Last fall, I got to see Everi’s G2E lineup, which includes a brand extension of their Smokin’ Hot Stuff Wicked Wheel. The new version, which features Fire and Ice variations, add a second character to introduce additional mischief in the form of prize upgrades.
I shared with you here on the site a bit about how Smokin’ Hot Stuff Wicked Wheel Fire & Ice came together, but I finally was able to play the game at one of my local casinos recently.
The game definitely feels similar to its predecessor. The two versions available have a similar differentiation to Wicked Wheel Phoenix and Panda, another previous Wicked Wheel variation. One has wild multipliers for the line hits, while the other has credit prizes awarded when the wild symbol is used to make a combination.
For awhile I wasn’t getting much of anything, and then managed to get into the progressive picking bonus with the new character, Freezy.
For this bonus there’s 23 objects to pick from. This is a predetermined bonus. Out of the 23 objects, 21 represent three each of the seven progressives this bonus has; the remaining two are extra progressives you can win, represented by ice cubes.
I happened to get the two ice cubes in my bonus, so I ended up winning a total of three progressives. This worked out to $120 on a $1.20 bet, 100x my bet.
You are paying 50 percent more than the original Smokin’ Hot Stuff Wicked Wheel, so you’re investing in better and more frequent bonuses. I didn’t get any other features, just a few line hits, but that one bonus was certainly enough to sustain me. Of course, getting just the Mini would yield a mere $10 or so so it could have gone much worse.
The game features a Fired Up enhancement feature that will upgrade your final progressive won in the progressive pick bonuses. While these did seem to come out somewhat frequently, I did not trigger my progressive pick during such feature, so I didn’t get any further upgrades.
While it didn’t happen during my session, the game is designed to give you more frequent access at the bonuses, so fans of the game series should have something to look forward to here. Just keep in mind if you have a drought of those, which is always a possibility, the higher bet means your bankroll will burn faster than the original.
To see videos from the game as well as my previous write-up about how this brand extension differs from the original, check out my previous write-up on Smokin’ Hot Stuff Wicked Wheel Fire & Ice.
