Shanghai Lights

The surge of Chinese wealth in recent years has made them quite the global powerhouse. With all the manufacturing of the world situated there, the government has managed to grow those profits and expand the economy to heights that match even western countries. Nowhere is this more apparent than it is in Shanghai, which has become a global finance centre, a transport hub and the most populous city in the world. And in a city of that size, the night life has to be amazing. Say what you will about China’s young and wealthy, but they know how to maximize their enjoyment and RTG seeks to capture this in Shanghai Lights, their recent release. It offers gamblers a 5×3 playing field with 50 flexible paylines, allowing you to turn them on or off at will, which allows lower end gamblers much more wiggle room with their money. On top of regular gameplay, it offers a familiar free spins bonus with another layer of Super Spins that allows some really insane wins if you’re lucky enough to activate their more powerful later levels.

There’s not a lot that will visually stimulate gamblers in this game. It’s not bad by any means, but it is very static. Apart from the fireworks when the Wild shows up, there’s not much animation included. The disco music works for a little while, but it can get repetitive rather quickly and the backdrop of an elite night club would feel a lot better if at the very least the lights moved a little bit to give impression that something is happening. We do like the user interface, however, as it’s quite easy and intuitive to handle. We hope RTG sticks with it.

On the gameplay side of things, Shanghai Lights centres itself around its special features. The slot’s free spins bonus essentially consists of two phases, regular free spins and then Super Spins afterwards. From our experience, it is usually the Super Spin section that really makes or breaks the bank and regular gameplay is usually slowly bleeding the money until the feature triggers. If you don’t mind waiting until the cash starts rolling in, you will probably enjoy it, but keep in mind the volatility may not agree with lower-end players.

You can play this RTG release for as little as $0.01 up to $50 per spin. The amount of paylines is flexible, meaning that players can have one payline, all fifty active at once and any option in between. This is great for gamblers on a budget, but that is in conflict with how the game plays in turn. The volatility can get high, and lower end players may find themselves out of money before they hit a feature. And even then, a bonus isn’t always guaranteed to give you a sizeable score, as we’ve had free spins hit for just above 3x our wager just as much as we’ve had some awesome scores. So the risk is always there.

The icons don’t seem to be particularly inspired by anything. There’s no bling, fast cars and fancy drinks you might hope to find in an exotic night club. Instead, we see poker card symbols such as hearts and clubs, alongside several posh and wealthy looking Chinese men and women who are enjoying their wealth with only the finest outfits and drinks. The symbols are well drawn, but they’re nothing special. If they had a bit of animation to them, it might have gotten a better reaction.

When three or more Scatters appear, you are rewarded with 5 free spins. During these, Wilds can appear on the third, fourth and fifth reel, and any Wild that is present in a winning combination doubles the prize. The end goal of these free spins is to accumulate as many Scatter wins as possible, which helpfully affect the Super Spins afterwards. The free spins can also be retriggered up to a maximum of 5x and the new extra turns are played out after the Super Spins finish.

Depending on how many Scatters were part of wins, Super Spins will reward different bonuses. The most valuable icon will appear grouped regardless of anything. With one Scatter win, the whole fifth reel turns Wild. With two Scatter wins, Scatters get a 5x win. Three Scatter wins give a 3x multiplier to the Wild. Finally, four and five Scatter wins turn the fourth and third reel Wild respectively.