THE TOP 10
A subjective list of the top 10 games launched at the fall trade show
By Frank Legato
For 42 years, I’ve covered the evolution of the slot machine, from its original three-reel mechanical format through the big themes of the 1990s to the best of the multi-line video slots in today’s market.
Every year, I’m the first outside of the manufacturers to see many of the new slot games launched at the annual Global Gaming Expo, the central U.S. trade show for the casino industry. Every year, several of those manufacturers ask me what my favorite games were that were launched at the G2E show.
I have my subjective answers to that question every year, so I’ve always felt it was best to lay those opinions out for you, the casino customers, in the November issue of Casino Player each year.
Please note that other than No. 1 (and No. 2 in this case), this list is not intended as a specific ranking of the top games. But here are my favorites from this year’s crop of new slot games.
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Fun House • Light & Wonder
This game, presented on the 11-foot-tall Cosmic Sky cabinet, gets my vote for Best of Show. Light & Wonder pulled out all the stops in presenting a larger-than-life collection of highly entertaining bonus events based on the circus/carnival fun-house attraction. It is clever, funny and totally immersive. Throw the ball into the clown’s mouth to trigger a hold-and-spin bonus enhanced by one of the metamorphic circus characters. Don’t miss this one.
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Just Married Buried • Incredible Technologies
Here’s a close runner-up, if not co-winner, as Best of Show. This is a fantastic game—intricate graphics and hilarious animated sequences bring us the tale of a zombie couple on their honeymoon. During the base game, “Zombride” scatter symbols send coins up to the car of “Buried Couple,” to trigger a bonus sequence enhanced with any of a variety of side bonus events, each funny and graphically compelling. In one bonus victory celebration, the “Zombride” and “Groombie”do funky 1960s dance moves that will definitely make you laugh.
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Queen • IGT
With this game, IGT applies the expertise that brought us the fabulous Whitney Houston slot game to one of the legendary bands of rock, Queen. The game features four bonuses—each linked to one of the four members of Queen—along with video and audio clips of the band in performance, all presented in intricate detail on the towering Summit75 cabinet. The game features 10 chart-topping Queen hits, including “We Are the Champions,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Don’t Stop Me Now” and more.
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Rakin’ Bacon! Ultra • AGS
AGS continues to add clever new twists to its biggest hit game franchise, and this is no exception With base titles Squeallionaire and Bankrollers, at the heart of the games are four collection pots represented by “Cornsquealius,” the animated gold piggy bank that serves as the game’s mascot. The different-sized pigs representing the pots are stacked over the reels with the largest one on the top. As cash-on-reels symbols send coins to the pigs, they squish together, with the largest one weighing down the smaller pigs, who react with grunts and sweat in hilarious animation. Any one cash-on-reels symbol can trigger one or more enhanced free-spin bonuses in a thoroughly entertaining delivery of the familiar theme.
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Spooky Link • Aristocrat Gaming
This is a brilliant mash-up of characters originally seen in the hit games Mo’ Mummy, Go Ghost and Yo Yeti, each containing a spooky but funny game character hosting the bonus events. The new offering is a group of three sister games. Mo’ Magic features a witch; So Scary, a vampire; and Wo’Wolfie, a wolf. The Hold & Spin feature is in a “win-zone” format, with all symbols that land in the floating “Cash Collect” box paying. There are three collection pots, with the middle pot identified by the main game character. Each provides its own style of enhancement to the Hold & Spin bonus. The bonuses are delivered with funny cartoon animation of a familiar character.
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Top of the Deck Poker • IGT
This is a particularly subjective selection. As everyone knows, I love video poker, and I’m always up for one of IGT’s inventive video poker variations that give you a bonus feature for an extra buy-in, while not touching the actual game or its pay table. The best of the bunch this year is Top of the Deck Poker. The game adds a random multiplier linked to the first card dealt. When the feature is active (for a three-credit or five-credit bonus bet), one in six-to-10 games will add a multiplier ranked according to the first card dealt, with all Aces and face cards worth 10X. This latter feature increases the chances of receiving a 10X multiplier to more than 38 percent when triggered.
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Showtime • Gaming Arts
Gaming Arts is launching a game with a unique look—it is presented with completely black-and-white imagery, with a couple of important exceptions. Showtime Hollywood and Showtime Las Vegas take the player into the old-timey black-and-white vibe of the ’40s and ’50s, with a lady character in Hollywood and a male character in a Las Vegas club. Each game displays the game character next to a black-and-white bonus wheel at the top of the monitor above the reels. When a wheel bonus is triggered, the wheel comes to life in a splash of color that pops from the black-and-white scene. Concentric wheels lead to jackpots, multipliers up to 100X and more.
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Legendary Hammer • Zitro
I love the action, animation and sound of the bonus round in this game. It’s a mix of two successful Zitro titles, Legendary Sword and Mighty Hammer. Legendary Hammer is a three-pot game with intense graphics communicating each of three pot enhancements—Lightning, Thunder and Storm—displayed as pots of gems that pile up toward the top of the monitor. One or more of the pots trigger a main Bonus Link hold-and-spin feature, beginning on a three-by-five reel array with two locked rows above. Reaching thresholds in the number of cash symbols collected unlocks each of the top two rows—usually with some cash-on-reels symbols already in place. Enhancements crash to the screen in several different features. Fun game.
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Banana Bash • Eclipse Gaming Systems
This is the follow-up to last year’s hit Banana Bash—a brand extension with two tropical island-themed base games, Banana Bash Sunrise Stack and Banana Bash Sunset Shakes. The familiar monkey character from the original game hosts the Sunrise Stack version, and the Sunset Shakes version features a new character—a laid-back orangutan in a Hawaiian shirt. Each performs an entertaining bit in a central hold-and- spin bonus triggered by one of four pots. “Flambe,” “Pie” and “Split” pots are carried over from the original game, with the fourth pot unique to each new title. One bonus has the monkey stacking 18 pancakes for a growing cash prize; another has the orangutan mixing up cash-on-reels prizes in a blender. Another fun game.
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Dracula Rising • Light & Wonder
You can’t miss with the games from Light & Wonder’s Universal Monster series, particularly in this format, the LightWave presentation that backs game events with a synchronized LED screen, and games themselves on the big Jumbo Horizon cabinet. It’s a compelling visual presentation. Like other games in the Universal Monster game family, prizes in the bonus round zap from the “head shot” of the monster—in this case, Dracula—to an overhead prize board with a lightning bolt that animates while the prize is being awarded. It is particularly entertaining in the LightWave format, with the giant Dracula head on the backing canvas reacting in concert with the character on the screen. Great stuff.
