El Luchador Slots
Not content with delivering a simple fighting game, RTG have decided to put a Mexican spin onto their slot machine, delivering us El Luchador. Inside 5-reels and 25 winlines, gamers will battle it out to see who will reign supreme. Better still, you get to watch as the men writhing around wear brightly decorated masks and tiny pants; it’s all good fun.
We’re not big fans of wrestling of any kind (we know, the shock and horror), but we still found ourselves wanting to play this title. This tells us two things: it isn’t as niche as it appears, and that its variance far outweighs its theme. Themed slots are always tough to gauge as they can limit themselves because of their desire to be different and to standout, but that hasn’t happened here.
Playful Banter
The design of this slot machine isn’t one of seriousness, but one of fun - the wrestlers look so buffed up that they’re fake, while the rest of aesthetic is illustrated and cartoony. We like that RTG have taken this approach, for it’s a lot more easier for gamers to engage with. If, and when, you make a theme realistic, you risk getting so many elements wrong that more users turn off than what they do on.
Another element we should draw your attention to is that the grid manages to entice you in without any 3D graphics; this is a flat 2D interface. In an industry where 3D and virtual reality have become a big deal, to go against that trend is to be brave indeed. Fortunately for the company, the aesthetic works and so we’re not put off by the flatness of the visual experience.
The Curtain Falls
If you’ve played Dragon Princess prior to this game, you’re about to have a large bout of deja vu, and the reason why is because of the features. In Dragon Princess there’s a Pearl Pick feature that can randomly happen after every game, and that’s what you get here, only this time it’s called Curtain Pick.
The premise of the round is the same as before: you’re given three options and you pick one of them in order to get your prize. We’ll be honest and tell you now that we never experienced it in El Luchador, but as it’s on the paytable we can assure you that it does exist. Hopefully you’ll have more luck than us and get to experience it plenty of times over. The minimum bet is 0.25, while you can go up to 125.00.
Multiple Wins
El Luchador has another familiar feature which is the Match Multiplier, a random event that can happen after any winning spin. When it appears you’ll be awarded a multiplier worth between x2 and x5, which in turn will make your next win all the juicer. Again, it’s a small feature when compared with interactive levels that have you landing punches, but we enjoy it all the same.
Should you be looking for more depth, there’s always the El Luchador Free Spins to fall back on, arguably the main bonus of this slot machine. Three or more scatters are all it takes to launch you into 15 extra games, with all of them benefiting from a x2 multiplier; these games can then be won again if you generate even more scatters.
Fighting Style
From one fighting style to another we go with the slot machine Ninja Magic, created by Microgaming. This is a 5-reels slot like what RTG delivers, but instead of 25 lines it has a whopping 40, allowing for more opportunities to win. Furthermore, it has a more rigid bonus round than the token extras we keep seeing inside of El Luchador.
In addition to this, the aesthetic is a lot more finished off and more conventional, which those of you of a minimalist disposition may prefer. For us it lacks any personality or individuality, and so we’d always rather play El Luchador than Ninja Magic, but each to their own. As long as you’re happy and gaming, it doesn’t really matter.
Winner!
El Luchador is a winner of a slot machine to us, and just like with Dragon Princess, it’s mainly down to the features. Bonuses are everything to us avid gamers - we want diversity and we want it all the time. Any slot machine that falls short of that marker is readily dropped to the sidelines to make way for better activities.
