Umpire Strikes Back

Who'd be a cricket umpire? Well imagine what cricket would be like in a star wars world. They'd be Darth Vader bowling at Luke Skywalker (who's trying to score a few force) using a thermal detonator as a ball, trying to dislodge the vertical neon stripes of light-sabres dug into the ground to use as stumps with Chewbacca watching on as Wicket keeper (after all they got along so well in the film...) You'd be forgiven for thinking that's what The Umpire Strikes Back fruit machine from Microgaming might be like, as the name suggests some kind of Star Wars motif to the game. However this is a gambling game which doesn't deviate from the great game of Cricket into the dark-side, and stays true to the classic willow and bat sport. It will no doubt please both players of the noble, very English game of Cricket and players of the also very English institution of pub fruit machines.

So as you've ascertained, The Umpire Strikes Back is a cricket themed fruit machine with colourful, on point graphics that will bowl you over so well they'll even impress a maiden together with a soundtrack that's as sweet as the crack of leather against willow. Reel symbols are just what you'd expect with fruits littered all over them and signature symbols like the bat, ball, four, six and helmet. This fruity is set at a simple level and lacks the multiplier, wilds and scatter symbols that make these fruit machines more attractive to the experienced player, but equally this means that this is an ideal game for the novice fruity player or those looking for a light-hearted punt. Of course it wouldn't be a fruity without the holds, nudges and nudge gamblers that define this genre of gambling game and you'll find you can up your wins with careful use of these hallowed features.

Bowl in three cricket balls anywhere in view to run The Umpire Strikes Back bonus game. This takes you to a second screen for a simple hi/lo bonus game where the player has to protect his wicket from the bowler to win prizes. The game ends when the stumps have the bales removed with a wicket crushing in-swinging googly from the bowler, prompting the title character to raise the finger and end the game for our valiant batsman. As with all fruit machines, it's up to you to predict when that's going to happen; do you take the runs you've got? Or do you risk it all for a chance of the big prize from the machine which is a whopping 1000x the coin value with a second tier prize of 200x, yet risk getting run out?

As we've said The Umpire Strikes Back is a simple machine and the wins are very easy to understand as the game centres around a single pay line. As we've said this may not be enough to hold the interest of the super serious fruit machine batsmen and bowlers out there, but the game is ideal for those who love their cricket and simply want to have a fun punt on a very well put together fruit machine.