Review of Return of Rudolph
It’s time to get ready for the holidays, so why not review a holiday-themed game? With Thanksgiving just around the corner, in no time we’ll be thinking about kisses under the mistletoe, the smell of fresh pine, dealing with drunken family members and holiday crowds. What? You know it’s true . . . so, to take your mind off the good and bad parts of holiday season, and try the Real Time Gaming video slot, “Return of the Rudolph!” “Return of the Rudolph” is a 50 line game with a “tongue in cheek” North Pole theme. In this game, we meet the evil twin of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” who is also the main character of the game. This Rudolph, unlike the original, has an even larger red nose, demonic red eyes, and he wields a bat! No wonder his symbol is wild! Needless to say, I would not want to meet this guy in a dark alley at night. The scatter is a couple of holiday thugs; two colorful, cartoonish characters of some indefinite species. Other graphics include various other holiday themed images. The minimum wager for the game is 50 cents, and the maximum wager is $50.00 per courageous spin for the strong at heart.
The bonus round consists of one of three features, which are triggered by three or four thug scatters appearing anywhere on the pay lines. Five thugs trigger the jackpot (I hear Debbie Gibson singing “Only In My Dreams” and if you know who I’m talking about I know how old you are). During the bonus round, all pays are multiplied by a different multiplier, depending on the feature, and all of the features can be retriggered.
The first feature is the “Santa Strikes Back” feature, a free spins feature which retriggers often, and each time adds one multiplier. The feature can retrigger up to nine times.
The second feature is the “Rudolph’s Rampage,” where a player must choose an elf bearing a gift. The goal here is to quickly choose elves with gifts, because the quicker you find them, the more free spins you get. Gifts can represent free spins, substitutes, or even an expanding wild on every spin during the free game feature.
Last but not least, the “Rudolph’s Revenge” feature offers 7 free spins. If four thugs trigger the feature, the thugs will automatically turn to wilds during free spins. I have never actually seen this happen, but wouldn’t that be so cool?
“Return of the Rudolph” is a really entertaining game that hits the bonus round often. Payouts can be pathetically small, or incredibly large for a 50 cent bet, which is my usual. I’ve received bonus feature payouts of anywhere from nothing, to over $250, which, in my opinion, is a nice payout for half a dollar. This is actually one of my favorite games to play, but I never seem to hit the bonus rounds when I bet higher than 50 cents. If I ever hit the jackpot, which is usually in the tens of thousands, you’ll hear me screaming from wherever you are.
There is absolutely no way to figure out this game, and no particular system that works to improve payouts. The game is considered to have very high volatility, and this has proven to be true with payouts consistently on either extreme. I tend to stick with this particular game a little longer than other games, however, because the bonus does trigger frequently, and you never know when you’ll get that big payout!
As I’ve mentioned before, the newer RTG slots are very colorful, and the graphics are fun and interesting. The audio for RTG games, however, has a far way to go to compete with other casinos, such as Playtech and Microgaming which are no longer available in the United States.
Although I recommend “Return of the Rudolph” as one of my favorite games to play at RTG casinos, I’m sure my experience has differed from that of other players, and of course, this is just my extremely subjective point of view.Please remember, folks: Just like the stock exchange, past performance is in no way indicative of future performance . . . This is all just my opinion!
