Return of Kong

Fresh from a spicy little mission in Mexico (where I bumped into some of those big fellows from the Luchadora slot machine), I needed a change and delving into a jungle paradise sounded just the ticket. The Return of Kong Megaways slot was the chance for me to catch up with an old pal Kong, a top chap.

The Basics

As the title of this slot suggests, this isn’t the first escapade with the big ape. Those of you with good slot skills may have also played another a classy slot featuring this hospitable creature in the King Kong Cash slot, also from Blueprint Gaming. And the smarter among you will probably see some similarities between Kong and another gaming icon, we’ll leave you to figure out who that might be.

This time around Blueprint have packed in even more juicy features thanks to a Megaways format that gives you an insane 117,649 ways to win. Now that’s even more than the Narcos slot and Thunderstruck 2 combined: that’s better than a swing through the trees munching a banana.

The Graphics

This game is styled meticulously- in fact I would put it right up there with the likes of the Dead or Alive 2 slot and others that push the boundaries on the visuals front. Firstly, Blueprint Gaming have really gone to town on this slot and developed a game that looks damn good.

Feast your eyes on crystal clear graphics in a leafy jungle where the action is underway. The muscular Kong will encourage you with gestures as you play. He makes a rather good cheerleader, definitely my cup of tea grinning and moving around on the side there.

The game offer up a nice a touch of atmospheric music to entertain you as you spin those reels as well. Let’s get those jungle drums started.

Return of Kong Game Play

As a Megaways game, this game’s 6 reels are a changing affair. On each spin, you will see the reel expanding between 3 and 7 symbols high! And it’s this Megaways moving mechanic that can generate those tasty wins if your luck is in.

A grinning Kong, who is looking dapper in a Hawaiian shirt, is the top-scoring icon. Land a matching set of 6 Kongs and you’ll bolster that bank account to the tune of 50x your wager. That’s something to beat your chest about!

In addition to Kong, there is a selection of animals on the reels including a cigar-smoking rhino, a pipe toting tiger and parrot who looks like he’s lost his pirate. One motley crew, in other words! The lower value icons are the Ace through 9 of the card deck.

The game’s Wild substitutes for all other icons, except the Scatter but only shows up above reels 2 to 5. The Scatter icon lands on all the reels, except the first and last.

The Bonuses

Cascading Reels
Adding some va-va-voom to proceedings is a cascading reel mechanic. Each winning combination brings a boost by replacing the win-making icons with freshly cascaded new icons. And the cascades of new combinations keep coming until your wins stop landing.

Unlimited Multipliers are also at play thanks to that clever cascading mechanic. Each consecutive cascade gives you an x1 multiplier that grows incrementally with each win. And, as long as you can make wins in this way, you can push up your multiplier. Now that calls for some nuts, fruits and seeds to nibble on.

Mystery Kong
The Mystery Kong Feature is the crowd-pleaser with Kong randomly activating his own feature where the star ape hurls a golden barrel at the reels. This liberally scatters up to a mesmerising 100 mystery icons onto the reels. Better still, the mystery icon is revealed and matches across all the new icons, boosting those winning chances.

If you’re a sharp monkey, you’ll remember this neat barrel feature from the original game. We’re pleased to see these cash-generating projectiles again! No complaints here Kong, me ol’ boy.

Free Spins
Lets move onto the freebies, shall we? If you land 4 Scatters and spell out the word “KONG” you will trigger the Free Spins Feature which is 12 free games. Landing further Scatters will get you 5 further spins, and during these games Kong may unleash his Mystery feature, so keep your fingers crossed for big win fun.

Golden Monkey Feature
Finally, you might get more gifts landing in your lap with the Golden Monkey feature. During the free spins game, if you land 3 golden monkey statuettes (mini Gold Kongs), you gain an extra pair of free spins and the number of Megaways increases to give a more valuable reel formation.

Verdict

This game is good fun with a host who has bags of charm. But, don’t let this ape’s pleasant appearance fool you. At the heart of the Return of Kong Megaways slot, is a seriously high tech, high variance slot. You will need the budget to take a few knocks on the road, but stick it out for the big time. Just watch your budget. It’s not every day that you have a chance at 50,000 times your wager on each free spin.

Score: 4.5 Bananas

We’re going ape over this one!