Lantern Festival Slot
When discussing new Vegas slots it is almost impossible for any discussion on the subject not to feature industry giants WMS at some point, indeed I don’t think my visits to Vegas would be complete without a few hours on their latest releases.
With all the online play it would be easy to forget land based casino players but WMS have held firm in this area and it seems every year they release more great innovations aimed at keeping the live casino players games as advanced (if not more so in some cases) as their online counterparts creations.
As so many of these games are not available in online format this further gives that special edge to playing in Vegas, a feeling you are playing games exclusively made for the spiritual home of gamblers everywhere.
Lantern Festival is part of a trio of games released on the company’s latest Blade platform which incorporate their new expanded wild ‘Extreme Symbols’ and a further bonus round feature increasing the standard 40 line 5 reel game to 80 paylines for the duration of the bonus free spins.
Theme
No big shocks here, the game shows its Asian theme credentials right from walking up to the machine. Though the console itself is modern and ergonomic with player comfort clearly at the forefront of developer’s minds, the physical fixed graphics are the historical authentic deep reds and golds so often associated with the land of the rising sun.
The graphics are of course silky smooth as expected and the 3D visuals are simply but stunningly rendered whilst the music is a traditional and authentic instrumental offering. This is a game which as with other WMS titles is as much a pleasure to look at as it is entertaining to play.
Symbolism is heavily based around the Chinese lantern festival, this visual feast has marked the end of the lunar New Year for over two thousand years in Chinese culture and the lanterns symbolize the people letting go of their past selves and receiving new ones. You will find classic dragons, wooden flutes, lanterns and more on screen in play.
Features
Outside of the games standard 5 reel, 40 payline display, the big draw here is the Extreme symbols. These symbols are stacked wilds larger than the display itself which replace all other symbols except the golden envelopes which initiate the bonus free spins.
3 or more scattered bonus symbols trigger the bonus round.
- 5 scattered bonus symbols grants 20x the total bet and 50 free spins.
- 4 scattered bonus symbols grants 10x the total bet and 20 free spins.
- 3 scattered bonus symbols grants 2x the total bet and 10 free spins.
Lantern festival also features the WMS bonus guarantee so that when max lines are played, the Free Spin Bonus is guaranteed to award a minimum of 10x the total bet. Any bonus which ends with less than that is automatically increased to 10x total bet at the end of the round. Not enough? Well you also get the WMS ‘Wager Saver’. If your credit level falls below the minimum bet for a game you get the option to wager your remaining bank in order to win enough to spin one more time, and place one more bet – a last chance without reloading to shoot for a win without reloading.
Summary
With a broad feature array, bonuses and classic theme this looks to be a sure fire hit on the casino floor for many gaming seasons to come and should add well to the other WMS offerings in this arena.
