Chief's Fortune Slots
Though still a classic slot machine by anyone's definition, there's no denying that Chief's Fortune is a significant upgrade on its predecessor, Chief's Magic, thanks to its vastly improved graphics, additional wild feature and unique bonus round.
If you read our review of the other slot in Microgaming's Chief series, you'll know that we were left underwhelmed by the game's overly basic design and the lack of any engaging aspects, but in Chief's Fortune the studio have rectified these issues and created the game Chief's Magic should have been; even throwing a dash of humour into the slot to create a far more engaging player experience.
Bigger and better
Though essentially the same game as Chief's Magic in terms of its user interface, players will notice that every aspect of Chief's Fortune has been tweaked to make it bigger and better. As was the case with its predecessor, all information in the game is condensed onto one screen, with both the reels and the three payout tables – which increase in value the more you wager – all instantly viewable.
Chief's Fortune also features the same number of adjustable buttons as the last game, with players able to play for between one and three coin sizes and a wide range of fixed betting amounts. The game's top jackpot is a whopping 2,000 coins, but as in Chief's Magic, you'll only be able to achieve this payout when playing at the maximum coin size, with 1,000 and 500 available at the lower levels.
Where the slot differs from the one before it, however, is that the chief symbol is now a wild that can be substituted for any regular icon on the game's 3 reels and there are also special arrow symbols that can be used to trigger a bonus feature when they appear on the slot's central payline.
New lick of paint
In the same way that Chief's Magic's gameplay has been given a significant upgrade in Chief's Fortune, so too has its visuals. Once fairly basic and lacking in colour, the chief now looks resplendent in his ceremonial headdress and the game's background has been given a complete re-design to swap the non-descript mountain range for a Native American village packed with tepees.
Though the symbols are essentially the same, these too have been given a new lick of paint to make them more visually striking, with the plain black BAR logos now featuring an orange border and even the traditional red lucky seven icon getting an Indian makeover. The sounds, admittedly, are much the same as before, but given this is fairly typical for a retro slot machine, that's not a huge surprise.
The addition of a bonus round provides a nice distraction from the regular visuals and sees players taken to a new screen where they must dress the chief for the rain dance. Featuring items of clothing from bunny slippers to hi-tops and traditional Native American headdresses to football helmets, this adds a touch of humour to proceedings and enables players to win up to 600 coins.
Dressed to impress
As mentioned above, despite being a classic slot machine, Chief's Fortune does feature a special bonus round that is triggered whenever an arrow icon appears on each space of the game's single active payline. When this happens, players are transported to a new screen where they must choose what items of clothing the chief will wear to the rain dance in a bid to stop the impending drought.
Like everything else in the game, doing this is incredibly simple as players must simply click four cards to unveil a random item of clothing, with three paytables at the right of the screen revealing how much each accessory is worth. Naturally, the highest value combination is dressing the chief from head-to-toe in full Native American garb, with each individual item being worth 150 coins.
The new chief
Whereas Chief's Magic was a largely disappointing title, Chief's Fortune improves on it in nearly every aspect. The slot retains the classic charm that will attract fans of retro gaming machines, but also adds a bonus round to appeal to the more modern breed of video slot player. Couple that with vastly improved graphics, more valuable payouts and substitute wilds to help you create more winning combinations and there really is no reason to go back to playing the game's predecessor.
