VIVA ESPANA - "A Basque Separatist free zone"

Aahh, this takes me back to the good old days of spending my student grant (and then loan when the grant had run out) in dodgy locals' pubs whilst lectures and seminars drifted by. Originally released back in (I think) 1993 (there's an arcade on the Isle Of Man that still has one of these, I'll go and take a look and check) this started off as a £6 jackpot machine. Back then, all wins over £3 had to paid out in tokens (a throwback to the 1964 Gambling Act). The £6 jackpot (later £8, this is the ROM version released for the emulator) was paid in 20p tokens (which could only be spent at the bar or put back into the machine). With relatively little to offer in the way of exciting cash prizes fruit machines had to be entertaining and involving, with plenty for the player to do. 

This is reflected in the design of this machine, the trail from 1-8 with feature entry at 9 and extra goodies at 10-12 is commonplace these days, but was a new idea when Viva Espana was released. Extra interest is added even at this basic level, with a Nudge(s) square at position 7 on the trail. This makes the process of simply getting on the feature board, or manipulating reel wins, both challenging and interesting. 

The original machine featured some great artwork, this is not implemented in the emulator so I'll attempt to describe things as best I can.

The feature board itself is a long trail, with the £8 jackpot at the end. Getting there is a long and involved process. The first hurdle is "Security", which requires you to hit "OK" instead of "Stop". If you land on any of the 3 Duty Free squares the Duty Free feature is automatically collected (which usually only awards a pound or two, but can go bigger). Halfway along the trail you "take off", a nasty square here is "Storm" which ends the feature and nearly always awards £1.20 or something equally unexciting. Should you make it to "Landing", the music changes to a Spanish flamenco ditty. You then have passport, duty free and baggage claim squares to avoid (duty free and baggage claim auto-collect). There are several Passport squares along the trail (effectively a mystery square that kills you, lets you continue, puts you back on the board or boosts you forward), a nice touch is the way that after you've landed in Spain the voice of the passport officer changes from English to a (bit of a dodgy) English-speaking Spanish accent. If you make it past all that lot you then have Customs (the 3 "Open Bag" squares) to contend with. You're given a choice of "Goods to declare" and "Nothing to declare". Choose goods to declare and it's a random choice of "on the limit" or "over the limit". Over kills you, on lets you continue. Select nothing to declare and you might get lucky and get away with it, but more likely you'll get given one of several options - most of which are pretty nasty (of the 8 outcomes only "nothing found" lets you carry on). If you're still alive you then have the final "Gone Bust" square to avoid to get to the jackpot........

There are cash, feature, and nudge pot squares at various points along the trail. The cash values are self-explanatory, the nudge pot increases as you progress along the trail (will sometimes offer the £3 or jackpot win, it won't tell you if it's available though). The features are a mixed bag, Nudge Spinner requires quick reflexes to select the best offer, Win Spins (if you can ever land on it) will usually pay wins equivalent to a jackpot, but can pay far more. (I remember it giving me four £6 jackpots and leaving me wondering what the bloody hell I was supposed to do with £24 worth of 20p tokens. I ended up buying pints for everyone in the pub, charging them the bargain price of a pound each). 

Reel win and feature frequency is high, after a gamble or two reel wins can be exchanged for the feature (the better the win, the further along the trail you start). The hi/lo gamble is fair (losing on good numbers is rare) and it occasionally lets you get away with a dodgy gamble. Sound is excellent, with appropriate music and samples helping things along. 

In essence, Viva Espana works as a fun *game*, you can play for a while with a few pounds, and there's always enough going on to keep the player interested. Winning is a bonus, losing is annoying, but not a disaster. It may be the oldest cliché in the book, but they really don't make 'em like this anymore.

4th August 2001