Today, I went gambling with Kamen Rider and a horse in this slot machine simulator for Sony's PlayStation. This is Jissen Pachi Slot Hisshoho Single: Kamen Rider & Gallop. (Try saying that name three times without blinking.) (Click on "Read More" to read the review.)
Story
N/A
Gameplay
This lovely little game is a two disc set featuring two slot machines with special themes. One being Kamen Rider and the other, a horse racing machine called Gallop. I don't think I need to explain how a slot machine works, but this game is a little bit more than just inserting digital coins into a digital machine. First of all, the machines are set to freeplay, so you can play as many times as you want, no matter if you win or lose. That's a very good feature on its own and it's fun just playing away on a slot machine without having any consequences or owing people money. It takes the gambling out of gambling and turns it into a fun gadget to play.
There's a bunch of customization options in free play mode. You can zoom in and out of the machine to reveal the art. Turn on an alternate reel that makes it much easier to get that sexy and lucky 777. Plus, you can set the machine to play itself. It's an interesting touch and most of the options are very easy to activate, even if you can't read Japanese.
Activating the zoom-in and out feature is bloody annoying though. It's not an obvious button combination and I just found myself mashing the entire controller in hopes of activating it. Thank goodness that the controls to play the game are super duper ultra simplepaloosa. Hit R1 to insert a coin, R2 to inset multiple coins. Down on the d-pad will spin the reels, while square, cross, and triangle will stop them.
If you want to add in some meaning to your gameplay instead of just pressing buttons at random to see what pretty colors you get. There's a second mode that turns it into a high score challenge. You are given three-hundred lives/turns/spins to get as high of a score as you can. If that sounds like that three-hundred is a lot, you'd be right. It can take awhile to finish one game, especially if you gain extra spins. You'll earn those when you activate the big bonus modes and if you're lucky (and you will be) it'll extend your game by a lot.
One thing I found broken was that the extra life bonus doesn't apply when you win a replay/free turn on the machine. (You get that by getting three Rs in Kamen Rider and three bombs in Gallop.) It'll still take a life off of you, but you won't lose any score by doing so. Yes, your score counts as currency, which you use to spin the wheel.
There are other options such as instructions and a high score board. They are all in Japanese, so they'll be no use to people who don't know the language. Heck! I'm pretty sure they are boring options to those that do know the language.
Now the most important question of them all! Is the game any fun? Well, it is very interesting playing a slot machine knowing that you can enjoy everything in a cheap and safe manner. I did have some fun, but only for a little bit. The novelty of the machines wore off after I had seen everything that I had to. That doesn't take long, only around thirty to forty minutes. The high score mode could've been shorter than what it was and it does get incredibly boring. The system is very functional and tight and makes for an excellent background item at retro gaming parties.
Graphics
Nothing much going on with the graphics, but there doesn't need to be for a game like this. They are very clean and I do like how the slot machine is arranged. Love the Kamen Rider theme, there's a lot of charm there. The animation on the slot machine is also pretty good and you do get a sense that the reels are rolling. The same can be said about the Gallop machine, minus the fact that it doesn't have any of that Kamen Rider stuff.
I wouldn't recommend running this on anything other than those old square CRT TVs. Playing this on a big modern TV will just stretch it out, ruin the ratio, and most of all it'll ruin the atmosphere.
Sound
This game is mostly quiet. You'll mainly hear the sounds of coin insertions and celebratory fanfare for when you get that hard earned victory. Audio is also very clean and sounds great coming out of the TV.
Overall, it's a well put together collection of slot machines. Sadly, the fun wears down very quickly, but it is an okay one to replay every few months. You'll only ever need one game from this series and if you want one, get the one with the theme that interests you the most. I give this game a 6 out of 10.
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