Highway Kings Pro Slot Machine
We daresay those of us who played Playtech’s Highway Kings slot loved it, and now there’s a sequel to sink our teeth into. Like its predecessor, this one is all about big trucks ploughing their way across the interstate, honking their horns all the while.
Like the original Highway Kings, the new version features both a wild and a scatter symbol. But where the previous game did not award players free spins, this one does!
Highway Kings Pro is spread across five reels and nine pay-lines, with coin values stretching from 0.01 to 100 for a maximum spin wager of 900 credits. This is a vast improvement on the last game, where the maximum bet was 45. The sequel is also an upgrade on its forebear in terms of graphics and bonus features, though the pay-out values are virtually identical. One key difference is that paylines pay in both directions – from right to left as well as left to right. The return-to-player percentage has also improved by a few percent, and now sits at 94.99.
Start your engines
An intro video shows a red truck spinning on the road and a driver with a comical handlebar moustache saying, ‘Yeah!’ before honking his horn and welcoming you to the game in a thick Southern drawl.
The largely white 5x3 reel board contains many of the symbols that were in the original Highway Kings, only now they look more photorealistic. The control panel along the bottom of the screen appears more sophisticated, with tabs for Bet Max, Auto Play, Spin, Win, Total Bet, Line Bet and Lines. You can elect to play on nine pay-lines or just one, and you can set the autoplay mode to play up to 99 mechanised spins.
Big truckin’
Just like in the first game, three of the key symbols in Highway Kings Pro are trucks. Once again, the red truck is the Mack Daddy, paying 10 for two, 50 for three, 500 for four and the 10,000 top prize for five. The other two trucks, yellow and green in colour, can be mixed and matched to form winning combinations. They pay five for two, 20 for three, 150 for four and 1,000 for five.
A new symbol shows a pair of red gas pumps. This one pays five for two, 25 for three, 250 for four and 5,000 for five. The six other base game symbols are bundled together in twos. Thus, we have two red dice and a ‘King’ baseball cap, which can be mixed and matched; a bolt and a jump lead, which can also combine; and a steering wheel and tyre, both of which conform to the ‘of a kind’ principle.
Bonus symbols
The original Highway Kings game was short on features. It had a wild and a scatter, but there were no multipliers, no free spins and certainly no bonus game. Thankfully, Playtech have upped their game with the sequel.
The wild is the moustachioed trucker. The icon can substitute for all symbols except the bonus and the scatter, and it appears on the central three reels.
The scatter is represented by a female trucker wearing a wide-brimmed red hat. It pays five for three, 10 for four and 100 for five. The scatter does not have to appear on an active pay-line.
The bonus symbol is represented by a checkered flag. It appears only on reels one and five, and if it lands simultaneously on both, the Truck Racing Bonus is activated. A screen with three trucks will appear, each representing a number of free games that will follow. Choose one of the vehicles by clicking on the respective arrow, thus claiming between 10 and 25 free spins. Thereafter, the screen will change to show three speedways. Decide which one you want your truck to race on, then watch the action. Depending on which place your trucks come in, you’ll be awarded a free games multiplier between two and five. The multiplier awarded during the bonus round applies to all pay-line and scatter wins hit during the free spins round. You can also win an additional 20 free spins if the bonus icon reappears on reels one and five simultaneously.
The king of the highway
Highway Kings Pro is a welcome upgrade to what was already a fine casino slot. The presence of a new bonus game is to be applauded, while the graphics and gameplay have been greatly improved.
