What is it about animation movies causing trauma? They’re supposed to be light and fun, right? I was well into my twenties when Big Hero 6 came out, and the moment Tadashi died still haunts me. I really want to introduce my daughter to Baymax, but that scene is worse than Mufasa getting killed in The Lion King.
This preamble about my animation-induced trauma is really just a way to introduce the world-building they did for Big Hero 6. San Fransokyo was beautiful, and it sucks that we never got to return… or did we? I’m not saying the city from Push Gaming’s Samurai’s Katana slot is inspired by San Fransokyo, but it sure gave me the same vibes.
Welcome back
Samurai’s Katana slot features two different wilds. The standard wild symbol will substitute for other symbols to complete winning combinations. Then there’s the stacked wild that will appear stacked four symbols high. The stacked wilds will only appear on reels two, three, and four in the base game. During a round of free spins, stacked wilds can appear anywhere on the reels.
Instant win prizes will appear as bronze, silver, or gold coins with face values. These symbols will pay out when two wild symbols combine with one of these symbols to complete a payline going either left to right or right to left. Unsurprisingly, gold instant win coin symbols will feature the most lucrative face values.
The slot’s free spins feature will be triggered with either standard scatter symbols or gamble scatter symbols. When it’s triggered with the latter, you’ll be given the choice to either collect your spins or gamble them. If you collect, you’ll be given the base number of free spins. If you gamble, you risk losing your free spins.
At the start of a round of free spins, stacked wilds will be placed on reels two and four. The multiplier meter that appears to the left of the reels will be set based on the awarded free spins prize. With each spin, the stacked wilds will nudge down one space. Any completed winning combination will receive the global multiplier. For every five nudges, the global multiplier value will increase by one space on the multiplier meter. The reels will continue to spin until all stacked wilds disappear from the reels.
If you’re not keen on battling your way to a round of free spins, you can select to purchase one. The slot’s buy bonus feature gives you a number of options to choose from.
Is Samurai’s Katana slot fantastic or forgettable?
Samurai’s Katana slot offers a max multiplier of 10,000x your bet. This means that if you bet at the $30 a spin max, you’ll have a shot at winning up to $300,000. If $30 a spin is a little rich for your balance, betting starts from just $0.10. The slot features high volatility, which means the gameplay will trend away from small, consistent wins and towards far less frequent big wins. The slot features an RTP of 96.4%.
The official description of Samurai’s Katana slot on the Push Gaming website is “a dystopian future, where cyborg killers are bolstered by the latest tech and their skills are honed by practicing the way of the samurai.” There is almost nothing dystopian about this slot. Plus, when the Oni mask you use is almost a carbon copy of the one worn by the villain from Big Hero 6, you further dilute that dystopian angle. I think if they’d gone the darker route on the same lines as something like Alita: Battle Angel, they would have had a better shot at hitting the brief. That being said, only nerds like me look to see what the developer is going for when creating their latest slot.
As a standalone product, I got some serious Big Hero 6 vibes with a touch of Cyberpunk 2077. It’s definitely a combination that I loved and that had a lot of potential. I just wish they’d leaned in to the narrative a bit more and maybe given a cut scene or two. That being said, the graphics were great, and the bonus features were interesting and plentiful. This one gets a seven out of ten, thanks to its missed potential.
If you’re looking for a few other fun titles from Push Gaming, I recommend checking out Land of Zenith and DJ Fox.
