World Of Oz
The Wizard of Oz is a story that's been told many times, in many ways. And Rival's World of Oz slots offers yet another take on this classic tale about Dorothy and her dog Toto being swept away to a magical land.
Does this 5-reel, 50-line slot live up to the legendary 1939 film and 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum? We'll answer this question by covering World of Oz's symbols, theme, features, and betting options.
Symbols and Theme
World of Oz opens with a video showing Dorothy and Toto's house being picked up by a tornado and dropped off in Oz. You'll know where you are by the Yellow Brick Road sprawling out behind the transparent reels. You'll also see green grass, a rainbow, and the Emerald City in the distance.
Symbols include the Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, winged monkey, Glinda the Good Witch, Dorothy & Toto, white slippers (instead of ruby), Wizard of Oz (free spins), and the Wicked Witch (wild). Dorothy is the highest-paying symbol, offering 750 coins whenever she forms a 5-symbol win.
The symbol graphics are average. While we can certainly tell which character is which, the visuals aren't overly impressive. Interestingly enough, Glinda bares a lot more cleavage than we've seen in any other renditions of Wizard of Oz.
We do like the animations, including a twister forming onscreen during big wins, Dorothy hugging Toto, the white slippers tapping together, and green emeralds falling off the reels when the bonus is almost triggered.
World of Oz Special Features
The Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow are called "Drop Icons." This means they disappear after forming wins, allowing symbols to fall from above and potentially form new wins. You may recognize this as "rolling reels" in other slots.
The Wizard of Oz delivers free spins whenever he lands 3 or more times on the reels. He gives you 12 free games during regular play, and 7 if you retrigger this feature during the free spins.
The Wicked Witch is a wild symbol who multiplies payouts 5x whenever she helps form a win. During free games, the witch multiplies payouts 10x.
Betting Options
As with many Rival Gaming slots, this game is teaming with wagering options. You can adjust coin size from $0.01 to $0.25, paylines from 1-50, and coins per line from 1-10. This makes the minimum wager worth $0.01, and the max bet worth $125.00 per spin.
The Bet Max option raises the paylines and coins per line to their highest values. But if you want to increase coin size, you'll have to do this manually. Also note that you can choose Auto to automatically spin the reels for a set number of turns.
Final Thoughts on World of Oz
Dozens of slot machines have been made about the Wizard of Oz. And we wouldn't say that World of Oz is the best one. But this is still a fun game that has its own merits. We like the introduction and background, which do a good job of living up to the fantasy world created by the 1939 movie. The free spins with multipliers and Drop Icons are also nice additions.
Downsides include the symbol graphics and lack of a second-screen bonus round. These aren't deal-breakers, especially since the symbol graphics are at least average. But they prevent World of Oz from being an elite slot. That said, we rate this game as above average and suggest giving it a few spins.