Toro Shogun

Toro Shogun: Slot Overview

One of the most beloved odd couples in the history of online slots has got to be the big black bull Toro and his Matador buddy. The pair dropped on the gambling scene in 2016 with Wild Toro, which went on to find popular acclaim, then to celebrate the 5 year anniversary, ELK Studios put on a Wild Toro World Tour, which saw the release of Wild Toro 2, Book of Toro, and Toro 7s. A little later on, we got Buffalo Toro, and if you were disappointed at the thought of the pair hanging up their travelling boots, then despair no more. Toro and the Matador are back, this time tripping to Japan in an online slot named Toro Shogun.

One of the cool things about the Toro range is that ELK Studios hasn't stuck to one single gaming style. So far, for example, we've had the original, a 'book of' version, and now a semi, sort of 'Gold' version. A delightful cartoonish approach has been used to recreate the land of the rising sun, all soaring mountains, twisting trees, and fresh green turf. On a side note, the house up there in the upper right part of the screen must have a fabulous view of the surrounding area, great sunsets and all to dazzle guests with. A delicate as-you-like-it Eastern-inspired soundtrack completes the scene in a game that hits every audio and visual element just so.

In the middle of it all is Toro Shogun's gaming grid which consists of 5 reels in combination with 4 rows – at least to begin with, as the reels can grow. Wins are formed by landing matching symbols from the leftmost side of the screen on adjacent reels connected diagonally or horizontally. However, when a 5 OAK win hits, the Both Ways feature is triggered, meaning wins pay left to right and right to left until the end of the game round. Winning symbols are removed and replaced by at least 1 wild as well as symbols falling down from above. Winning reels also expand by the number of symbols removed from them, up to a maximum of 10 high at the most. When no more wins hit, the reels return to their default size. At random, Max Rows may trigger, expanding up to 5 reels 10 rows high.

A medium-high volatile game, Toro Shogun has a return to player value of 94% whether betting 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin in the normal mode or when playing from the X-iter in bonus mode. For symbols, 3 Mah-jong-like game pieces depicting dragons are the low pays, followed by an orange with a dagger through it, a fan, a flower, and a Shogun character. Hitting a 5 OAK winning way pays 0.3-0.5x the bet for the low pays or 0.75-10x the bet for the high pays. Wilds, in any form, are able to help complete winning lines by replacing any pay symbol.

Toro Shogun: Slot Features

Features time now, and Toro Shogun has Toro the Walking Wild, Toro Goes Wild, Matador Respins, Shogun Mode, the Bonus Game, and X-iter features.

Walking Wild

Toro is a Walking Wild that, when landing on the reels, generates respins. Toro moves one position to the left for each respin or when contributing to a winning combo until reaching the leftmost reel.

Matador Respin

Landing 2 or more Matador symbols triggers a Matador Respin, where they lock in place and are sticky. Landing 1 or more Matador symbols triggers an additional respin. Matadors are valueless symbols.

Toro Goes Wild

Landing a Toro when Matadors are in view, or landing 1 or more Matadors when a Toro is in view triggers Toro Goes Wild. During this, Toro moves vertically then horizontally to knock Matador symbols off, leaving wild symbols on its path. Toro continues until he defeats all Matadors.

Shogun Mode

Should all five reels reach 10 positions high, then Shogun Mode activates. In Shogun Mode, the low-pay symbols are removed from the reels, and Both Ways is active. Shogun Mode ends at the end of the spin.

Bonus Game

Getting 3 bonus symbols on reels 1, 3, and 5 triggers the bonus game with 7 free spins - the bonus game can be retriggered. Landing a bonus symbol in the bonus game increases the Bonus Multiplier by +1. Hitting 2 bonus symbols adds +2 to the Bonus Multiplier, while 3 bonus symbols add +3 to the Bonus Multiplier as well as adding 7 free spins. The Bonus Multiplier applies to all current and all following wins.

Landing 3 bonus symbols during Shogun Mode triggers the Shogun Bonus, which is free spins but played in perpetual Shogun Mode.

X-iter

Players enter bonus mode by activating the X-iter feature buy menu, where they can choose any of these:

• Bonus Hunt – 3x the bet for more than triple the chance of triggering the bonus game.
• Toro Spin – 10x the bet for a game round with a guaranteed Toro.
• Shogun Spin – 25x the bet for a game round on a 10-row grid, Shogun Mode and Both Ways active.
• Buy Bonus – 100x the bet to buy the Bonus game.
• Shogun Bonus – 500x the bet to buy the Shogun Bonus.

Toro Shogun: Slot Verdict

Toro Shogun is a place where online slot history, honed design expertise, and clever ideas collide like a raging bull charging a hapless Matador. In a nutshell, Toro Shogun is like the happy result of a Wild Toro and a Gold slot hookup. It demonstrates ELK Studios' considerable talent at creating grid expansion games, which it has done repeatedly in a number of Kane slots, as well as games like Nitropolis, for example, with a shed lot of extras bolted on to make the overall experience feel freshly original. Basically, if you've got a soft spot for ELK Studios' style of gaming (maybe not so much some of the numbers), then Toro Shogun lays it on like the best of them.

Possibly better if you've got a particular soft spot for Toro and the Matador. Here the bull charging human antics get another amusing outing, and the resulting wild symbols left in Toro's wake are as fun as ever. Using Connected Paylines rather than straight ways has its pluses and minuses. In some ways, not so good because it might be tougher to get those ridiculous wins that cover much of the grid in some of the Gold slots, though Shogun Mode may help negate this scenario. No complaints; just making an observation. In fact, there's nothing negative to say about any of Toro Shogun's extras, really. From Both Ways pays, to the two bonus games, to the general win/grid expansion system, it's all good as the kids say, or used to say at least.

With a win cap of 25,000x the bet, the only minor gripe (apart from the RTP) is that the game isn't massively Toro-ish some of the time. As in, Toro the bull doesn't hit super frequently, and since the game is set in Japan, it lacks the sultry Spanish atmosphere some of its predecessors had. A minor thing, though, really, because Toro certainly appears from time to time, and Toro Shogun is an exceptionally well-made game. From relatively small things like animations lining up absolutely flush with sound effects, it's a class act in just about all regards. It goes without saying that for fans of Toro and his Matador pal, Toro Shogun is a must-see.