There’s big business in franchise-based online slots these days; three new deals perpetuate the trend with new games based on Hulk Hogan (!), David Hasselhoff (!!!) and the latest Batman movie trilogy announced for 2012 release.

The “Hulkamania” and “The Hoff” online slots games will be released on the OpenBet platform; as subcontractor MX Gaming has already released a real-life online casinos version of Hulkamania, we can assume this will be the first of the titles to see the light of day.

Currently debuting at the 2012 ICE Totally Gaming Show in England, the Hulkamania online slot is being touted by MX Gaming and OpenBet for its use of original and exclusive video material to be incorporated into gameplay. While Ike McFadden stated that “My personal feeling is that the special appeal of the game has nothing in particular to do with symbols or multipliers,” the video bonus rounds may be of note. The second of two such rounds has Hogan fighting an opponent in fashion similar to Mortal Kombat, via the new footage and subsequent digitization.

Similarly to the Dennis Rodman online slot released by Vegas Technology a few years back, the Hulkamania casino game would appear to be a case of “How the mighty have fallen” after an expensive divorce settlement, countersuits involving allegations of homosexual philandery and a couple of failed TV shows, Hogan clearly needs a few bucks to pump the bank account a bit. (Guess he’s not making as much scratch in his “sport” as he once did…)  

Meanwhile, OpenBet apparently believes it can further cash in on the success of its “Baywatch” slot game with “The Hoff,” which will also get a scratch card version. According to PR, “the main concept of the games will be to help David Hasselhoff’s character along his eternal quest of becoming a millionaire celebrity and will include humorous twists along the way.”

Several different skins and bonus rounds are promised with “The Hoff,” presumably matching Hasselhoff’s character arc from “Knight Rider” to “Baywatch” to “America’s Got Talent.” LiveCasinoDirect, for one, can’t wait to see how the software producer will incorporate this particular star turn. 

Finally, industry leaders Microgaming aren’t messing around with B-listers and those past their primes. The internet casino software giant recently announced its signing of a licensing agreement with the even bigger Warner group to create a series of online slots based on “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.” First of the games is due out this summer, while the “Dark Knight Rises” online slot will be available for play in early 2013.

Welcome to South Fork Ranch with Sue Ellen, J.R., Lucy, Miss Ellie, and Jock in a video slot game by Net Entertainment courtesy of TM & Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. With a Wild Dallas Logo and a Free Spins Feature, add to general combination wins with Dallas slot machine, based on the 1970s TV series Dallas.

Dallas the TV show is an American serial drama that began in the 70s about the fictional family the Erwins, a wealthy Texas family doing business in the oil and cattle industries. 

Make your own money to build a ranch of your own playing Dallas Southfork Ranch slot and win the total jackpot amount of $50,000.

In the bonus round collect from bonus dollars to start the bonus game. Invest in oil wells and collect the profits up to 5x the collected amount. Each oil well has a random range of coins to win, pick the oil well with the highest value and the highest bet and win the most cash. 

The coin value in the bonus game is based on the bets placed when the Bonus dollars were won so be sure to bet with the highest coin values and number of coins per payline with all 25 paylines for the biggest bonus rewards in the base game.

Scatter wins pay total bet x the multiplier with 25 free spins for 5 with 100 coin payout, 25 coins and 15 free spins for 4, 4 coins and 10 free spins for 3, and 2 coins for 2. 

3 or more free spin scatter symbols of Dallas activates the free spins and all wins are tripled during the free spin games. More free spins can be won during the free spins feature as well.

Wild Dallas symbols are the highest paying out symbol at 10,000 coins for 5, wild symbols susbstitute for all symbols except scatter and bonus symbols. 

The galaxy of 3D slot games within the universe of online casino gaming has just added another star: Betsoft, those leaders in 3D slots via its Slots3 line, has released the 30-payline True Illusions and it’s now available for playing. “But come on,” surely protest the readers, “this is a blog of 300-word pieces. Get to it, already, and tell us if it’s any good!”

Right. The answer to that, then, may be summarized with “yes and no.” Reel play is really nothing outside the pale; while the popup animations on a win are somewhat impressive, they get repetitive very quickly. The magician standing on the side of the stage inset with the reels is humorous enough as he induces the reels to spin and stop on every turn with some tricky hand jive.

The highest payout in reel play is for five assistant symbols, which earns the player 500 coins, up to $75 may be wagered on a single spin, and the rest of the paytable is pretty standard stuff, decked out with all the symbols you’d expect in a magic-themed game.

However, bonuses count and these are what make the True Illusions slot more worthy of playing and a better-than-average online slot game. The wilds are stacked in True Illusions, appearing in the center reel only. Fill this reel with three wilds on any spin to trigger 1-7 free spins with the middle reel holding all wilds.

Landing three or more magician symbols triggers a full-on free spins bonus round which has the added excitement of the most up-to-date fad in slots games, namely the cascade function. After each free spin, winning combinations will be eliminated from the reels, which new symbols falling in to fill spaces and create new combinations.

Talking about your magic, true Illusions has some going for it. Sadly, like in many Hollywood movies, the 3D graphics are pretty much superfluous and bland.