Blazing Jolly Slot Machine
Austrian games developer Novomatic has just about cornered the market in classic slot machines with a retro feel. The team seem to specialize in games that fill the reels with fruit symbols, BAR icons, bells and red 7s, and they have thrown all of these into the Blazing Jolly video slot. They have also added in a laughing Joker character called Jolly, who will be familiar to many players as he’s seen across multiple Novomatic slots.
When you land this happy chap in the right places, not only will he be able to act as other symbols to complete combinations for you, but he can also treat you to a free spins bonus round. These are not all the tricks up his sleeve though, as anyone lucky enough to fill all five reels and 40 paylines with the Jolly symbol at once will collect a huge jackpot award. Happy days indeed!
Of course, with so many extra features plus the option to gamble winnings, this isn’t a back-to-basics retro slot machine. But anyone who likes the style and potential for big rewards should check it out at any of our recommended Novomatic online casinos. You may be wondering why it’s called ‘Blazing’ Jolly. The answer is simply down to the Jolly symbol being overlaid onto a burst of flames, so don’t expect elaborate animations of fire and blazing fruits. You can, however, expect lots of winning spins, as this action-packed slot has a high return-to-player percentage and is fully licensed to guarantee fair play.
Retro Rewards
Novomatic have got the whole traditional fruit machine style down to a fine art, with all the symbols designed to appeal to fans of classic games. The black reels have a silvery surround, and there’s a nice background image of stars and clouds. Above the reels, you will see a rising progressive jackpot value, which is yours when the reels are filled with the Joker.
In the base games, prizes are claimed when three or more of the same symbol stop across a line from left to right – so there are no surprises there. Anyone new to playing online casino slot machines can test it out with the free Blazing Jolly video slots here. But if you do have some experience, the easy, intuitive gameplay will present no problems.
That said, a quick review of the pay table is always a good idea before you get started on a slot. Cherries pay a small prize of 20 coins when landing on the first two reels, and up to 400 coins when landing right across a payline. Plums, lemons and oranges each return the same, but they will need to be on at least reels one, two and three to pay anything. Grapes, watermelons and bells are valued at up to 800 coins, and the green BAR icon pays up to 1,000. A red 7 is worth a high limit of 1,500, but it’s our friendly Jolly who pays the best prizes.
Jackpot Jokers
Land Jolly on reels one and two to collect 50 coins, but land him right across a payline and you win 2,000. As we’ve said, filling all four rows of symbols on all five reels with the Jolly instantly awards the progressive jackpot, which can be worth millions of coins. You’ll only qualify for 100% of the jackpot at the maximum stakes. Anyone at lower bet levels will collect a smaller percentage of the prize based on what they have wagered on the triggering spin. The amount shown above the reels reflects the jackpot paid out at your current bet level.
Unlike most men, Jolly can really multitask. He’s also a wild symbol, able to act as any other to complete combinations, extend a run of winning symbols over more reels, or even do both at once. Any three or more Jolly symbols in any places will also trigger ten free spins. During these bonus spins, any Jolly symbols that appear will be held in place for the remaining free games, which should help you collect more and more wins as they progress. The free spins can’t be retriggered though, so once they have played out, you return to the base games.
Jolly-Good Gambles
In common with other Novomatic slot machines, Blazing Jolly gives you the chance to gamble winnings. You can double the prize with a well-timed click on black or red buttons as a playing card flashes between the colors. But it’s a game of chance, not skill, and it’s just as easy to lose the initial bet as it is to double it. It’s an exciting feature, though, and one that has the potential to turn a small prize into something much bigger.
Choose Your Stakes
Perhaps the biggest issue we have with this slot machine is the relatively high 2.00 per spin entry point if you want all paylines activated. You could in theory activate just one of the 40 lines for a small stake of just 0.05, but then you may have to spin the reels for ages to get a winning combination across it.
Stakes can be raised to the high limit of 200.00 per spin, making this game ideal for mid-to-high rollers, but not so great for casual spinners who are happy with smaller payouts. The Auto button sets the reels spinning on their own for as long as you want, although you can’t gamble wins when this function is active.
More Jolly Slots
If you like this style of game, you won’t have to stray far from the Novomatic range to find plenty more with similar looks and features. The same Jolly character turns up across many of their games, including the Extreme Riches video slot. He’s joined on the five reels and 50 paylines by the exact same fruit, BAR and bell icons. But the main difference is that in the free spins round, instead of locked Jolly symbols, you get rising win multipliers in each of the ten bonus games.
A Fruit Machine Classic
The Blazing Jolly slot is a perfect cocktail of fruit and features. If you like the style and traditional symbols but want more than simply lining them up for wins, then it could be just what you’ve been looking for.
The Jolly Joker is a busy guy, paying out the top prizes, acting as both a wild and scatter symbol, triggering free games, and awarding progressive jackpots. But whenever you see his smiling face on the reels, you could be smiling yourself as he awards a bonus feature. Ready to get jolly?