GoodFishes Slot
You’ve heard of GoodFellas, but how about GoodFishes? No? Well, that’s to be expected. While the former was released in 1990, the latter only rolled off the production line in 2015. Based on Martin Scorsese’s iconic gangster flick, GoodFishes is a five-reel video slot developed by independent software firm Revolver Gaming. Like the acclaimed movie, the comical 3D parody slot features cigar-chomping, gun-toting gangsters; only this time, the mafiosi do their shady business under the water – yes, the felons are fish!
GoodFishes is a medium to high volatility slot. Designed to the highest specifications, and fully optimised for mobile gaming, it promises hours of fishy fun.
Sleepin’ with the Fishes
Gangsters are known to dispose of their enemies by launching them into the Hudson wearing concrete boots. In GoodFishes, though, that tactic just won’t fly: not only do fish lack the opposable thumbs necessary to launch, well, anything, but they’re famously useless above water!
The action in GoodFishes plays out on a 5x4 grid, and there are 30 fixed paylines. Visually, the game is a delight. Behind the reel grid, which bobs on the ocean, you can see a concrete jungle beyond the shoreline: presumably this is the Big Apple, the city once populated by gangsters like Lucky Luciano, Arnold Rothstein and Salvatore Maranzano. Use the control panel along the bottom of the screen to set your bet, and hold the large green Spin button if you wish to activate autoplays.
GoodFishes includes a panoply of ludicrous symbols, although there’s room for a couple of playing card icons also. Needless to say, the playing cards are the worst paying in the game. They’re also riven with bullet holes and otherwise relate to the theme in some way. For example, the Q symbol looks like it’s smoking a cigar. Like I say, ludicrous.
We’re not experts on fish, so we can’t really say which species occupy the reels. All we know is they come in various colours and guises. One’s wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a pair of sunglasses and is toting a Tommy gun. Another is chomping on a cigar. There’s also a female fish wearing red lipstick. It’s all a bit bonkers, but good for a giggle. Amusingly, the three main GoodFish are named Jimmy, Tommy and Harry. Now, where have we heard those names before? The first two, anyway…
Frankie the Fishmonger
The clam shell icon, inside which is a handgun and a pile of banknotes, is the game’s wild. The shell can thus stand in for any of the fishes or playing card icons to help you form wins. It cannot, however, replace the Frankie’s Bonus symbol. It’s easy to spot the latter icon, incidentally: it features an octopus holding a blackboard which reads FRANKIE’S BONUS. Honestly, you can’t miss it.
If you land three Frankie’s Bonus icons on reels two, three and four, you’ll trigger the Frankie’s Fishmonger mini-game. Frankie is no ordinary butcher, though: he’s a shark butcher. While the Great White mugs for the camera, three poor, unsmiling fish hang suspended from a rope to Frankie’s right. Choose one of the poor souls to reveal any of the six bonus games. The bonus games are revealed when Frankie hacks the fish you’ve chosen with a blood-stained machete. How does he grip the machete, I hear you ask: with his damn flipper, what else?
The bonus games are great value. One, The Big Catch, grants eight free spins; not only that, but all wins formed during the free ones come with a 2x multiplier. The Big Catch also triggers an ‘All Ways Da Pays’ feature, whereby you can win right-to-left as well as left-to-right. In The Big Catch, you are tasked with rounding up the mafia bigwigs then locking them in a cage. When you lock the fish up, they grimace and grip the bars, waiting for their overpriced attorney to bail them out.
Another bonus game activates 15 free spins, a 1x multiplier and sticky wilds. Neat!
GoodFish? Great Game
GoodFishes is one hell of a game. Not only is it a laugh riot, but it’s visually arresting and replete with bonus features. The animation of the game is also excellent, particularly when fish swim out of the reels and unload machine gun fire. The only real drawback is that the paylines are fixed at 30, which some players won’t appreciate.
