The Pink Panther Slot Machine
Who doesn’t recognise the iconic pinkness of The Pink Panther? This cartoon figure is well known with children to this day, even though the peak of its popularity has long since gone. Although the sleek fellow is an icon we adore, he was only given his own series of short films after starring at the beginning of the 1960s feature length real action movie. The name actually refers to the prominent jewellery thief in the first film, but the cartoon has simply become synonymous with playfulness and cunning.
Having seen the name of this 5-reel real cash slot, we worried that it would be a poor attempt at capturing what was and is this pink cat, but we were wrong; Roundstone International have made sure that every detail is perfect. It’s pretty in pink and animated with both the dapper chap and the inspector.
What’s on Offer?
Whether you want to think of the thief or the big cat, the Pink Panther has a certain finesse about him that you’d expect to be translated into the substance of the game. Sadly, you’d be mistaken. While every care has been taken to ensure that you get a slot machine that looks the part, the gameplay is no different from any other Roundstone title, which leaves us feeling conned. A partnership like this should be explosive, but instead it fizzles out in quick succession.
If we take a closer look at what’s being given to all users, you’ll soon see why we’re so quick to conclude this. First of all, the paytable consists of only eight symbols, which leaves little room for variance at the best of times, but here it’s worst because of the special features: there’s a free spin and a bonus round. That’s it. Normally a bonus round can redeem a game for being lax, but here it actually adds to an already lukewarm performance from the brand.
Paw Prints
Despite having not mentioned it previously, there’s a silver lining to be found within the dynamics of The Pink Panther, and that’s the gamble option. Yes, it’s hardly cause for celebration, but it helps to keep you playing for longer than you might without it included.
As always, you’re given two options, but in this game it’s two pink paws (we all know those icons); Inspector Clouseau requires you to find the clue beneath one of them. The ‘clue’ is a prize of x2, while the other is a loss.
Criminal Controls
Our biggest bugbear here is the lack of controls on offer – there are the basics, of course, but the maximum bet widget and automatic rounds are missing. These are two of the most used buttons with players, even more so the autoplay, and so to not have them seems like a massive design flaw to us.
We grant you that having to click for each round isn’t an international problem, but it makes the game more tedious in the long run, especially if you’re playing several games and not just the one. Being able to let the reels take control is a blessing, as well as being convenient and time saving; it might not be crucial to a game's success, but it helps with our sanities when we tire of clicking that trackpad or mouse.
Low Winnings
If you’ve looked at the paytable, you may think we’re being super critical, after all 5,000 coins for a match of five sounds good, but have you looked at the lower end of the table? There is where you find a lot of low payouts. What is more, when we played we found that the payouts seemed to go even lower than those stated: we got a win of just 0.01 one time.
Nobody is going to become a high roller on that kind of payout, and with the volatility how it is, it’s unlikely many will hit the top paying tile.
In the Pink
The Pink Panther is a charming slot machine, even if you take it with all its flaws, but that doesn’t mean that we’d recommend it to players. Despite having a well formed user interface, it’s only redeeming feature is that it pays homage to a great cartoon character and set of renowned comedy films.
