Sapporo
About This Machine
The Sapporo, released by Sega Enterprises in 1971, is an electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine notable as an example of pinball manufacturing by a major Japanese company at a time when the industry was dominated by American manufacturers.
The Sapporo features distinctive gameplay built around its snow-skiing theme. A yellow ski-jump rollover button activates the game's signature Ski Jump feature: as the ball rolls back down a lane in the upper-left playfield, players use the left flipper button to shift the lane's lower wall and steer the ball toward one of four blue rollover buttons for bonus scoring. The machine also offers 2-ball multiball, three pop bumpers, two slingshots, and three kick-out holes, along with an up-post between the flippers.
Visually and mechanically, the Sapporo reflects its era, with a snow-skiing and Olympic Games theme that coincided with Sapporo, Japan's hosting of the 1972 Winter Olympics the following year. An unusual cabinet detail -- three bolt holes in each corner -- allowed the legs to be mounted at either of two different table heights, and a built-in relay tester in the lower cabinet aided troubleshooting.
Images (41)
Technical Details
- Theme:
- Sports - Snow Skiing - Recreation - Olympic Games
- Notable Features:
- Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (3), Slingshots (2), Kick-out holes (3), Standup targets (3), Right outlane ball return gate, Up-post between flippers. 2-ball multiball. Slalom lane in upper left playfield. Ski Jump lane in middle left playfield. Three bolt holes in corners of cabinet allow for the legs to attach for either of two different table heights. Relay tester in lower cabinet for trouble-shooting. 3 or 5 ball play. The Ski Jump feature is activated by the ball entering the left-side ski jump lane far enough to reach the yellow ski jump rollover button. Hitting this rollover button lights all four blue rollover buttons in the lower playfield for increased value and also enables the left flipper button to operate the Ski Jump. As the ball rolls back down the ski jump lane, the Ski Jump is operated by pressing the left flipper button to move the lane's lower side wall to try to steer the rolling ball to the highest-scoring blue button. Hitting any blue button (or draining to outhole) resets the Ski Jump wall to its original position and the left flipper cannot activate it again until enabled by hitting the yellow ski jump rollover button. Maximum displayed point score is 99,990 points. Replay wheel maximum: 25 Sound: one bell, knocker.