Elementals Pokies
Superheroes are all the rage these days, with films based on Batman, Iron Man, Captain America and more making billions at the box office. While there are already pokies themed around these characters, Microgaming have taken the decision to invent their own group of heroes, who have been given the name of the Elementals.
Looking suspiciously like the Fantastic Four, these guys represent earth, air, fire and water, and make up the highest value symbols of this 5 reel, 20 payline pokie, that has bonus rounds like free spins, multipliers and a gamble game that can multiply each win amount over and over.
Anyone who remembers 1980’s cartoons like He-Man and Thundercats will instantly recognise the style of Elementals, with a distinctly retro appearance to the symbols. But it actually looks pretty cool, so that isn’t a criticism at all, and the overall theme of a made-up superhero team is carried over to the wild and scatter symbols as well.
One thing that’s a little disappointing is that Microgaming haven’t expanded on the idea by adding a bad guy, or super weapons or even an invisible jet or something, as the lower value symbols consist of basic items like oranges, cherries, watermelons and so on. Even the high card symbols would have been preferable, as at least players would automatically know which ones are valued lowest to highest.
Elementals
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A Look at the Paytable
A look at the paytable reveals all, with information about how much will be won each time examples of the same symbol stop across an active payline, running from left to right. Cherries pay from 5x the value of a coin per line when 3 appear, up to 60x for a full line of 5, while the orange is the highest value fruit symbol, being worth from 8x to 150x.
Then the 4 Elementals are up, with the wind character being worth 10x, 40x or 200x when players manage to land 3, 4 or 5 of her across an active line, while next up are the earth and water Elementals, and the one representing fire is the most valuable, paying between 3x and 300x the coin per line amount when 2 to 5 of him appear in the right spots.
To help players land more winning spins, there’s a wild symbol, with each letter of the word ‘wild’ representing one of our heroes. It comes to the rescue by acting as any other symbol, except the scatters, to help complete winning lines, and for a nice extra treat it doubles the value of any combination that it finishes.
There’s a crystal ball of lightening object that acts as a scatter symbol. Quite what it’s meant to represent is anyone’s guess, but it looks ok, and as it pays out some decent prizes maybe we shouldn’t worry about what it is. Just 2 of them landing anywhere following a spin is enough to pay out 1x the total bet amount, while 3, 4, or 5 of them are worth 2x, 15x and 200x the amount staked per spin.
For some reason there’s a second scatter symbol that doesn’t actually have a value of its’ own, but instead just triggers a free spins round. This is a big ‘E’ which is the emblem of the gang and when it lands on reels 1 and 5 at the same time, 20 free spins will commence. During these, any wins will be doubled in value and should the E land on reels 1 and 5 again, an additional 20 games will be added to any remaining ones.
Like many Microgaming pokies, Elementals has a Gamble round which can be played following a winning spin. This is a simple case of deciding if a playing card will be revealed as red or black, doubling the last win if correct and having the option to double again, or losing the win for a wrong guess. These rounds are notorious for taking your money, so playing them with bigger wins could be a bit risky, but for a fun way to potential boost a smaller payout, this could be worth a punt.
The ‘Avengers’ of Superhero Pokies, or More Howard the Duck?
It’s an inspired idea to invent a superhero team rather than buy in the rights to an existing one, and Elementals is presented in a pleasing comic style. If there’s any criticism to be thrown at it, the fruit symbols are something of a let-down, while the free spins game may have prizes doubled, but the reels are standard, with no extra symbols to boost the chances of winning.
Overall however, this game is a quality addition to the Microgaming range that can now be found at the many casinos which use their software.