There is a flyer that includes this date pegging it as 1976 but I am unsure if that is means the machine is from 1976, or that the flyer is just dated.
The other appearance I have is from a 1977 Coin Journal issue.
While Hit & Run has a Type Approval Number of 91-7822, Big Hit uses 91-8108. I do not have solid evidence the numbers are always linearly consecutive, but there is a strong implication. So we know the game was around in 1976, it might have been made closer to 1975.
Name: Hit & Run - ヒットアンド・ラン Year: 1972 Company: 昭和遊園機械 (Showa Amusement Park Machinery)
The first Hit & Run appearance I've found is in the Amusement magazine, November 1972.
Amusement 1972-11
The game's playfield and mechanics come from Super Match. It has entirely new art, and uses a familiar pachinko shooter instead of the German style handle.
I have seen a flyer for Hit & Run that was distributed by ホープ自動車株式会社 (Hope Motor Co., Ltd.) so they probably also sold this game.
There are (at least) 3 games with the same name. In 1974 there is Hit and Run - ヒットアンド・ラン by こまや (Komaya) and then in 1976 we see Hit and Run - ヒットアンド・ラン by an unknown company, perhaps by カワクス (Kawax).
This model has been modified from the original, and has a payout slot at the bottom:
In a 1971 flyer from Taito, we see that they are importing the original German version of Super Match.
at the bottom it says "ローエン" aka Löwen
The imported playfield still has all of the original German text, but does not have the net meshing, and it uses white plastic for the center goal area.
Japan version
German version
This one from the Japanese arcade 西肥シルバーボウル (archive) also has a yellow text / sticker on the playfield, but I do not know if that was put there by the manufacturer.
There are other modifications done to this model. First, it has a frame around the playfield, which is affixed to the cabinet, so it stays secured to the chassis when opened. The original Super Match has a back that is mostly there to hold the transformer and coin box, but this design would let an operator open it more easily to address a stuck ball. The original design is more reminiscent of a 1970s pachinko machine, where the playfield swings out on the main hinge, then there is a separate hinge to access the playfield.
This new design also include a locked coin box, for when the operator and attendant are different people.
The Japanese version also has a prize token dispenser:
The Japanese version has these modifications which seem repeated in the game Rich-Ball, which we know was around in 1973.
From a different copy of the Japanese machine, another look at the cabinet modificaitons:
The game is a direct copy of Super Match, a German machine from 1967 that that also found great popularity in the UK.
The Super Match games that were imported into the UK underwent modifications for the Japanese market. It seems that the improvements on the import models were incorporated into the Rich-Ball design.
For example, the instruction plate on imported Super Match is very similar to the instruction plate on Rich-Ball.
imported Super Match instruction plate, refers to the original German "Tor" and "Ecke" on the playfield
Rich-Ball refers to "Gate" and "Edge", which substitute for Tor and Ecke on the original playfields.
There were many iterations of Super Match over the years, but no other playfield I've seen uses Gate and Edge on them.
The imported Super Match machines also had been modified to include a payout slot, which is very similar to Rich-Ball's:
No other Super Match machines have a reward hole. In every other iteration, Super Match machines would just award a reply if you got 6 goals.
It is awkward to see a machine with a swastika on it, at least post WW2, but it should be noted that the swastika is facing the opposite direction than the version the Nazis used.
