Are you a sucker for retro gaming and also fancy a bit of casino gambling? Then this article is all for you. In this, I have listed five must play slots that combine the best of both worlds. Quality slots that will bring back memories to the video-gaming era of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. I’m talking about pixelated design and awesome midi-sounds. Of course, all of these slots can be played on mobile as well as desktop.
Let’s get started!
1. Flame Busters
Provider: Thunderkick
RTP: 96.10%
Max win: 5,280x
Volatility: High
Firing up this slot, my thoughts immediately go to the Super Nintendo era and the release of Super Mario Bros 3 in 1988. The trees in the slot are especially reminiscent of that game.
Flame Busters is a highly comical slot where fire fighters shoot loads of water on symbols such as robots, pirates, wizards and smoking goats. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it’s good fun.
The main feature of the game is a free spin bonus with 5 levels to it. On each level, a low-paying symbol is removed, which means that if you hit the maximum level, only high-paying symbols will be left. This can lead to quite some juicy payouts.
2. Street Fighter 2
Provider: NetEnt
RTP: 96.06%
Max win: 7,142x
Volatility: Medium – high
Based on the video-game released in 1991, this slot is a true masterpiece that is impossible not to love. The line between the actual Street Fighter game and the slot is quite blurred. You will experience similar gameplay and the same sound effects, as well as music from the original Street Fighter 2 game.
You get to choose between 8 characters to play; each with its own volatility level and wild symbol mechanic. You then enter the fighting grounds where the slot reels as well as your first opponent can be found. Spinning the reels, your own character as well as your foe will perform various attacks.
Defeating the opponent will trigger a “beat the boss bonus” where you get to fight several characters for increasing win multipliers. Being defeated yourself will instead trigger a “car smash bonus” where you control your character and smash a car for a smaller cash prize.
3. Space Invaders
Provider: Playtech
RTP: 96.30%
Max win: 200x
Volatility: Low
Mimicking the arcade game released in 1978, Space Invaders is a charming slot designed similarly to an arcade machine. It’s a game best suited for people who rather play it safe than risky as the volatility level is very low. Something which is reflected in the slot’s unusually low max win of 200x.
As you spin the reels, a ship will move sideways on the bottom of the screen and if lucky, it will trigger one of two features. The ship can shoot down low-paying symbols above it, which will turn them into wilds. These wilds multiply winnings by x2.
A UFO can also appear on top of the screen. If this aligns with the ship, the ship will shoot down the UFO, leading to a re-spin where multiple wilds are added to the reels.
4. Hellcatraz
Provider: Relax Gaming
RTP: 96.32
Max win: 51,843x
Volatility: High
Design-wise, Hellcatraz is quite similar to Flame Busters and fits in well with the Super Nintendo era. This game, however, stands out for its enormous potential as more than 50,000 times your bet amount can be won. The slot also comes with a bonus buy feature that allows you to instantly trigger its bonus game.
The slot is played with a cascading reel feature that replaces winning symbols with new ones on a win. It is also packed with mystery symbols; all of which will turn into the same symbol when revealed.
In the base game, the mystery symbols are locked behind a certain number of cascades that have to happen before they are revealed. However, in the bonus game, there is no such lock which is what makes the bonus so valuable.
5. Pixel Reels
Provider: Synot Games
RTP: 94.18%
Max win: 2,500x
Volatility: High
Pixel Reels has the most modern-looking design among the bunch, while still offering pixelated graphics. With alien-like creatures on the reels and an invasion feature where ships appear to shoot down these, I would describe the game as a reinvention of the Space Invaders slot mentioned earlier.
The invasion feature is what the game is all about. One, two or three ships will randomly appear to shoot down incoming symbols for cash prizes. If three ships appear, the symbols will also have a chance of dropping free spin and multiplier icons, which will then trigger the slot’s free spin feature.
During the free spins, all winnings will be boosted by the collected multiplier. Expanding wild symbols can also appear to cover one or several reels with wilds, which will further boost payouts.
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