Betsoft is mostly known for their 3D cinematographic visual presentation, but they will sometimes deviate from their established recipe with an oddball release. 88 Frenzy Fortune is a good example in that regard, and the first thing you’ll notice is the half-empty reels. It takes some getting used to perhaps, as most players have long since been conditioned to expect reels packed with symbols.
The visual presentation isn’t all that impressive this time, but you’ll see the 3 regular reels burn with red fire per spin, while the 4th bonus reel is engulfed in blue flames. Should 3 matching symbols line up on the single payline, combined with a bonus symbol on reel 4, you’ll benefit from a boosted payout or the Respin feature. That’s the game in a nutshell at least, but you can check out more details below.
Reels 1, 2 and 3 are ‘regular reels’that land pay symbols and/or empty positions. The4th reel is a Bonus Reel, where empty positions and bonus triggers land intermixed. The 4th reel spins together with the 3 regular reels, and you trigger a bonus event if you land a regular win with a bonus symbol on the center position of reel 4.
The bonus reel awardsinstant cash prizes of 8x or 18x your stake, in addition to the regular win, when the orange multiplier symbol hits. Your line win can also be boosted by amultiplier of x2, x5 or x8, when the purple multiplier symbol lines up with a win. Finally, you have the repeat-winsRespins feature.
When a Respin symbol on reel 4 lines up with a regular win, you’re granted a free respin. The original regular win symbols line up again per respin, and the process repeats if you land a new Respin symbol. This can go on forup to 5 respinsat the most, andeach repeat win can be randomly boosted by a multiplier between x1 and x4.
We had plenty of close calls, but as you will see in the 4-minute highlights video below, landing the Respin symbol combined with a win is not something that happens all that often. We got mostly the x2 multiplier boost, but a larger 18x our stake win was landed from the bet multiplier symbol towards the end. Hit the play button below to get an overview of what to expect from this game.
First of all, spinning the reels and seeing so many blank positions all the time is not exactly encouraging. It kind of feels like walking into a supermarket that’s been raided, with only half-empty shelves left. In practice, it makes no difference, of course, as the math model is what it is, but it didn’t leave us with a very good first impression. The2,368xpotential is about as mediocre as this game as a whole, and we’ll probably not be back for more.
The big highlight is supposedly the Respin feature, but as we mentioned above, it does not trigger very often. You’ll mostly grind along getting plenty of dead spins, with occasional top-up feature triggers to keep you going. Without any multiplier boost, the single spin max win is only 296x your stake, but some kind of modifier tends to line up on more wins than not in our experience. The problem is, it’s not really all that exciting when it does, at least not most of the time.
Pros
Cons
88 Fortunes- is a popular asian-themed game from SG, and it comes with 4 jackpots worth up to 2,272x your stake. The volatility is high, and the bonus round comes with only premium symbols for payouts up to 2,761x your stake.
Golden Horns- is another classic and simple release from Betsoft, and it comes with a nicely done asian theme. You get 3 reels and 1 payline here, and the ox horn wild multiplier steals the show. It can boost your winnings with up to x88, and 3 ox wilds guarantees a payout between 576x and 25,344x your stake.
88 Fortunes Megaways- is the steroid-injected follow-up release from Shuffle Master, and the 4 jackpots from the original game are not carried over. Instead, you get an unlimited progressive win multiplier in the bonus round, and it can lead to payouts up to 10,000x your stake.
