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The Bushido Gold online slot brings the honor and rituals of the Samurai to desktop and mobile casinos. As a fan of Japanese culture, I was drawn to the Ninjas, warriors, and spirit animal tokens on the reels. I quickly found that there’s much more to the game than good looks, with a huge range of features, such as expanding reels for more ways to win, cascades, cannon that fire extra wild symbols, and free spins. It’s designed for anyone who enjoys a fast pace and feature-rich gameplay mixed with iconic symbols.
My first impression of the Bushido Gold slot machine was that it captures the Samurai code in high detail, with a range of themed symbols and a dramatic backdrop of a castle and storm clouds. Arrows pierce red columns holding the reels in place, suggesting a recent battle, and a stirring soundtrack helps set the scene.
Colorful high card symbols in a Japanese style, stork, fish, and other animal totems, plus the character of Kane, seen across much of the ‘Gold’ series all appear on the six reels, and four initial rows.
Something I also noticed right away is that this game is part of the ELK Studios range. That tends to mean a great section of features, matched to high volatility, but with low average returns of 94.00%, which is a standard level across their range. That’s well below the 96.00% or more I expect from highly volatile slots.
Once symbols drop into place, they can trigger cascades on each win, explosions from wild symbols, samurai swords can slash across reels for more ways to win, and cannon can fire at any point. I was impressed by the sheer variety of features, although everything can happen all at once, which could be a little overwhelming at times, particularly for inexperienced players.
I’d recommend trying the free Bushido Gold online slot on this page before staking real money. It’s part of the biggest and best range of free slots online.
The bet range of 0.20 to 100 credits is good, with a total of 12 levels, plus X-iter bonus buy options. There’s a starting point of 4,096 ways to win as symbols match from the left over the 6x4 grid. Sticking to smaller stakes, it wasn’t long before I managed to trigger some of the many in-game features, which is a good omen for players looking for frequent bonuses.
Avalanches trigger on every spin, removing winning symbols as those above drop down to take their places. This is a popular feature of online slot games, but the Bushido Gold slot machine supercharges the experience by adding an extra row of symbols on each avalanche in a series. Reels can grow to a maximum of eight rows, crossed by 262,144 ways to win. I soon discovered that it’s easier to win across extra rows, although thanks to the high volatility, getting to the full eight rows with four consecutive wins can be hard.
A Slice system helps, running a sword through the game whenever matching symbols are on reels one and six on the same row. It creates two identical rows, although the limit remains at eight.
Symbols, apart from wilds, can be in regular 1x1 format, or 2x2 Super, 3x3, Mega, or 4x4 ‘Epic’ sizes. They count as four, nine, and 16 individual symbols respectively. If they drop down on wins, but leave empty spaces below, new 1x1 examples of the same symbol appear, and I got several nice wins from this mechanism.
Wild bombs act as other symbols and explode when part of wins, removing adjacent symbols and activating any connected feature symbol.
The Ninja is one of those feature symbols, and he fires Throwing Stars at random spots, which then turn into more wilds. I didn’t always get a win from this, but it certainly helped a couple of times.
Wild bombs also activate a cannon, which blasts a pillar of wilds upwards on its reel. Big, 2x2 versions do this to both reels above them. Golden cannon always shoot from the bottom row and as an extra treat, the reels then expand to the maximum of eight rows.
The Bushido Gold online slot free spins feature starts when at least three castle bonus symbols land at once. You get six Ninja Drop free games, plus two more for each additional castle on the triggering spin. They play out in the same way as the base games, with the exception that Ninjas are present throughout, throwing stars around the grid for extra wilds. I had moderate success over eight free spins, winning 16.8x my stake.
Matched symbols in an unbroken run from the left pay these portions of the bet -
I enjoyed the very fast-paced action that suits the exciting topic of Samurai and Ninjas
Many of the features such as the Slice and wild bombs trigger more often than I expected, leading to a decent frequency of wins.
The dramatic scenery, character design and animations capture the topic better than many other games.
There’s an exceptionally generous win limit of 25,000x the bet.
If you want to play action-packed slots with a similar style to Bushido Gold, then I recommend Ninja vs Samurai by Pocket Games Soft, and Rising Samurai by Skywind.
The 94.00% return to players is a real issue with slots from ELK Studios, and some 2% below what other developers offer from high volatility games. Having said that, in my experience, the Bushido Gold slot machine has a reasonable hit rate, but perhaps that was just me being lucky. I’d also say it’s not a game for novice players, as lots can happen on any spin. But if you have some experience and enjoy games where any spin can lead to multiple features, then it’s a great choice.
Wins can hit 25,000x the bet as you play the Bushido Gold online slot, which is a huge 2,500,000 credits at the maximum stake. Go for gold at a recommended casino but be aware of the low average returns.
Can I play the Bushido Gold slot for free on VegasSlotsOnline?
Of course! You’ll find a free version of the Bushido Gold slot on this page of VegasSlotsOnline. Try it without any risk, then play for real at a recommended casino.
Does the Bushido Gold slot have bonus features?
Bushido Gold is an online slot with lots of bonus features. It’s a great option for players looking for a game where multiple features can trigger on any spin of the reels.
Is the Bushido Gold slot available at Bitcoin casinos?
Yes, it is. Read our guide to playing online slots with cryptocurrencies here. Look for a site with the Bushido Gold slot in their range, then play it using Bitcoin or other virtual currency.
Can I win real money playing the Bushido Gold slot online?
Play the Bushido Gold online slot at a real money casino and wins can hit a huge 25,000x the bet. That’s 2,500,000 credits if you hit this limit at the maximum stake.
Is the Bushido Gold slot a high volatility game?
It is. Bushido Gold has a high volatility, so be prepared for relatively infrequent wins when compared to games with a lower variance and choose your bet level with this in mind.
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