Fruit machines are one of the most classic styles of pokie out there, with symbols that go back almost to the beginning of slot machines themselves back in the 1890s. There has recently been a revival in the number of players wanting to play classic slots that are stripped back to basics, but there are also updated takes on the classic fruity that keep the look but add modern features. 243 Crystal Fruits is definitely one of the latter, with fruity symbols that are barely recognizable and modern rules that add a whole new dimension to the game. So is this game a modern classic? Let’s take a look in our 243 Crystal Fruits slot game review.
Sometimes the modernization of a fruit machine takes place behind the scenes in the mechanics, but in this game the modernization is all up front in its graphics. The 243 Crystal Fruits slot game uses cool looking 3D graphics to create traditional fruits that look like they’re cut from crystal, with everything from grapes and kiwis to melons and cherries depicted in a strange tessellated manner. Along with the starburst effect in the background it goes a long way to establishing a futuristic theme, and with the addition of explosive animations when the fruits are destroyed as well as cool sound effects, there’s an awful lot going on.
The main game in 243 Crystal Fruits is fairly traditional aside from the looks, granting you five reels and three rows to play on. There are just five pay lines on which you can bet a maximum of £/$/€10 per spin, which is great for beginners or casual players, though it’s not so great for high rollers. The main game is more of a waiting room before you get into the bonuses, so don’t expect too much from this portion of the slot, because the top paying lucky 7 symbol is worth just 40x your stake. The RTP is exactly average at 96%, but you can better those odds by doing well in the bonus game!
The bonus game in 243 Crystal Fruits is activated by landing the 243 Wild as part of a combination, and it only grants you one re-spin, but don’t worry because it gets better! This bonus uses a cascading reels mechanic, which means that winning combinations are removed from the screen and replaced with new symbols falling in from above, which can themselves create winning combinations. This effectively means you get a re-spin after every win, and you can create chains of wins that can add up to some very valuable combinations! As well as this change, the bonus round also pays both ways so your ways to win is increased from 10 to 243, a huge increase. On top of all this, each successful combo in a row adds to your multiplier, so you can end up playing with a maximum of 5x on every re-spin!
243 Crystal Fruits slot game starts out as a traditional take on the classic fruit machine genre, but quickly becomes 100% more modern when you start landing those 243 Wilds and getting some re-spins under your belt. It’s a pokie that’s all about its bonus round, but it’s not hard to activate, so you’ll get to enjoy it much more often than you might think!