Dirty Dancing Slot Game
Dirty Dancing Slots is a 5-reel, 50-payline slot machine from IGT Interactive. The game is based on a popular 1987 movie about Johnny and Baby, two youths who fall in love at a lakeside resort in the Catskills. Johnny is a skilled dancer, while Baby is a repressed schoolgirl. Because it's the summer of 1963, Baby's parents believe dancing is a dirty act. They also don't approve of the attention paid to their daughter by the roguish young man played by Patrick Swayze. All comes right in the end, when Johnny and Baby dance in the resort's summer dance competition.
Dirty Dancing Slots is a gaming machine designed mostly for female gamblers. It contains hit music and clips from the movie, which made whole generations of women swoon. The EGM is found in land-based and online casinos. When the slot machine was released in 2011, IGT chief operating office said, "No one will want to put this baby in a corner."
IGT slots are in most casinos in North America and Australia. Given the many countries IGT has operations in, people should be able to find Dirty Dancing Slots on casinos on several continents. On the Internet, most casinos with IGT software should have the game. While prominent online casino sites do not have Dirty Dancing Slots listed among several of the top gaming sites' slots lists, I suspect those lists haven't been updated in a while.
Wheel of Fortune
Double Diamond
Lobstermania
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About Dirty Dancing
The fact is, this is one of the most popular movie franchises of all time. "Dirty Dancing" is a classic 1987 romantic film starring Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, and Broadway legend Jerry Orbach. Those unfamiliar with this movie would be shocked at its impact with audiences both then and now. The movie grossed $214 million and was considered a smash hit, becoming the firm movie to sell 1 million copies on video.
When Dirty Dancing was released, it was a low-budget film with no major stars. Patrick Swayze was the breakout star of the film.
One reason "Dirty Dancing" makes a good slot machine is the movie's soundtrack. The Dirty Dancing soundtrack produced two #1 hits, Golden Globe nominations, and a Grammy Award for Best Duet. The soundtrack contained hits like "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, "She's Like the Wind" by Patrick Swayze, and "Hungry Eyes" by Eric Carmen. The soundtrack also contained hits of the past, such as "In the Still of the Night" by The Five Satins and "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes. These songs are part of the slot machine's soundtrack, too.
"Dirty Dancing" remains a popular franchise in the 21st century. The film's Facebook page has 10,000,000 likes, while it consistently is placed on the Top 10 most-liked entertainment franchises. The movie inspired a successful Broadway version. Lionsgate produced a 2004 prequel named "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights", which was considered a re-imagining by director Guy Ferland.
Kenny Ortega announced a "Dirty Dancing" remake in 2011, but Lionsgate canceled the project in 2012. After announcing it would be made into a TV movie in 2014, that film was again canceled in 2015. At the recent premiere of "Hail, Caesar!" Channing Tatum addressed rumors he might be starring in a remake. While Tatum said he knew nothing about such plans, he also said he would definitely be interested in such a project. Fans have to expect a remake will be made one day, whether they want a remake or not.
Coin Denominations, Symbols & Multipliers
Dirty Dancing Slots is designed with penny players in mind. The lowest denomination on the game is 1 cent, meaning you can max out the bet with a 50-cent wager. The max wager is 250 coins, so a $2.50 wager activates a small progressive jackpot on the machine.
The reel symbols on Dirty Dancing Slots are pictures of Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach (Baby's father), a microphone, lipstick, a watermelon, a gramophone, and dancing feet. When the game cuts to the bonus game, key clips from the movie are shown. Soundtrack music plays throughout the game.
The random wild symbol is separate from all other wilds on the game. This can pop up anywhere on the reels and substitutes for other symbols. This is a basic feature on most 5-reel video slots titles these days, but it's appreciated.
Dirty Dancing Slots has several multipliers throughout the game. This includes special multipliers on the Free Wheel Bonus feature, as well as various multipliers spread throughout the three bonus games.
Free Wheel Bonus Game
The "Free Wheel" is a spinning wheel bonus game which unlocks other big coin opportunities. The Free Wheel is a vertical wheel which is similar to the bonus wheel on Bally Technologies slot machines. If Bally's slots aren't familiar to you, the Free Wheel looks like a virtual representation of the big wheel on "The Price Is Right" TV show.
When you spin the wheel, you can unlock one of any number of bonus features, including the "Time of My Life" bonus, the "Staff Quarters" bonus, and "Johnny's Mambo" bonus. Free spins, bonus coins, and other winning options also appear on the wheel.
The bonus which triggers the five-in-one progressive is called "Time of My Life". When it hits, a clip from the hit duet of the same name by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes play. At this point, you'll have a chance to win one of five different payouts. The lowest is the likeliest, but anyone making the max wager has a chance at the big progressive jackpot.
A grid full of old phonograph records is show. Pick records to reveal the prize. If three "Time of My Life" icons are revealed, you win a progressive. Three Neil Kellerman icons end the bonus game.
Johnny's Mambo bonus requires players to select specific dance moves from Johnny. Each of the moves offers a different advantage. When you select "Life", this increases the size of your win. "Save the Dance" cancels an icon that would end the bonus mode. Other options are more straightforward, such as the 3x multiplier on your next winning spin. After these are chosen, players see a screen with 25 charms on them (like the charms Baby wore). Select charms to stay alive. When you select a charm, the results are shown. Most of the charms are worth bonus coins. This is a good bonus game, though the payouts are not as big as the Time of My Life bonus game.
The Staff Quarters bonus game has an expanding wild feature, so whole reels turn into wild symbols. This is the least impressive of the three bonus games in terms of graphics and song choices, but it offers bigger payouts than Johnny's Mambo.
Five-in-One Progressive Jackpots
The game a 5-in-1 progressive jackpot feature. This means it has five different progressive jackpots, including a wide-area progressive jackpot. The other four progressives are lower-tier payouts, with each ascending up the scale. This means the chances of hitting an accumulated pot is significantly larger, though the fixed jackpots are lower on the game.
On a 1-coin, $0.50 wager, the smaller pot might reach $250 dollars before it triggers. On the 5-coin bet at $0.50, the payout is in the small thousands. These are nothing like the accumulated jackpots you hear about, but it's a nice prize for a low-stakes wager.
Mobile Dirty Dancing Slots
IGT Interactive now has a mobile slots app for Dirty Dancing. While I have not played the mobile version of this game yet, I expect it to be a first rate mobile gaming experience. In February 2016, IGT won "Best User Experience in Mobile" at the 9th Annual International Gaming Awards in London. International Game Technology has been a leader in the electronic slot machine industry from the beginning (it invented EGMs back in the Eighties). Thirty-five years later, IGT remains a leader in the field.
Anyone with an Android smartphone, iPhone, or iPad tablet computer is going to be able to interface with Dirty Dancing Mobile Slots. Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian users might have less success finding compatible mobile casinos, but most of the leading sites offer mobile applications and support for their devices, too.
Any mobile casino which is powered by IGT software is likely to offer Dirty Dancing Mobile Slots. Keep in mind that many websites boost their standard software package with IGT slot machines. If you read a review of a website and it tells you the casino's software is from Microgaming, Playtech, NetEnt, or CryptoLogic, that does not mean IGT slots are unavailable. Whether it's online or mobile, instant play or downloadable software, do a bit more research to learn the full software package on the site.
Dirty Dancing Slots is an improvement over the Sex and the City slot machine from IGT. That game offers the selection of four different modes of play, which I've learned through experience limits the max payouts. Gamblers on this slot machine don't have to worry about any such limitations.
You'll have to win your way through several jackpots on the "Time of My Life" bonus game to hit the big progressive. I prefer this method to the traditional way of determining jackpot winners. The 5-tiered progressive builds a sense of anticipation. While it is unlikely you'll win--which might be frustrating for some players to experience--it's always unlikely players are going to win a million-dollar jackpot. If you don't mind losing on the bonus mode often, the 5-tier jackpot system is a fun way to get paid.
Dirty Dancing Slots is going to be a fun experience for people who love romances and 80s movies. While I was always more of a Point Break and Roadhouse fan, it's good seeing the late-great Patrick Swayze on the screen. With all the love this movie franchise nearly three decades after the movie's release, it should find a broad audience.