Hello everyone and welcome to the full review of The Wizard of Oz: Were Not in Kansas Anymore.
This is a game that was created by WMS. This game is very complex with the Tornado feature. First off, this game has a 243 ways to win, so there are no paylines. This is a symbol pay game. Generally on a multi-way game, the paytables are on the lower end, and this game is no different. The one thing this game has going for it, there are no poker symbols (AKQJ10) symbols. This game uses symbols that are well known with the franchise. As you can see below, the lowest paying symbols are; hats, lollipops. baskets, shoes, and so on. The higher paying symbols include the main characters; Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Toto, Scarecrow, and of course Dorothy is the highest character.
There are wilds in this game, which are the Wicked Witches slippers, but they do not appear on the paytable. This is because you cannot get a wild on reel 1. This is a huge downfall to this game, and this effect comes into play more in the bonuses. The progressive symbol is the highest overall at 5000 credits per bet multiple.
The bonus feature for this game is one of the most complex features I have ever seen in a game, so I will do my best to explain this properly. The tornado symbol can show up on any reel, and one of them triggers the respin feature. When triggered, the respin will begin on the screen and scroll in horizontally. Each tornado will cause the reels to slide up, up to 7 reels. I found out that beginning with 3 of them for the respin feature is the best possible scenario. You need a total of 5 tornado symbols to trigger one of the 3 bonuses.
The tornado feature also uses a different set of reels, and will add in certain symbols over others. Some are replaced on the lower reel sets, and others are replaced on the higher reels sets. I have no idea why they do this, only to in effect, give more credits instead of an actual bonus trigger. You may also acquire special bonus boosters during this time, which will enhance your bonus feature.
If you manage to trigger the bonus, the best one is obviously the free spins. The best free spins would be having all 4 bonus boosters. As seen below, The Land of Oz Free Spins awards you 8 free spins. If you manage to get the flying monkey booster, you will get a 2x-5x multiplier for all spins. If you manage to trigger initially with 3 tornados, you automatically receive a 2x multiplier.
If you receive the balloon booster, that will increase the reel height somewhere on reels 1-3.
The other two bonus boosters are the Wicked Witch booster. This will give you 1 or 2 wilds anywhere on reels 2-5. They will not land on a reel that was increased if you have a balloon booster. or if you have a Glinda wild reel.
The final booster is of course Glinda the Good Witch. Unfortunately she does not appear in the base game at all, which has been a staple of the Wizard of Oz games. I think this is a huge mistake by them. In any case, if you manage to obtain this booster she may show up and give you only 1 to 3 wild reels, but not on reel 1. At the bottom of this picture, you will notice it gives you a bonus guarantee of 10x your bet, should you not win more than 10x during the bonus.
The next bonus is called the way up high bonus. This is a bonus where you pick for credits. If you think this is anywhere close to the Wicked Witch bonus from Ruby Slippers then you would be sadly mistaken. You begin at the lowest level and receive 3 picks. As you see below, the credits are by bet multiplier, not by actual bet. This is another huge mistake, and makes this bonus the worst one in the game. For example if you are betting 2.00 per spin which is a 5x bet multiple, on the winged monkey portion, your credit range is .25 to 1.00. Luckily you can move up by picking a credit prize that has a rainbow so you can move up to a slightly better level.
If you get this bonus with any boosters, they award you 1 guaranteed pick at that level. Glinda is the highest level awarding you 50x-500x your multiple. which at 2.00 or 5x is a range of $2.50 or $25.00. Your best opportunity is to have the booster and be lucky enough to pick the highest credit amount while having the best multiplier with your booster as seen below.
The final bonus is the Not in Kansas Anymore feature. This feature is for the multiple progressives that are on top of the cabinet when you sit down. This feature is based around a "tornado" of credit spaces and potential, and I stress potential, progressive spaces. Unfortunately you are not guaranteed a progressive if you land on the space, even at max bet. The chances of receiving a progressive does increase with bet size. There are 7 levels of the tornado that will offer you either credits or a progressive space. Each level increases the amounts as seen below.
As seen above the best spaces to land on are the progressive spaces. They award the highest credits even for not landing one of the many progressives. the bonus boosters in this bonus are interesting. The winged monkey increases the credit prizes by 25,50 or 75 credits.
The balloon booster awards a respin of all of the spaces that landed on a blank. On the respin, there is still a chance on landing on a blank again.
The Wicked Witch booster multiplies the credit prizes by 5 if you land on the green wicked witch progressive, and only that space.
The Glinda booster also multiplies the credit prizes by 5 if you land on the pink Glinda progressive.
I have some comments about this game. This game is housed in the WMS, pinball like cabinet called the Gamefield cabinet. The game has amazing graphics and fans of the Wizard of Oz franchise will enjoy this game. If you sit down to hit big on this game, find a Ruby Slippers instead. Triggering the bonus is very frustrating. I have given this game play at different locations and I seem to trigger the bonus 1 out of every 5 tries. I think a casual slots player will enjoy this game due to the graphics and bonus chances. The seasoned Wizard of Oz player will quickly find out there are many holes in this game compared to previous titles. The bonus you want to get is the free spins bonus with, hopefully, all four bonus boosters. With the four boosters, the chances of getting a good sized win increases. The picking bonus quickly shows its lack of ability with the dismal credit prizes. The progressive bonus is equally as frustrating as getting four tornadoes and not triggering a bonus. You will land on some progressive spaces in this bonus, and will be highly disappointed when it gets sucked away into the darkness, leaving you empty with a small credit award instead.