1982 · Taito
Shark
Open sea with heavy white foam and rolling green-blue waves, yellow-gold flat sky with no clouds, distant blue headland and island silhouettes on the horizon, white lighthouse on a dark rock at upper left and darker green hilly coastline behind the boats.
- Year
- 1982
- Maker
- Taito
- Type
- Solid state
- Display
- Alphanumeric
- Players
- 4
Vision analysis
On the playfield
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- black
- yellow
- teal
- orange
Fingerprint: Giant saucer dome glowing blue-white, six cyan-lit bumper caps in horizontal band, yellow numbered inserts arcing between flippers, grimy industrial metalwork with riveted plating, hazard stripes, dark oily machinery, sci-fi steampunk atmosphere
The most memorable feature is the huge saucer-like circular dome assembly at the top centre, its white cap lit from underneath by a bright blue-white lamp that dominates the upper playfield. Immediately below it, a straight row of six cyan-blue glowing pop bumper caps forms a bright horizontal band across an otherwise dark, oily, industrial scene. A clean descending arc of yellow round inserts numbered 4, 6, 5 and 10 sits between the two yellow flippers like a numeric ladder. The lower-left apron instruction card mixes English and a Romance language, and the lower-right apron has a yellow-and-black chevron plate reading FLIPPER BUTTON.
Setting
- Dark industrial metalwork interior
- Riveted plating and pipework
- Oil-stained brown-copper machinery
Symbols
- Yellow-and-black hazard stripes
- Round yellow numbered inserts
- Cyan bumper caps
- Red and yellow square icon panels
- Black chevron arrows
Notable shapes
- Large circular saucer dome at top centre
- Row of six evenly spaced round bumpers
- Arc of four yellow numbered inserts between the flippers
- Vertical stack of yellow square icon panels on the right
Art motifs
- Riveted steel plating
- Exposed pipes and conduit
- Grated catwalks
- Grime and oil staining
- Warning striping
Themes
- Industrial
- Steampunk
- Machinery
- Factory
- Hazmat
- Sci-fi machinery
Text on it
- FLIPPER BUTTON
- UPPER HITTING
- OPTIONS
- MAD
- COLOQUE
- 10
- 5
- 4
- 6
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Other | A large saucer-shaped mechanical dome with a white domed cap at top centre, ringed with metal and lit blue-white from below |
| Other | Grey articulated mechanical arms and clamp structures rising on the upper left |
| Other | Orange-red flame or lava burst artwork filling the upper right quadrant |
| Vehicle | A small yellow-and-black striped industrial cart or lift mechanism on the right side, mid playfield |
A tall, portrait-orientation pinball playfield photographed straight down, lit dimly with the machine's own lamps on, so colours read as saturated spots on a grimy dark ground. The art is grimy industrial metalwork: teal-grey riveted plating, pipes, girders, grating and oily brown-copper machinery, with yellow-and-black hazard striping around the upper lanes and bumpers. At top centre sits a large circular saucer-shaped assembly with a white domed cap glowing blue-white from beneath. Below it, a row of six round pop bumpers glows cyan-blue across the mid playfield. On the upper right, orange-red flame or lava artwork and a column of small yellow square panels with red symbols; on the upper left, grey mechanical arms and striped bumper caps. The lower playfield is dominated by dark scaffolding artwork, two yellow plastic flipper bats with white rubber rings, and an arc of round yellow translucent inserts carrying black numerals 4, 6, 5 and 10. A white instruction card with red and black print sits on the lower-left apron, and the lower-right apron carries a yellow label with black chevrons reading FLIPPER BUTTON. The cabinet and neighbouring machines are just visible at the frame edges, with colourful side art at left.
On the backglass
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- blue
- green
- yellow
- white
Fingerprint: Enormous shark-jaw graphic framing curved SHARK lettering, rows of teeth above and below, fleet of boats on choppy green sea with big trawler two red funnels, diver's brass porthole helmet at bottom-right, four red mechanical score reels stacked left, Spanish instruction text CRÉDITO BONUS
The enormous shark-jaw graphic framing the curved word SHARK across the top right, with rows of teeth above and below the lettering. A fleet of boats on a choppy green sea, dominated by a big trawler with two red funnels, plus a diver's brass porthole helmet filling the bottom-right corner. Four red score reels in rope-bordered frames stacked down the left. Spanish instruction text reading CRÉDITO and BONUS under the reels, with FIM DE JOGO at the top.
Setting
- Open sea with heavy white foam and rolling green-blue waves
- Yellow-gold flat sky with no clouds
- Distant blue headland and island silhouettes on the horizon
- White lighthouse on a dark rock at upper left
- Darker green hilly coastline behind the boats
Symbols
- Shark jaws with teeth framing the title
- Black ship's wheel
- Portholes
- Anchor
- Lighthouse
- Striped sail
- Rope-bordered reel frames
- Ship's rigging lines and masts
Lettering
- Very large curved display capitals in cream and yellow with a heavy dark blue outline and drop shadow, the word arched to follow the curve of the shark's jaw; small plain white sans-serif instruction captions
Themes
- Sea
- Fishing boats
- Divers
- Shark
- Harbour
- Spanish text
- Score reels
Title on it
- Shark
Text on it
- SHARK
- FIM DE JOGO
- CRÉDITO
- BONUS
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Man | Large bearded man's head at lower right, face inside a round brass porthole window of a diving helmet, dark hair, moustache, wide open mouth, framed by thick brass bolts |
| Man | Smaller diver beside him in a red diving helmet with rivets and side hoses, only head and shoulders visible, partly overlapped by the larger helmet |
| Man | Crewman in an orange short-sleeved top and shorts standing on the trawler's deck at right, arms raised holding a line |
| Man | Crewman in orange kit standing on the trawler's deck near the bow at centre, facing left |
| Man | Crewman in orange kit standing on the red rowing boat at lower left, holding an oar or line, facing right |
| Other | Small distant human figure on the far shoreline at centre-right, a dark silhouette standing on the green headland |
| Vehicle | Large fishing trawler, blue-grey hull with black boot-top, white deckhouse, two red funnels, tall wooden mast with rigging lines |
| Vehicle | Small sailing boat at far left with a red, yellow and white striped triangular sail and dark hull |
| Vehicle | Red-hulled rowing boat at lower left with an outboard or oar, white interior |
A Spanish-language, comic-book-illustrated backglass showing a busy maritime scene. A large fishing trawler with a blue-grey hull, white superstructure, two red funnels and a tall mast dominates the centre, angled left-to-right, with a red-hulled rowing boat and figures in orange kit on deck, a black ship's wheel and a green-painted panel on its side. Behind it, a white lighthouse stands on a dark rock at upper left beside hilly coastline and distant blue islands under a flat yellow-gold sky. A small boat with a red-yellow-white striped triangular sail sits at far left, and a rowing boat with a standing figure crosses the lower left corner. The sea is rendered in layered greens, turquoise and deep blue with heavy white foam. The word SHARK curves across the upper right in huge cream-and-yellow letters with a heavy blue outline, framed above and below by a shark's open jaws with visible teeth. Four red mechanical score reels numbered 1 to 4 stack down the left-centre inside rope-bordered black panels. At lower right, a large head of a bearded man peers out of a round brass diving-suit porthole beside a smaller diver in a red helmet.