South Park Reel Chaos

Following the massive success of their previous South Park slot, it didn’t take long for NetEnt to try and partner up with the show’s creators for another go. Released in October 2014, South Park Reel Chaos tackles the battle of superheroes, a call back to earlier episodes of the show that we’re sure quite a few people will remember fondly. Engage against Professor Chaos and his underlings, and prepare for an epic showdown as each of the boys does something cool and unique, except Stan. Stan just fixes the reels.

While there were rumours that NetEnt was cooperating directly with the people who make the show to copy the timeless look, there is no proof one way or the other. But there is no arguing that it captures the spirit of South Park flawlessly. The movements and voice lines all feel like they could belong on the show, and it does feel like the whole game is a re-enactment of the famous Coon episodes, minus Cthulhu making an appearance. As far as presentation goes, the developers nailed it.

As for gameplay, it isn’t nearly as chaotic as the name would have you thinking. It is a mid-variance slot that relies on bonuses to spice up your chances of winning anything substantial. This isn’t particularly surprising, as this is a NetEnt release, and their love for stuffing big wins in special features is well documented.

With no progressive jackpot and normal gameplay wins being somewhat lacklustre, you should expect bonuses to be the thing carrying you forward for any wins worth your time and attention. This works out both a blessing and a curse, because the specials are entirely random.

On the blessing side of things, they come up often. As it wouldn’t be much of a South Park game without the characters from the show appearing. So even if the first time around they were a little disappointing, at least you won’t have to wait long to see them pop up again.

South Park Reel Chaos mixes the characters and some poker card symbols to fill the playing field. This isn’t anything particularly shocking, unlike Professor Chaos’ lightning, but it does feel like with such a wealth of things to pick from that the developers could have shown a bit more care and picked some things that made a prominent appearance in the show. No such luck, unfortunately, but at least the effort’s gone into making sure each character has their own bonus.

Let’s start with the best and equally most boring – Stan. We made fun of Stan in the intro of this review, but if you see him, it means most of the time you are in for a treat. Stan gives you multipliers and respins. Each time the reels spin and you don’t win anything, the multiplier goes up by one, to a maximum of 10x increase. Odds are you will usually stop at 4x or 5x, but you can go beyond, and it feels great when you do.

Apart from regular Wilds, Cartman can also stack the reels with his own type of Wild. General Disarray will mock Cartman and run around, and in turn, Cartman will chase him up and down the screen, and replacing what was there with Wilds.

The next on the list is Kyle and his amazing power to randomly distribute Wilds across the playing field. Butters will run in from the side and send his hamsters to rig things against you, and that is when Kyle flies in and shoots them with his laser eyes, with each symbol hit turning into a Wild.
Kenny also makes an appearance to fight with Butters. The fight is about as glorious as you’d expect from a pair of ten year olds, but the real meat of it is the wheel that pops up behind them, which grants you a multiplier up to a maximum of a 5x increase.

Finally, with three bonus symbols, Mintberry Crunch will fly in to combat Professor Chaos. You ascend the tower, and each level grants you a multiplier increase, up to a maximum of 4x. In each stage, you fight a different enemy. First the hamsters, then General Disarray, then you fight Professor Chaos, before it culminates in battling Anime Professor Chaos.
You start off with six lives, and so do your enemies. Who wins or loses a life depends on the reels that float in the middle, between the two combatants. If you win something, the enemy takes damage. If you don’t, you take damage. Your health does not regenerate between levels, which means the chances of beating the final boss aren’t in your favour.