We begin with 25 pay lines on the standard 5×3 layout and naturally the symbolism is Japanese along with the obligatory Oriental pipes and drums soundtrack as you spin the reels. The reels are set over a spectacular backdrop of a harbour at night with an aerial firework display and lanterns on the houses along the seafront which forms a very pleasant scene. There are various foods consumed at the Matsuri, such as sushi, dumplings and cakes along with ceremonial flowers and fans and they make an appearance on the reels.

The Matsuri slot premium icons are 3 different young Geisha girls in traditional dress of which pay 14, 12 and 10x stake respectively for 5-of-a-kind and the scale ends at the lowest sushi and rice dumpling icons which both pay 2x bet. There are Wilds in the form of yellow lanterns on all reels and like all the other symbols these occur singly and have no multiplier attached but do pay a nice 40x bet for 5-of-a-kind. There are no random in-play features but we do get 2 different scatters to trigger their respective bonus games.

The Matsuri slot first bonus is triggered by 3 Goldfish icons on reels 2, 3 and 4. This is quite appropriate as the feature is named after a traditional Matsuri children’s game called Kingyo Sukui. Children get a scoop made of rice paper which naturally crumbles in water and must try and catch as many Goldfish from the pool as they can before the fish fall through the paper. So you pick Goldfish and transfer them to a different tank of water, hoping they don’t fall through and end the bonus. You get cash values for each one successfully transferred and the maximum pay is a mighty 500x bet!

For this feature you need to land 3 Feline Festival Masks on reels 1, 3 and 5. You begin with 8 free rounds and no retrigger, but you do get 2 extra spins for each Festival Mask that lands. The Matsuri slot enhancement is an expanding transferring Wild.