I bought what could be most annoying pachinko machine ever made:
Oryusan released by Kyoraku in 1995 according to this Japanese webpage.
It's annoying because when it goes into some of the fever modes it starts emitting this very annoying laughter like sound. A game-play video (not mine) can be watched here.
I wanted to dive into the world of modern-ish pachinko machines, but I wasn't interested in digipachi games or more modern games. 1980's games, that are becoming quite collectable now, are either expensive or in very rough condition so I was looking for some early to mid 1990's Hanemono type pachinko machine.
Hanemono type games have a central feature with "wings" or "feathers" that momentarily open once or twice, to let balls in when certain pockets are hit. Then once a ball enters the feature it has to enter a specific pocket the start a fever mode.
When in fever mode, the feature wings open and close almost continuously for a number of rounds for a big payout.
The center feature of Oryusan depicts a story, but I lack the context and cultural background to decipher it.
When I saw Oryusan It ticked all the boxes. Hanemono feature with a little animated manikin, 1995, the right aesthetics (the cell art reminds me of waporwave somehow), a distinctive yet annoying sound feature. In a way it's a very ironic purchase.
The game arrived by EMS / Canada Post and it was packaged in what looks like bags of marshmallows. However I did not try to eat them.
The game just needed the bottom of the frame re-glued (easily done with some woodworking clamps and carpenter's glue), some glass, a good cleaning and a 24Vac transformer.
I sourced the transformer locally and cobbled together some power supply setup from stuff I already had in the workshop.
One very cool thing about Oryusan is the feature mechanism. So many solenoids them tightly packed together.
Coils, linkage and bell-cranks in a very efficient package for the animation of the wings, manikin head and both arms and small boxes that move up and down.
Game-play impressions:
Oryusan is my first modern-ish pachinko machine with an auto-shooter and the whole experience with the flashing lights, the sounds and the repetitive shooting of the balls is... mind numbing. Very passive. I find the older games more involved game-play wise.
Also when the game is in 15R or even 5R mode the game runs out of payout balls very quickly, so now I have to look into some kind of ball elevator.
More pictures