Samurai Heroes Slot Machine
Online casino games developer GamingSoft have numerous Asian-themed slots in their range, but the Samurai Heroes video slot looks totally different as it’s in a fun cartoon style that contrasts with the realistic styles featured in most of their other games.
If you like cartoony slot machines at online casinos, then Treasures of Varna and Pigs of Fury are the others in the GamingSoft range that take this approach. Samurai Heroes also shares a couple of bonus features with these, notably the 4-levels of progressive jackpots that can be seen above the reels, while free spins and wild substitutions are common extras.
But we also have a mini game where Samurai characters have to hack and slash their way across a map to claim big rewards, turning this into one of the more feature-filled slots in the range. The action is set against a fuzzy image of cherry blossoms and traditional paper walls, while a faint image of waves in classic Japanese style is on the reels, giving the whole thing a restrained design that contrasts nicely with the colourful cartoon symbols.
Joining the Heroes
Samurai Heroes is a 5-reel game, where symbols are in 3 rows and 25 paylines run from left to right. Punters will need 3 of a kind across a line on connected reels to get a win in normal play and can start playing for real cash from just 0.25 per spin. Free Samurai Heroes video slots are also available, which is a good way to learn the game beforehand.
Symbols include a paper fan that’s valued at 4x the line stake when it’s on reels 1, 2 and 3 of a payline, while 4 of these pays 12x and 5 are worth wins of 50x. Crossed swords, a deadly-looking throwing star and a fighter’s mask are worth more, and the high-value symbols consist of the heroes themselves.
We have a sumo wrestler who returns up to 200x the line stake, a leaping ninja warrior who will pay out prizes of up to 350x, the colourful geisha girl is valued at a maximum of 600x and if the leader of the gang stops right across a payline, the top award of 1,250x is paid out. These last 2 symbols are also worth small wins when they stop on just reels 1 and 2, but as we shall see, there are lots of other ways to get a prize from this slot machine.
Wild Winnings
A pagoda building set against stormy seas is a wild symbol that may only land on reels 2, 3 and 4, but when it does, it becomes an expanding wild that fills the whole reel, helping to complete extra winning combinations by substituting for other symbols.
It’s accompanied by nice animations of waves and a rising sun behind the building that’s a good indication of the care with which this slot machine has been crafted.
Free Spins and Bonus Games
The cherry blossom tree is a scatter symbol that leads to free spins when it’s in any 3 or more places at once, with 3 of them triggering 10 spins, 4 scatters will start 20 bonus games and any 5 or more will see 30 spins playing out. Although there are no special symbols or multipliers in effect, having up to 30 bonus games should be more than enough to get a few wins in before the round is finished.
The other bonus game is quite special and starts when the traditional gate symbol stops on reels 1, 2 and 3. Players are shown a map with 4 opponents on it and the aim is to get the lead samurai across to the other side, defeating each bad guy along the way until there’s a big coin win to cash out.
Progressive Jackpot Feature
The values of the Mini, Minor, Major and Grand jackpots are in view above the reels and spinners will see them gradually rising as a small percentage of all wagers, across all GamingSoft slot machines, is put aside. The smiling samurai jackpot symbol needs to be seen on reels 1, 2 and 3 to start the round, which takes place on a second screen, filled with 12 red lanterns.
A click on each reveals one of the jackpot levels and once 3 of the same type has been found, the prize is awarded. In common with other casino slot machines in this range, only players on the maximum stakes will qualify for 100% of a jackpot, which goes down to just 10% at the low limit bets, but these can still be decent amounts, especially at the Major and Brand levels.
