Do you remember the glorious days of 8-bit gaming, when the ZX Spectrum was superceded by the likes of the Commodore Amiga and the PlayStation was but a dream for the boffins at Sony? 
Well, if like me, you can recall those heady days of computing when gaming first took a collective hold on the public then you’ll immediately recognise the style and design that is part of the initial appeal of Thunderkick’s exciting new Flame Busters slot.
From the graphics right down to the sound, Flame Busters is not just a game about a trio of Firefighters, it is about bringing to life how gaming used to be back in the glory days of 1986. However at its heart it is also a slot, and don’t be fooled by the retro graphics and charm that oozes from the slot, this is a game with teeth as it is most definitely a high variance game that will appeal predominantly to higher stakes gamers and those that like to try and chase bigger jackpots. Â You can play the slot right now at Bet365 Vegas.
What you have here is a 5-reel slot that offers 243-ways to win. The slots are set out in the shape of a building with three floors (rows) each with a firefighter with a hose poised to douse any errant flames (which we’ll explain more about a little later in the review). You can play from 10p per spin but higher rollers can ramp up the cost to ÂŁ100 per spin. The base game jackpot is a miserly 100 coins, but with all the bonuses it is possible to win a massive 5,280x your stake.
Key Features
The unusual set up of the Fire Busters slot belies what is a tough and interesting slot. On the reels are a number of different low and high value symbols including a number of different coins (which you will find are reminiscent of games like Super Mario Bros), as well as a host of characters including a pirate, wizard, a robot, a goat, Roasty McFry the firefighter and Toasty the station cat. This final symbol is the highest paying standard symbol in the game offering 10 times your stake if you land five across a payline.
There are three other symbols on the slot to take note of and the first is the Fire Symbol which is a mystery symbol. When it appears on the reel it will set one of the position symbols alight and at the end of the spin, the firefighter on that floor of the building will douse the flames (and any other fires will also be put out by the other firefighters) and the symbols will then turn into a randomly selected symbol. This can yield some big value wins when you can hit multiple fire symbols on the reels and land them with other higher value symbols landed from the spin.
The other symbol that can help you land some of the bigger value base game wins (and there aren’t too many of those) is the Wild symbol which is the “W” symbol on the reels. This can substitute for all the high and low value symbols on the reels to help create winning paylines and is more use to you when landed with several Wilds across the reels, which can trigger some better sized base game wins.
During the base game, you can at any time trigger the Fire Drill feature. This is a random bonus and when it starts, you will see between one and five of the low value coin symbols turn into Fire symbols. When this happens they will be extinguished and turn into a different symbol which can offer you a better value win using higher value symbols.
The main feature of the Flame Busters slot however is the Free Spins bonus game and this is triggered when you land three or more of the Alarm Bell scatter symbols anywhere across the reels on a single spin. Land three scatters for 10 spins, four for 15 spins and hit the maximum five alarm bells to receive 20 free spins. Once triggered, your free spins bonus round will start but you need to keep an eye out for the alarm bells reappearing during the bonus round.
If they do, then for every 3 scatters that you collect you will unlock a new floor of the building and this carries with it a bonus of two additional free spins. There are up to five floors to unlock in the building which potentially means that you could unlock an additional 10 free spins on top of those already won, meaning you could get a maximum of 30 free spins if you are lucky.
While the free spins are welcome, when you access new floors of this slot you also access the Coin Ignition feature and this is where the big money in the game can be won. With each floor unlocked, you turn one of the five different coins in the game into a Fire Symbol. Unlock all five and you turn all five coins into the Mystery Fire symbol and of course these can all then transform into a single symbol when they have been extinguished by the firefighters, which can result in the biggest available wins in the game.
How to win at the Flame Busters slot
Don’t be too taken in by the cutesy retro styling of the Flame Busters slot, this is a slot that does pack a punch if you aren’t careful as it is a higher volatile game which can mean wins are few and far between, but when you land a good one, it can pay out handsomely. Patience and good bankroll management are essential to get the best out of this slot, but starting at just 10p per spin, you can at least afford to have a good few spins on the game to get the best out of it.
In truth, the key to winning the better amounts of the Flame Busters slot hinges on triggering that crucial Free Spins bonus game. The base game itself offers a mix of lower value and middle value wins but you are not going to win anything too huge in the base game to be honest as the way the reels are, the odds are always firmly stacked against you.
During free spins though, with those Coins now acting as Wilds as you open up more levels, you can start to hit some very sizeable wins in this portion of the game. The ideal is to get all five levels unlocked and have all five coins Wild and 10 extra free spins, it is when this occurs that you can enjoy some of the mega-sized wins, up to 5280 times your stake, that the Flame Busters slot offers.
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