Pachinko II

Pachinko II

SG-1000 - Japan - 1st edition.

Developer Sega Publisher Sega Published 1984-04-?? Platforms Sega SG-1000 Genres Pinball, Single-screen Series Sega Pachinko Distribution Commercial

Pachinko II is a pachinko video game developed and published by Sega for the Sega SG-1000 in April 1984 as the sequel to Pachinko.

The game attempts to simulate a pachinko table. You can control how much force is applied to a ball as it's launched into the table. You start with 50 balls and your goal is to make the balls drop into buckets near the bottom of the table which earns you more balls. If you run out of balls you lose, if you reach 3,000 balls, you win.

According to the Internet, a problem was discovered in the first Pachinko which caused a recalled. The problem was fixed and a few other improvements were added, and this title was released as a sequel a few months later, though it was really more of a patch. I'm not sure this is true since I've beaten the first game and never noticed a game-breaking bug.

Differences from the original:

• There are three different tables instead of one.
• You're more likely to hit bonuses.
• The balls are a bit more bouncy.
• The dial to adjust the launch speed turns faster.
• All of the balls are gray. In the original, they are a variety of colors.
• Some of the table elements are a different color.
• There are a couple more graphics around the edge of the table.

Personal

Own?	No.
Won?	Yes. All three tables.
Finished	2022-12-29.

I first saw this game reviewed on Jeremy Parish's Segaiden series. The game looked awful, but I was curious if it actually had an ending or not. After failing to find any place online which described the game, I set about translating the manual and discovered the game ends when you reach 3,000 balls. After that, I set about trying to beat the game.

My best times are table 1: 40 minutes, table 2: 19 minutes, table 3: 15 minutes.

Review

2	2	2	2	1

Best Version: Sega SG-1000

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The ball physics, though certainly not realistic, are still pretty impressive for an 8-bit game.

Bad

• Aiming is pretty much impossible. Although you can usually ensure a ball will go to one side of the table or the other by using high or low force, that is about as accurate as you can get. From what I understand of real pachinko tables, this is also how they function as well, so the simulation is reproduced correctly, but, to me, this shows a flaw in the entire concept, not the game.
• The sound is painful to the ears, but, again, so is the sound from actual pachinko tables. The chimes aren't so bad, but I wish there were at least a way to turn off the ball launch sound effect.
• Despite boasting three tables, they're awfully similar.

Ugly

• The game is boring. Unlike pinball, there is very little to do. You have no control over the ball after you launch it, the table is tiny, and there are only a couple of targets.
• The game can be won simply by setting the handle to around midpoint, clamping down the fire button, then walking away. When you come back, you'll see the game's "ending," a message which reads, "No more balls, give up!" This "strategy" even yields a pretty good score. For the third table, I was able to reach 3,000 in under 16 minutes, which the manual describes as being a pachinko pro! I found this strategy to be more successful than actually trying to aim.

Media

Box Art

The nice box depicts fighter planes and pachinko balls flying out of a pachinko table which promises a lot more than the game delivers.

• 

  Box - Japan.

• 

  Box - Japan - Revision.

Documentation

• 

  Manual - Japan.

Video

Review - Segaiden.

Play Online

Sega SG-1000

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	The game doesn't have characters.
Bechdel test?	Fail	The game doesn't have characters.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	The game doesn't have characters.
Queer character?	Fail	The game doesn't have characters.

Credits

The game doesn't contain credits, but the programmer left his initial in the ROM.

Roles	Staff
Programmer	K.O

Titles

Language	Native	Transliteration	Translation
Japanese	パチンコⅡ	Pachinko II	Pachinko II

Links

       

• free80sarcade.com/sega_PachinkoII.php - Play online.