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Gorgar video
"Gorgar," released by Williams in December 1979, is renowned as the first talking pinball machine. Designed by Barry Oursler, with artwork by Constantino Mitchell, this game features a fantasy theme where players confront a demon named Gorgar. The machine's standout feature is its ability to speak seven words, combining them into phrases, alongside a heartbeat sound that accelerates as gameplay intensifies.
The same machine, made under a different name by a different manufacturer: licensed copies, conversion kits, and re-releases.
| Name | Manufacturer | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Drakor | Taito | 1979 |
Complete the drop target banks, then shoot the upper left “snake pit” alcove. Get A-B-C to light the spinner, shoot that from the left. If you’re good at shatzing, you can also elect to shatz the return lanes all day.
Balanced
High
Ah, the first talkie. It has a different layout than its predecessors, too. A fun game if played the way the designers intended, but it can be boring at the expert level, where the optimal technique changes. “Normal” play is to shoot the center drop targets from either flipper and the top left ones from the right flipper to advance the snake pit to its maximum value of 50,000 and advance your bonus along the way. Some left flipper shots should be through the spinner to go up top to collect the A-B-C lanes to increase your bonus multiplier to 2x and then 3X. The spinner lights when you advance your bonus to 10K, at which point spinner shots become more valuable. Once your bonus reaches 20K, the spinner turns back off! You thus have a limited window for lit spinner shots. You can also advance the snake pit by making the 1-2-3-4 standup targets in order. I wouldn’t try shooting at them directly, due to rebound risk, but if you’ve collected 1-2-3 in order, go ahead and shoot #4 [see below]. If you’re good at shatzing, the other strategy is to cross-shatz all day to build up your bonus to maximum and light the snake pit for 50,000 as well. Each bottom lane scores 3K and adds one bonus; shoot one or both of them enough and you can max out your base bonus. Getting one of each lane gives you a 1-2-3-4 number. Since finishing 1-2-3-4 lights the snake pit for the maximum value of 50K, if you shatz both sides, not just one, and do so four times each, you’ll get 24K regular points, plus base bonus raised from 1K to 9K, plus have the snake pit lit for a 50K shot. Take that 50K shot and repeat the process. But watch out for inlane-outlane drains while shatzing if you shoot too hard. Even if you don’t finish getting 1-2-3-4 via shatzing, making progress on it gives you a chance to finish it with a normal standup target shot, e.g. if you get three pairs of D-E lanes shatzes, you just need to hit the “4” standup to light the snake pit. Maximum bonus is base of 29K and multiplier of 3X for 87,000.
via Bob's Guide
On the floor at 102 locations
Showing top 20 of 99 locations
December 1979 print with speech phrases and auto-cycle
September 1979 print with adjustments table
Fixes blown 2.5A solenoid fuses; magnet switch setup
Foldout set with board assembly drawings and parts lists
Single sheet for the Drakor conversion
JPG
Covers several Taito machines, 1982 print
Credit levels at 300,000, 430,000 and 550,000
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