Shoot! Pokie
Themed around a popular Soccer magazine from the UK, Shoot! is a 5-reel, 50 paylinepokie from Microgaming which should appeal to Soccer fans the world over. Unusually for a game themed around sports, it’s got actual images of famous players from the past including Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, JohannCryuffand George Best, which makes a nice change from similar pokies that have to make do with generic pictures.
This game isn’t all show and no go however, as it comes complete with a hat-trick of bonus features like a trading cards round, free spins and a Magazine Bonus which leads to cash prizes. Even players who are not fans of The Beautiful Game should find enough here to keep them entertained for a few spins, and who knows, maybe they will score the top jackpot of 619,000 coins.
Kicking Off
With a distinct 1970’s – 80’s theme, Shoot! Sees an old Soccer stadium featured as a backdrop to the reels. To emphasize the fact that it’s based on an old magazine a couple of nice touches sees it proudly declare that it’s now in full colour, and next to the title it announces that it was established in 1969.
A set of control buttons give players the option to activate from 1 to all 50 lines, to value coins from 0.01 to 0.10 and have any number from 1 to 20 coins on each line. This gives them an overall bet range from 0.01 to 100.00. There’s also an option to set the reels to spin on autopilot for a set number of times, stopping when they are complete or when enough has been won or lost.
Symbols are made to look like trading cards and are also in keeping with the times, so we see images of meat pies, a rattle, a ball and then several players from the era. Poor old Kevin Keegan is bottom of this particular table, with Maradona, Best and Pele at the top.
Shoot!
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Free Kicks
Other symbols are there to improve the final score for players, with a wild that firstly pays out some of the biggest wins of the game and then if possible, will come on as a substitute for other symbols if that will create a further winning combination.
The Bonus card has also has a couple of positions to play, with big wins paid out when it lands in any places on the reels, not just across a line, while payouts are calculated as multiples of the total bet per spin rather than just the line bet.
Any 3 or more Bonus symbols will also take players to the Trade ‘Em bonus round which sees 12 trading cards lined up from which players need to pick 4 to reveal hidden prizes. These can be cash rewards or they can uncover 2 further bonus games.
The Free Spins card, perhaps unsurprisingly, triggers a free spins game with between 10 and 35 commencing as soon as the symbol is revealed. All wins during this round are doubled, although they can’t be re-triggered and once finished, players are taken back to the Trade ‘Em bonus, unless the spins were found on the final pick.
A Magazine Bonus symbol takes players to a further pick a prize round which sees 12 copies of Shoot! Magazine, from which they will then need to click on in any order for instant cash prizes. They can keep selecting magazines until a red card is shown and the round ends, although consolation prizes are paid for each un-selected magazine, so even finding a red card on the first choice won’t leave them empty-handed.
The Final Whistle
Shoot! Is an outstanding pokie for those who remember Soccer from the 70’s and 80’s, when it was still less about a bunch of millionaires on the pitch and more about the passion for the game.
The fact that it uses real images is a great advantage over most other sports-themed pokies, but it’s not just the way it looks that gives it such an appeal.
With some potentially rewarding bonus rounds to enjoy, players could be in for a high scoresheet when they trigger the bonus games, and it’s nice that they can enter the second round by picking the right trading cards.
Unlike most games where there’s always something that could improve it, this one really does have it all, although anyone who isn’t a Soccer fan might not be too interested in it.