With so much incredible technology attaching to every aspect of our working and social lives, it’s perhaps not too much of a surprise that sometimes we just want to enjoy something a little… old-fashioned.
Take computer and console games as a fine example. Software and hardware, combined with lightning-fast internet speeds (usually!), have led to the most amazingly lifelike games. No longer do you need to play alone – you can jump right into vast multiplayer games online.
But, despite all this, folks like to go retro once in a while. Have you hankered after playing Pong? You can, or Space Invaders. They are as old as the hills, well, the 1980s actually. The point is that these two-dimensional, blocky graphic games still hold a place in our hearts. And we still think NES games are classics, 40 years on.
Some modern games embrace this seemingly second-rate graphic experience – Minecraft, anyone? And it’s not just traditional computer games where this phenomenon is catching on. In the highly competitive world of online gambling, slots have cottoned on to an unlikely market.
Retro Riches for Retro Gamers
If you thought slot games were simple things where you pressed a button to line up three of the same bars or fruits, you’ve missed a trick. Modern slot machines are incredibly rich in content, with video, layers of gameplay, booming cinematic sound – it’s all high-tech, and quite necessary in a crowded market these days.
Yet, like computer games, you can go all retro with the appropriately-named Retro Riches game from High 5 Games. Not only does it look like something from the 1980s, but it is also actually like no other slot machine you’re ever likely to play. There are no reels and rows or wild symbols that you experience elsewhere.
Instead, Retro Riches features a backdrop of random space-themed images you might have seen first when you were a kid. In the center of a screen is a 2400-dot pixelated pad. When you press play, random shapes fall from above. While most miss the board entirely, some will fit into the pixelated pad, scoring you a prize. The sound effects are like something from the early days of gaming, too. In fact, the whole thing is like a weird game of Tetris.
Once you get your head around the fact that this old-school game is or is not a slot machine, you can begin to enjoy some of its little quirks. For example, the more you play, the more you level up and release more shapes to try and snare in your gaming pad. You can also win some free spins by landing some of the star shapes. It’s curious to call them free spins, as you might see on a normal slot, but that’s how High 5 Games describes it.
Just how retro looking is it, and unlike other slots? If you have a look at a typical online casino and view its selection of slots, you will see exactly what we mean. For example, had you heard of the Megaways slot mechanic? This is a modern hi-tech addition to slot games like Bonanza Megaways or Twin Spin Megaways.
Bonanza Megaways. Source: STS Casino
Rather than having to line up identical symbols on specific “paylines” on successive reels, you can win by landing the same symbol anywhere on consecutive reels. Add in the fact that some reels can have many more symbols than others, and you can see you get many more ways to win. How many more? Get this – 117,649 ways to win on any particular spin of the reels, which is quite mind-boggling.
Famous Names at the Heart of the Action
Other popular modern slots use video graphics and are incredibly atmospheric. They might use famous people in licensed games, like Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen, Ozzy Osbourne Video Slots, or Guns N’ Roses Video Slots from NetEnt – win on the latter, and you really will be in Paradise City.
Retro Riches is available at many online casinos, so if you fancy a bit of retro gaming with a difference, you can give it a try. Then, once you have experienced old school, you might want to jump on one of the modern, all-singing, all-dancing slot games.
Perhaps this has also inspired you to seek out your old favorite Space Invader game? Or perhaps you were an Asteroids fan? Ah, the days when these arcade-style games made your fingers bleed from over-enthusiastic button pressing. As ever, do everything in moderation.
