New Licensed Games from the Wizards of Raw Thrills
Two new games available later this spring are already exciting operators due to their hot licenses and replayability. The first is a Wizard of Oz redemption game from Raw Thrills, and the second is the Top Gun: Maverick shooting and racing game, made by Raw Thrills in conjunction with Play Mechanix and Paramount Pictures.
Starting with The Wizard of Oz, the company takes the iconic film characters and puts players right into their Yellow Brick Road action. The game, designed to appeal to people of all ages, challenges players to collect eight character cards that feature Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Glinda, the Wizard and the Wicked Witch of the West.
“The main thing about this game is replayability because there’s so much depth to it,” explained Saki Anderson, the director of creative media for Raw Thrills.
The simple ball-spinning gameplay allows players to earn tickets every time and also offers the chance to unlock special bonuses and experience interactive adventures. Original technicolor movie clips and state-of-the-art CGI animations fill the vibrant, massively immersive 110” vertical screen display, too, the company said.
“The Wizard of Oz has charmed hundreds of millions of fans worldwide and is more popular today than ever,” said Raw Thrills CEO Eugene Jarvis. “With the advent of large dual-screen UHD video monitor tech and advanced Nvidia graphics, the time was right for a Wizard of Oz graphic wheel game.
“Our goal was to transport the magic of Oz to the arcade – and why not let the players collect gorgeous Oz cards so they come back again and again to spin the wheel and complete the set for the Wizard of Oz mega bonus!”
The Warner Bros.-licensed game will be available in the beginning of May.
With the wild success of Top Gun: Maverick in theaters, it’s no wonder the teams at Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix have brought the film to arcades.
It’s both a shooting game and a racing game, in which players join as the newest recruit of the Top Gun program. Players will race elite pilots like Rooster, Hangman and Phoenix through the “dangerous skies of six heart-pounding levels” and must “destroy the menacing mission objectives.”
Players will have to navigate volcanoes, hurricanes and avalanches and shoot down waves of formidable enemy aircraft, vehicles and boats to earn Destruction Boosts that’ll increase their score. To become “the best of the best,” players will need strategic power-ups like Afterburner, Heat-Seeking Missiles and Multi-Missiles, which will help them reach supersonic speed and eliminate threats.
Anderson explained that two of the levels are easy difficulty, two are medium and two are hard. Players can choose any of the six and fly in real-world aircraft like the F-14 Tomcat, the F-15E Strike Eagle and the F/A-18 Super Hornet.
“I’m a huge Top Gun fan and have always wanted to make a jet flying game,” said Play Mechanix President George Petro. “The first-ever Play Mechanix game, Invasion: The Abductors, was originally pitched as a jet fighter game. We actually obtained the license in 2018, before the Top Gun: Maverick movie was green lit. But we did have a feeling that something was coming!”
He added: “Top Gun presents jet fighting much like a video game and it is one of the few movie franchises that earned over $2 billion in box office ticket sales. That’s a lot of eyeballs!”
The cabinet features dual 65” displays and can be linked up to four machines. Ticket redemption is also available on Top Gun: Maverick. The game will be shipping in June.
Visit Raw Thrills online at rawthrills.com.
