Fireball Slots

Overview of Fireball

The first thing that you'll notice about Fireball is its intriguing cabinet, which features a tower above the regular slots screen. The tower is eye catching because it shows eight planets, each with a different progressive jackpot.

Herein is the first big reason to play Fireball in that you could win any one of these progressive jackpots.

One reason not to play this game, though, is that the symbols are typical ones we see in classic 3 reel slot machines, such as dollar signs, BAR, cherries, 7s and triple 7s.

We're not saying that these overly classic symbols are a deal breaker, but it would be nice to see something a little more original when considering that this is a fairly advanced slot.

True to the name, some of the symbols have fire blazing behind them when they form winning combinations. You'll also see fun animations when the bonus round is triggered, which we'll discuss later.

This game features 40 pay lines, and you must play all of them. The lowest coin denomination is $0.01, meaning the minimum bet is $0.40 per spin.

Assuming you're a high roller, then you'll be interested to know that the coin size goes all the way up to $1,000 in some versions. Very few players will be betting this amount, but it's still worth noting.

Fireball Slots Bonus

If you get three or more Fireball symbols, you'll unlock the bonus round. Once this happens you're instructed to look up to the tower screen, where fire starts shooting randomly at the eight planets and turning them into mini 3 reel slots.

The number of planets that are turned into 3 reel slots depends upon how many Fireball symbols were on the screen when you unlocked the bonus game. In most cases, you'll only be triggering the bonus with three of these symbols, meaning three of the planets are turned into reels.

Each of the 3 reels begins to spin one by one, with a small pay table popping up to show you what prizes are available for each specific mini slot. For example, the Triple 7s bonus game has regular prizes ranging from 400 to 5,000 credits, plus a progressive jackpot worth over $4,500, at the time of this writing.

The eight available 3 reel bonus games are as follows, ranked from lowest to highest.

The lower ranked the bonus game is on this ladder, the easier it is to win the jackpot. For example, we won the Blazing 7s jackpot on one bonus try, but it was only worth $32.23 at the time. However, you'd be playing for a lifetime to win the Blazing 7s: Seven Times Pay progressive jackpot, which was worth over $200,000 at the point we saw it.

Once each of the 3 reels have spun and your prizes have been awarded, fire will cascade down the tower and back into the main game, signifying that your bonus round is over.

Overall, we find this to be a unique and exciting bonus sequence that adds plenty of entertainment when thinking of all the different jackpots that you're eligible for. The only downside is that you don't really have any interaction with the bonus round since the reels spin on their own.

Comparison to Fireball II: After Burn

Bally's second installment in this series plays mostly the same as the original, except with a few differences.

Many of the same symbols are back like 7s, BAR and Fireball symbols; however, a couple notable changes include galaxy and sky symbols being added. You'll also notice that some of the symbols feature more detail, such as planetary rings being added around the 7s.

Perhaps the biggest change is that there are five jackpots in Fireball II, instead of eight, plus a wide area progressive jackpot.

You'll recognize the following five jackpots from the first game:

• Blazing 7s worth 4,500 coins
• Diamond Line worth 22,500 coins
• Double 7s worth 60,000 coins
• Triple 7s worth 300,000 coins
• Blazing 7s: Seven Times Pay worth 600,000 coins

Just like the original, these five jackpots are connected to mini games that you play on the tower screen above the reels. When you get 3 or more Fireball symbols, you move up to the tower screen to begin playing the mini games.

Comparing the first game and Fireball II, you'll notice that the latter arranges the planets differently for a better visual effect. Rather than small planets being stacked in a 2 by 2 vertical manner, each one is featured on the screen one by one.

This allows for a superior visual effect, and the planet graphics look far better than the first game. You'll also see individual pay tables come up again when planets turn into 3 reel slots, just like in the original slot.

These bonus wheels are the free games wheel, the credit wheel and the jackpot wheel.

The free games wheel comes up after the planetary mini game, allowing you to earn anywhere from 5 50 free spins. The credit wheel has a variety of different prizes listed on it, and you earn the amount that the arrow points to.

The jackpot wheel doesn't seem to come up very much while playing. However, just like the planetary mini games, this wheel gives you a chance to win any of the five regular jackpots.

Overall, we like that Fireball II enhanced the mini games and added some new bonus features such as the three wheels. The symbol graphics are also improved and don't look as generic as in the first Fireball.

But on the other hand, we're not sure if these changes justify Bally's making a sequel. So if you've played the first Fireball game, you'll basically played Fireball II as well.

Conclusion

Our main complaint about the original fireball is that it seems like Bally's could have gone further with the symbols, rather than resorting to the classic 7s, BARs, and cherries that we've seen in slots for decades. Because of this, the main game offers nothing special in comparison to other slot machines.

However, the mini games do provide a big reason to play this slot because they come up frequently and offer a wide range of jackpots.

Another reason to play this game is that you'll be winning quite often thanks to the 75.6% hit frequency.

As for Fireball II: After Burn, this is almost interchangeable with the first game. So if you play Fireball I or II, there's really no reason to go hunting for the other game unless you're obsessed with the concept.