am far removed from being a teen but came here since I was looking for a gift for one. There were…read moresome very interesting anime related items and fun tshirts. Cool store overall.

I appreciate the rising number of anime stores showing up in the Bay Area. I always have a fun time…read morebrowsing these types of stores for the figures, keychains, and other merchandise. They tend to focus on the most popular anime obviously (think One Piece, Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, etc.). I haven't bought anything recently because I'm particular about the blind boxes that I buy and I haven't seen anything I really liked yet, but I will always stop by the store and get my anime fix. They also have some shirts in the back as well.

Any negative reviews that this place receives are left by people who grossly overestimate the…read morequality of service a hobby store should provide. Stores like these are becoming a dime a dozen because more often than not it is becoming less and less profitable to maintain a hobby shop with so many online competitors. The people who run stores like these are usually very passionate about the community and safety they can provide to individuals who sometimes struggle to find community on their own. Yes the service feels awkward and sometimes stand-off-ish but if you're in the store to begin with you've likely encountered personalities like this before that exist within the TCG circle. I always get what I want at an affordable price and I know I am welcomed even if the service doesn't explicitly read as welcoming when you first walk in. This store is great and I'm lucky to have it in my town - lower your standards and see what a privilege a shop like this is.

I don't live in the area but have family that does, so I stop in pretty much every time I come up…read morehere. The owner is friendly and is quick to help you out. I'll be back there next time i'm in the area.

Service here was good, the guys helping me out were really patient with me as I was going back and…read moreforth deciding which games I wanted to get and would nicely let me look at games I was interested at in the locked cases for as long as I wanted. In terms of selection I think they have a good selection on the retro and modern games and consoles which made me spend even more time in the shop! They also have other things like pokemon sealed products and single cards which I assume they are selling at market price and toys like Funko pops and figurines. As a casual collector and lover of video games, I'm happy with the amount and variety of product that is offered and staff here are friendly everytime I come so I'm happy to recommend this shop to anyone in the nearby area :)

Came to look for some vintage games for a collector friend in Denmark and for a Wii Motion Plus…read morecontroller for the kids. It's located in a small strip mall I've passed by in Milpitas and glad we stopped by. It was amazing to see such a large crowd of people coming in and out, it just made me feel like people still appreciate physical hardware. This feeling was acknowledged when I saw a row of CRT TVs for sale and how much better the games looked on their intended non-held hardware. They have a little bit of everything retro and have games ranging from loose to in box, it was cool seeing so many games I grew up with. The most nostalgic systems were the NES and SNES for me. Prices were not and and barely above market though my kids did notice the Pokemon stuff was marked very high. Staff was great and asked me for my requests and immediately looked it up. They also tried giving me free snes clear boxes but they were out of stock.