Popeye Fruit Machine Review

Last Updated on 3 May 2025 by Xavier C

Popeye Fruit Machine Review (JPM)

Introduction:

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and into the world of classic 90s fruit machines, this time it’s Popeye by JPM. This gem was a staple in pubs and arcades, bringing the beloved spinach-munching sailor to life with a fun and frolics on the high seas.

What made Popeye such a hit and why does it still hold a special place in the hearts of us fruitie enthusiasts? I’ll try my best to answer that and more!

Theme and Symbols

First off, the theme. If you were a fan of the Popeye cartoons, this machine was a real treat. The artwork was spot-on, capturing the charm and quirkiness of Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto (although he’s called Brutus in this version), and the rest of the gang. The reel symbols are a mix of classic fruit icons and single, double and triple-bars, alongside the JPM rosette.

All the familiar tunes and sound effects are here from the cartoon, with the the theme song playing when you win a jackpot. You also have Popeye muttering away as he traverses the trail bonus board, Brutus making threats as he chases you, and occasional samplings from Olive Oyl, Swee’pea, and Mayor Wimpy at various points around the bonus board.

The Basics:

• 20p per play
• 3 x 3 reels
• 8 different win symbols
• Nudges + holds
• Feature exchange
• Hi-Lo on wins
• Trail feature with numbers needed to add up to 7
• Any wins over £3 are in tokens
• £3 repeater from 3 x JPM rosettes
• 10 x feature awards (trail bonus board)
• Jackpot win of £6 from 3 x red triple-bars

Gameplay and Trail Board

Now, onto the gameplay. Popeye by JPM wasn’t just about spinning reels and hoping for the best. It featured a trail board, which added an extra layer of excitement and strategy to the game. The trail board is packed with mini-games and bonuses that could lead to some juicy payouts.

In order to trigger the board, you need to add the numbers up on the reels to progress Popeye towards the island, you need a total of 7 from the numbers to get to the island. Sounds easy, but when most of the numbers are 1s and 2s, it becomes a bit tricky unless your trail holds over to the next spin and you can keep adding to your trail steps.

Once you’re on the island, you move by spinning a random number (between 1 and 12), then you step to each square and hope to find a decent bonus or cash offer. Just be aware that Brutus (Bluto) is going to be right behind you and is randomly triggered to come after you using his own random spins of the number generator. If he does catch you, you’re toast.

Popeye Bonus Board Special Features

These are all listed in the order in which they appear on the trail board – it should mean it’s worst to best, but in our experience, some of the earlier bonuses can be better than the much later ones.

• Rock the Boat: Your current reels will move 2 or 3 spaces up and down individually – hold each reel to hopefully make 3 matching symbols. Repeat chance is available.
• Treasure Hunt: Auto nudges your current reels to the nearest win. Can be good, but mostly it drops small amounts. Repeat chance is available.
• Sink the Ship: You get 6 shots to sink the ship – the dice rolls each time you press start – you have to match the number on the dice to the number on each hole in the ship’s hull. You’re awarded cash for each successful hit – if you sink the ship you get the Jackpot.
• Pappy’s Island: You’ll receive whatever has accumulated in the treasure chest – can go up to £6, but that takes forever.
• Time bomb: Gives you around 5 seconds to nudge down a win – you can nudge any reels you want as many times as you want, but the timer counts down very quickly. Helps if you have a win in view already.
• Silver & Gold: You get to choose between silver or gold – they both flash on the LED screen and you press start to pick. Gold pays out a random amount of cash, silver pays out random amounts of tokens.
• Wimpy’s Plaice: Random coin amount flash across the led display – hit start to stop on an amount, once selected the number reel then spins and you have to stop it on the highest amount (12). You then receive your coin value x dice value. e.g. 10 x 40p = £4
• Amazin’ Adventure: You’re looking for Olive, the LED display will give you options of North, East, South, West – hit start to choose one. You will then be given other directions to choose – game ends when you hit a dead end and win as little as £1 or you find Olive and can win up to the Jackpot.
• Duel: Random cash amounts appear at each side of the LED screen and make their way to the centre – you need to hit start when the amounts are right next to each other when they meet in the middle (with no gap between them). You have six shots, the numbers move quicker as you progress.
• Cannonball Run: Guaranteed random wins appear on the reels – each win pays out automatically, after a win you have a repeat chance. You can win well over the Jackpot amount (£10 plus) if you get a lot of repeats. Once you miss a repeat, it’s game over.

Max Payout and Highlights

Other than the Jackpot of £6 from hitting 3 x red triple-bars, there’s another way to get a £6 jackpot and that’s from Pappy’s Island, which is about a third of the way around the feature board on the far left. It’s a progressive jackpot, so you may have to keep an eye on how much is in the pot – it maxes out at £6, so if it’s near that, it might be ready to pay out!

Other than the previously mentioned bonus squares, what you’re better off looking at is the nudge pot wins – there are quite a few pots around the board and it’s pretty easy to get the nudge pot up to 12+ nudges in one round. Don’t worry if you’re not sure if you’ve got enough nudges to win – the winning symbols will flash and show you if they’re available, you just have to hit collect on the nudge pot after that and it’s automatically nudged for you.

Nudge, Holds and Hi-Lo Gamble Features

I won’t bore you with the details of standard features like nudges, holds and high/low gambles, we pretty much covered the basics of those in our Road Hog fruit machine review. The only thing that this includes that many machines don’t is the trail feature and progressive jackpot (plus it’s got the £3 repeater win too).

Quick Play Around the Board for a Jackpot Win!

Popeye Fruit Machine – Personal Reflections

Popeye by JPM was more than just a fruit machine; it was an experience. The combination of classic fruit machine elements with beloved cartoon characters and engaging mini-games made it a standout in the crowded field of 90s fruit machines. The trail board added a strategic layer that kept things interesting, and the potential for big payouts made every spin exciting.

If you were around in the 90s and had a chance to play Popeye by JPM, you know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you didn’t, well, you missed out on a true classic. This machine captured the essence of what made fruit machines so popular back in the day – simple, fun, and with catchy tunes and callouts to keep everyone amused within earshot.

Now that the original Popeye IP has recently become public domain – I wonder how many more Popeye slots we’ll see making an online comeback? There have been quite a few Popeye slots released in the last 10 years, and maybe this recent public domain entry will bring out a few more reel-spinning adventures?

Whatever happens, here’s to Popeye, the spinach-powered sailor who made spinning reels a blast!