Big Bang Buckaroo

Classic slots often get an unfair reputation for being boring compared to their five-reel cousins, but that doesn't have to be the case. Rival Gaming's Big Bang Buckaroo slot is a good example of how a lot of action can be backed into a relatively small amount of screen space. It uses a sort of futuristic or steampunk wild west theme, but it also incorporates elements of traditional classic slots all into one package.

Format and Layout

Most classic slots that anyone has any degree of time for these days use three reels and three rows of symbols with five paylines. That's the format used here, and it's enough space with enough lines to give you some action without needing to expand the actual size of the game. You'll be able to bet one, two or three coins on each line, and the coins start at the $0.01 level. You'll want to wager three coins on all lines for 15 coins per spin, and that means the minimum bet size is $0.15. You can use coins as large as $1, and that puts the highest level wager at $15 per turn for this game.

Bet Sizing Options

We want to point out that you do have the option to play for just one or two coins on each payline. However, this will hurt your return to player percentage and give you a smaller average win relative to your bet size. This is because the top jackpot can be 400x, 800x or 1,500x for one, two or three coins, respectively. Three coins is obviously the better deal, and with bet sizes as low as $0.15 per spin with three coins activated, there's not really a reason to play with just one or two.

The Wild Robotic Cowboy Symbol

The robot cowboy is the most important symbol in this slot. It's a wild symbol, and it appears on each reel to give you extra ways to get paid with winning combinations you would have missed out on without it. Three of a kind, assuming you have all three coins activated, gets you a 1,500x win, which is the largest payout you can get in the game, and that makes it even more important to the overall pay table.

The Three Seven Symbols

There are three different lucky sevens in this game, but they do not follow the traditional color scheme of red, white and blue. Instead, they follow the purple, green and orange motif of this game. You'll get 150x for three of the orange seven, and three of the purple earns 120x. The prize for three-of-a-kind combinations of the green 7 is 90x, and these wins make up the majority of the mid-level payouts for this game.

Bar Symbol Set

Sets of bullets make up the three bar symbols, which brings the pay table down to a lower level. You can earn 45x for three of the red triple bars, and it's a 30x payout waiting for you with three of the green double bars. The blue single bars get you 15x for three of a kind. These symbols show the interplay between the wild west theme and the classic slot motif really well.

Other Winning Combinations

The sheriff's badge is an important symbol because three of a kind will give you a 60x win, which is larger than any of the bar payouts. However, that's not the only reason it gets so much attention in this game: It's also the only symbol that pays for two of a kind on a payline from left to right, and that's worth a 6x payout.

There are also two ways to get mixed symbol pays. Any three mismatched lucky seven symbols is worth a 9x payout. You can also get 3x for any three mismatched bars. It doesn't have to be a winning combination where all three of the symbols are different. Instead, any combination of sevens or bars, respectively, where all three of them do not match will qualify you for these wins.

This is a good way of giving players wins at the bottom end of the pay table that are easier to get, and it definitely smooths out a lot of the volatility that players associate with games of this style.

In Summary

As far as classic slots go, Rival Gaming's Big Bang Buckaroo slot doesn't necessarily stand out all that much, but it does have a cohesive theme and a pay table that offers a fair amount of action. We would have liked to see some type of bonus features or variations on the wild symbol theme to really make this title come alive, but we can't argue with it as a middle-of-the-road, modern classic slot. If you're the type of player who prefers your value to come from the pay table instead of having to keep up with how a handful of features work, then you might enjoy this title, but most others will likely avoid it.

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