The Mariachi 5 Slot Review

Cinco de Mayo or the Fifth of May is a big holiday in Mexico. It celebrates the Mexican victory over the French armed forces. At online casinos Cinco de Mayo is even more popular that the Mexican Independence Day. Around the last week of April leading games suppliers launch new Mexican themed online slots. In April 2019, Realtime Gaming (RTG) has released The Mariachi 5.

The Mariachi 5 is different from the generic Mexican themed slot games. You will not find the usual symbols like cactus plants, tequila bottles and sombrero hats. Mariachi is a genre of popular Mexican music. There are five musicians in this Mariachi band and this gives the slot game its title. But there is another interesting twist. Dia de Muertos or Day of the Dead is another Mexican festival. People come out dressed as skeletons and celebrate the spiritual ascension of the deceased. The symbols in The Mariachi 5 have been depicted as skeletons.

The theme is interesting, but everything else is top notch as well. The vibrant colours, peppy Mariachi music and comic visuals create a fun atmosphere. You will get plenty of winning opportunities through 243 paylines, grouped wild multipliers and a choice of free spins. The Mariachi 5 went live on April 17, 2019, at all RTG powered South African online casinos. The slot machine is available in both free play and real money play modes at these online casinos.

PLAY THE MARIACHI 5 SLOT FOR FREE (NO DOWNLOAD & NO DEPOSIT NEEDED!)

Even if you are a regular slots player, it makes sense to try a new release in the free practice mode before betting with your own money. Each slot machine is different and playing for free allows you to understand its nuances. All our recommended RTG South African online casinos allow their members to play for free. We explain the process below for those players not familiar with the steps involved.

You can indicate that you want to play in practice or demo mode at the time of loading the game from the instant play platform of the online casino. You will not have to download software or apps. You will not have to make any deposit. The online casino will give you dummy credits that you can bet with. The game play works as in the real money mode with one difference. Since you have not used your own funds to bet with you cannot cash out the winnings. If you like the slot game and have understood its mechanics you can switch to playing with real money. There will be a button somewhere on the slot machine display to facilitate the switch.

HOW TO PLAY THE MARIACHI 5 SLOT

You can play The Mariachi 5 at any of our listed RTG online casinos. They all accept players from South Africa. If you are a member of any of the online casinos you can log in and select the game. Otherwise pick a casino and sign up. Click The Mariachi 5 icon in the Games Lobby to openit on your screen. While the game loads you will see the five musicians playing in a narrow street with charming houses on either side. The Mariachi 5 is a 243 ways slot game so you will not need to select the number of paylines. You can directly select the total bet amount using the ‘-‘ or ‘+’ button on either side of the BET field. The line bet for determining the payouts will be 1/30 of the total bet. Click the Spin icon and you are on your way.

THE MARIACHI 5 FEATURES

The reels are set in the same street described earlier. The celebration comes alive through confetti spraying all over the place. The five musicians award the high payouts. In keeping with the theme they are depicted as caricatures of skeleton heads. Each one wears a different coloured sombrero and plays a different musical instrument. The win animations add to the comic touch. The top payout is 750 times the line bet for five guitarists. This is quite good for a 243 ways online slot. The low paying symbols are the playing card icons from A to 9 that appear carved from bones. The Wild logo is a grouped wild symbol. It can appear stacked on reels 2 and 4. In the base game it doubles payouts when substituting in a winning combination. Even though the wild symbol does not appear on all the reels, you still get good value for it.

If you have played other Mexican themed slot games from RTG, you would have come across pinata. Pinatas are colourful toys in the shape of animals. The scatter symbol in The Mariachi 5 is a donkey pinata. It appears as a skeleton wrapped in colourful clothes. Three, four or five scatter symbols anywhere on the reels award 2, 20 or 200 times the total bet. These combinations also trigger the free spins feature. You pick the free spins offered by one of the musicians. Essentially the choice is between more free spins or a larger multiplier.

• The man with the guitar awards 15 free spins with a 2x wild multiplier
• The man with the maracas awards 12 free spins with a 3x wild multiplier
• The man with the accordion awards 10 free spins with a 4x wild multiplier
• The man with the trumpet awards 8 free spins with a 5x wild multiplier
• The man with the violin awards 5 free spins with a 8x wild multiplier

To make the free spins even more attractive, extra wild and scattersymbols are added to the reels. Landing three or more scatters reactivates the free spins. This time you will not be asked to pick. The same set of free spins will be repeated.

PROGRESSIVE JACKPOTS

The one feature missing from this video slot is a progressive jackpot.

VERDICT

The Mariachi 5 allows players to select the volatility level in the free spins feature. Conservative players can opt for a larger number of free spins. Players willing to take risks can go for a large multiplier. The video slot will cater to a wider selection of slots players.