Throwback Thrills: Classic Slot Game Reviews

Slot games sure have come far in their evolution. They began as physical machines you played on a single pay line, with three rows of symbols. This game consisted of fruit symbols and letters, sometimes bar symbols or bells. You had to actually travel out to your local casino, or local pub to play them. Still, they proved themselves to be an overnight phenomenon, and slot games spread throughout the world like a virus offering endless popularity. Of course, since then slots have changed significantly. Nowadays, slot games feature many immersive elements, such as short videos and animations that transport you into whatever story, era or theme the game is trying to portray. These games are flashy, and fun, and often come with many pay line options, huge wagering ranges and numerous special features.

Despite all of this, it's hard to beat the appeal of a classic game. Some of us would rather play a retro throwback instead of enjoying a modern game for numerous reasons. If you prefer classic slots, this article is for you. We're going to review some of the best classic slots that are still available to play online. Whether or not these classic slots just hold nostalgia for you, or whether you're a young player who is just curious and wants to try out something different, you're bound to find a few games within this list worth giving a try for free! Remember, most online casino games are available in demo mode. Back in the day, classic slot machines were referred to as one-armed bandits. Nowadays, the modern interpretation of this machine is a little different. This list is filled with the kind of games you would have found in your favorite casino on a trip to Vegas! Nowadays, we can enjoy those Vegas thrills without leaving the comfort of our own home.

Wild Diamonds

Wild Diamonds offers a balanced pay table filled with fruit symbols, along with a diamond symbol! This is a medium volatility slot game that offers a high RTP of 97%, which is above average and means the slot overall pays out 97% of the time. The diamond symbol is the most valuable symbol on the game board. This is a typical slot for the software provider, Amatic. The classic design means they opted out of flashy animations and stuck with a traditional, colorful game appearance. The background is violet, and the fruit symbols offer more color and personality. As you spin the reels, classic slot sounds can be heard. The double bar symbols pay the most when it comes to the regular symbols, followed closely by the single bar and the bells, and the fruits pay out the least, with the cherries, oranges and plums being the least valuable symbols. The special symbol is the diamond, which operates as a wild and will substitute for other elements on the board. The diamond pays out 5x, 50 and 200x your bet, depending on how many of them you land. This classic machine also comes with a risk game, which you can use to increase your chances of winning. Just catch a winning line and press the 'gamble' button to begin the risk round. You can gamble using either the color card game, where you basically guess whether you'll land a red or a black card. You can also play the suit game, where you have to pick one of the four suits.

Burning Wins

One thing you should expect from this list is probably a lack of theme variety. Classic slots rarely stray from offering fruit symbols and lucky numbers. However, every game is still different from the past. Burning Wins is played on five pay lines, and is another nostalgia laced good time. This is a high risk game title though, there aren't any bonus games and no gamble feature. However, this is how many classic slots are, so in some ways it's one of the most old fashioned options on our list. It was developed by the software company Playson. While Playson is still a newer company compared to the likes of Microgaming, it's easy to see the appeal of their games. After all, they're known for their innovative game titles. This particular title is timeless. The game is played against a bright purple 3x3 matrix, and all of the expected symbols make an appearance. The graphics are 3D, so the look of the actual slot is still modern. There's refreshing looking fruit, golden bells, bar symbols and sevens. The slot game may be purposefully minimalist, but that doesn't mean it's ugly!

The gameplay is simple enough. Just place your bet on the reels and try and land three matching symbols across the pay lines. You can find all of the information about the payouts listed in the pay table section, and it's easy to adjust your bet mid-game if necessary. They have low paying fruit symbols along with cherries symbols that pay out 35x your bet and watermelons that pay out 75x your bet. The bars, bells and triple sevens are the higher paying symbols, which is what you should expect from a classic slot machine. The top jackpot is 300x your line bet.

Cash Machine

The next classic slot on our list is visually a little different than the others. This game takes place on a virtual version of a physical slot machine, and is primarily focused on providing you with a computer version of a real slot machine experience. You spin three reels, and play across a single pay line. There are blank symbols that pop up as you play, which prevent you from always winning cash in the way a classic slot machine would have. Along with blanks, Cash Machine contains 5x, 10x and zeros as symbols. The wagering range is wide, as you can bet as little as 1 to 100 credits. There are also special features, such as the Zero Respin feature and the Red Respin feature. This slot was developed by the company Everi and is a banknote inspired slot design. Every time you spin on these reels, you'll be taunted by the sound of cash counting. If you land a diamond symbol on this game, it means you've hit a blank, which is very different from the previous two slots I listed above! This game offers 32 total possible winning combinations and the maximum obtainable prize is 10,500 credits.

If you manage to trigger a Red Respin or Zero Respin, you'll be happy. The Red Respin feature can be triggered completely randomly after spins that show a winning reel stop. The reels that host a blank spot will respin one more time and maybe reveal a number instead of a blank. You could even land two respins in a single spin. However, keep in mind this feature is unavailable if you bet the minimum bet. The Zero Respin is triggered after losing spins that contain a single zero. The reels without the zeros will respin once and give you another opportunity to land a win. Your bet level is the determining factor here, though. If you bet a single credit, the feature will not be active.