Jimi Hendrix Slots

Review of Jimi Hendrix Slots

Well I stand up next to a mountain…and I chop it down with the edge of my hand… As a young teenager I remember being a little scared and confused by Jimi Hendrix’s music. It was nothing like the sweet sounds of The Monkees, who had become the musical darlings of America due to their simple, non-offensive songs. My entire world changed when I was old enough to understand Jimi’s ultimate question, “Are you experienced?”

From about the age of 16 until today I have enjoyed his sonic, psychedelic sound. It’s hard to believe that it was so many years ago and that he was only alive long enough to put out three studio albums. He, like Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, were taken from us far too early at the age of 27, so we’re all left wondering just what he could have achieved musically if he had avoided the pitfalls of stardom.

Since this review is being written by someone who actually remembers the 1960s, you can darn well expect that it’s going to be showing some bias for one of the world’s greatest guitar players! The good news is that anyone else who was alive in the 1960s will know exactly why this. For all of you youngsters out there, I strongly recommend listening to some Jimi before loading this game up: after all, he is one of the best musicians of all time.

This expert review of Jimi Hendrix Slots will tell you everything you need to know about this psychedelic release and explain why you’ll want to get experienced as soon as possible.

Screenshots

Get ready to be wowed by the graphics and images in the screenshots below because this funky machine is absolutely stunning from a visual perspective. These images really don’t do the effects justice since you can’t see all of the crazy animations that go along with them.

NetEnt obviously did a terrific job of setting the tone and mood with the symbols, backgrounds, and colors, which all add up to a nostalgic feeling of “free love”.

Storyline

What would have happened to the world of music if Jimi Hendrix had ended up having a successful military career after he enlisted as a paratrooper in 1961 instead of being discharged from the army a year later? Would anyone have discovered the musical benefits of distorted feedback or utilized the wah-wah pedal to such great effect? Thank goodness we’ll never need to worry about the answers to these hypothetical questions.

Jimi had been playing the guitar constantly since he was 15 years old and when he was finally out of the army he was rewarded by having the opportunity to join the bands of popular acts like Little Richard and The Isley Brothers. Hendrix then went on to form his own group, write his own music, and rocketed to the top of the bill for many major music festivals of the day. Sadly, fame and fortune finally took it’s toll on his psyche and he died in 1970 after taking too many Vesparax sleeping pills in London, England.

The storyline in this release from NetEnt focuses on rocking out with Hendrix and his amazing catalog of songs while floating through 1960s psychedelic imagery and colors. There is also a focus on “Flower Power” but in order to truly appreciate the sentiment you’ll have to see it for yourself.

Unique Symbols

Normally we would take objection to the unique symbols here but it’s ultimately so cool that we’re going to let it slide. Often we complain when newer titles rely on 10s, Jacks, and Queens as images but there are rare cases when we give it a pass due to the machine’s overall design, and this is one of those times.

Many fans will argue that NetEnt could have used some album covers and other iconic images of Jimi as symbols but that might have actually taken away from this particular one and distracted people. There’s already a heckuva lot going on with the graphics at all times so it’s best not to overdo it.

All in all they did a great job of utilizing imagery that might not necessarily directly relate to Hendrix or his career but that certainly add to the overall 60’s look and feel.

• 10
• J with Guitar Strings (Jack)
• Q with a Feather (Queen)
• K with Jewelry (King)
• A with Stars and Stripes (Ace)
• Eye
• Flower
• Record Album
• Heart
• Peace Symbol
• White Guitar
• Red Paisley Guitar
• Jimi Hendrix (Wild)
• Jimi Hendrix with White Guitar (Scatter)

The two highest-paying ones are Jimi himself and the red and white guitar, with both awarding 400 coins for five of a kind. After that we have the white guitar giving out 200 coins, the peace symbol with 150, the heart with 125, the record album with 100, the flower with 90 and the creepy eye with 80, with all numbers based on hitting five of them in a row.

Jackpots

There isn’t a Jimi Hendrix Slots jackpot available but most players probably won’t care: there’s so much other fun to be had it’s doubtful that anyone will even notice. Perhaps one day NetEnt will link all of their music-themed creations to a “musical progressive jackpot”, but for now there is nothing.

Bonus Rounds

Those who don’t like overly-complicated features will be happy to know that the Jimi Hendrix bonus round is a no-nonsense, straight forward “Pick and Click” style of game. It’s triggered when you hit three or more Scatters on reels #3, #4, or #5, and you are then taken to a backstage area where you click on guitar amplifiers until you have collected three of the same symbol, which will award you the associated prize.

There are four different options available, with three of them being free spins and the other one being a “Coin Win”. The coin win simply gives you a random multiplier of 8x to 30x on your original triggering wager without any hoopla or fanfare.

Anyone who likes a little bit of pizzaz in their gambling games might feel disappointed that there aren’t more special features to access and this is certainly a valid criticism.

Free Spins

The bonus round is going to be your real source of free spins in this machine and there are three different packages that can be won during the Pick and Click area:

• Purple Haze Free Spins
• Crosstown Traffic Free Spins
• Little Wing Free Spins

These free games modes are similar but they do have some differences. Purple Haze gives you 6 to 12 spins with the 10, J, Q, K, and A all turning into Wilds for the duration of the round. Crosstown Traffic gives you a firm 6 spins with Stacked Wilds covering different reels and finally, Little Wing gives you 6 to 12 freebies with 3, 4, or 5 random Overlay Wilds for every turn.

In addition to the above, there are two cool extras that give you mini-bonuses. First is the “Purple Haze Feature” which occurs when the Purple Haze appears on reel #1. This can then change any 10, J, Q, K or Ace into Wilds for that result and of course is a Wild itself, which usually results in a very nice win amount.

The other instant feature is the “Red Guitar Re-Spin“, which occurs after four or more Red Guitars fall anywhere on the board during the regular mode. This gives you one “re-spin” but if more Red Guitars fall during that result you will be given another one. This can happen many times in a row and it’s a nice little add-on that keeps the action flowing.

Graphics

Not to overstate the facts, but the team at NetEnt should win awards for the design of this machine – it honestly feels like a slot game from the future (as well as the distant past). Activated lines are highlighted by flowers shooting over the symbols in an explosion of Flower Power, with the visuals transporting us directly to the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, (unfortunately in spirit only).

Also, when Albums are used in a payline win they start twirling and flip sideways so they look like the planet Saturn, which is quite “trippy”, to say the least. When the Eyes become activated for wins they look from side to side and blink, which is cool but also kind of creepy: there’s just something about the way they look around that is quite unsettling.

So whether it’s twirling objects, psychedelic multi-armed Jimis, or jamming Jimis popping out of bunches of flowers and rocking out on a guitar, this creation is going to have your full attention at all times.

Audio & Soundtrack

The way the soundtrack works in this release is fantastic. Unlike some other music-themed slot games, in Jimi Hendrix the songs constantly play without stopping – even when you push the button to stop the reels. The tunes flow fluidly along as you go and they’re even perfectly mixed into one another so there’s no dead air between songs. As of April 2019, this is one of the only machines that has a soundtrack that performs this way so everyone needs to understand that this is very special.

The songs included are:

• Purple Haze
• Foxy Lady
• Voodoo Child
• Little Wing
• If 6 Was 9
• Third Stone from the Sun

The payline wins are accentuated with awesome guitar blasts from various Hendrix songs and we even get an occasional “Yaa Yaa Yaaaa!” sample from Crosstown Traffic and a “Look out baby!” from Purple Haze as each Scatter falls onto the reels. They’re used sparingly and they’re the prefect accentuations to the action.

Conclusion

Many fans, including us, were ecstatic with what NetEnt did for Guns N’ Roses Slots and this praise definitely needs to be echoed for Jimi Hendrix, which is without a doubt, the future of online gambling machines. It’s not only cool and fun, it is respectful to his memory and doesn’t feel exploitative in any way. One wonders if his surviving relatives had the final say in how it was presented or if the software developers just knew exactly what fans would want. Either way, this is one foxy lady.

Even if you’re not a huge fan of Hendrix’s music you should still check out this release, if only to see it’s 60’s psychedelic imagery, amazing graphics and animations, and futuristic game-play. This title will appeal to people of all backgrounds and interests – it’s just that good. It will definitely have everyone feeling “experienced”.

Now… excuse me…while I kiss the sky…

Random Video of Jimi Hendrix

It took a while to find the perfect Jimi Hendrix video to finish this review with, but the hard work paid off. Here is a fantastic live performance in Stockholm from 1969 and the video and audio quality is pretty darn good for being so old. So sit back, grab a beverage, and enjoy some classic Hendrix jams…and dream of butterflies, zebras, moonbeams, and fairy tales…