1 Mar

New Pokies Game Classic 243 comes to Australia Mobile Casinos

Classic 243 PokiesMicrogaming has dropped yet another new pokies game upon us, as they do at least twice each month. February’s new additions included an old-school, 1980’s style theme called Classic 243, built by Rabcat. As the name implies, it features a lot of old fashioned reel symbols, along with a 5×3, 243 ways to win reel set, and it’s now available at Australia online casinos and mobile casinos.

There’s so much neon involved, overlaying a dark background, that it reminds me of a retro, space invaders dance party. As you’ll remember (if you’re old enough), people loved the whole futuristic motif back in the 80’s, where neon lights, lasers and shiny silver pants were all the rage.

However, I have to say I’m more than a little disappointed in this new pokies game. Its payouts are frequent, but ridiculously low. You absolutely have to trigger free spins to have any chance of making a profit, and even then, you may come up short.

Let’s take a closer look at Classic 243 Pokies, launched two weeks ago on Microgaming’s Australia mobile casinos (for desktop, Andoird and iOS).

Classic 243 Pokies Review

Since the paylines are fixed, Classic 243 can be played in increments of $0.20, with min/max bets ranging from $0.20 to $40. This new pokies game fills its reels with old-school symbols, like Bells, Diamonds, Bars, 7’s and Stars (valued in that order, highest to lowest). A mix of Neon card values, A, K, Q, J and 10, round out the lower paying symbols.

New Pokies Game Classic 243The Wild symbol is exactly that – a symbol that says “Wild” on it. Aside from replacing all other standard symbols (not Scatters) to make winning combinations, it has no other special function in the base game.

The Scatter symbol is a pink neon “Free Spins” sign. You’ll need to land at least three of these anywhere on the reels in a single play to trigger the game’s only valuable feature. Players get 10 free spins to start, and will be guaranteed to have up to 3 Stacked Wilds somewhere on the reels during all free games.

Free spins can be retriggered one time, granting an additional 10 free spins with guaranteed stacked wilds if 3 more Scatters appear during the original free spin phase.

Overall – Disappointing

While it’s possible to generate some big wins during free spins, I had very infrequent luck playing this new pokies game since it was released on February 16, 2017.

Lining up more than 3 of any symbol is extremely rare, unless it’s a 10 or a J. I hit five 10’s in a row on many occasions, but that only pays out half your bet, equating to a loss. In fact, you’ll need five K’s or better just to break even (see pays below).

Paytable Classic 243 Pokies at Australia Mobile Casinos

Classic 243 Pokies is honestly one of the most disappointing games I’ve seen from Rabcat in a long time. It either needs more features, like 3x payouts on Wild combinations, or at least higher paytable, to become worthy my time and money.

The only attractive feature here is the retro 1980’s theme, and that’s only going to appeal to those who experienced the era firsthand. If you want to give it a try, I recommend starting in free play mode. I’m sure there will be a niche audience out there that gets a kick out of it.

You’ll find Classic 243 available at Royal Vegas and all other Microgaming powered Australia online casinos and mobile casinos.