Reel Rush XXXtreme

Reel Rush XXXtreme: Slot Overview

Hold on to your hats, folks; software provider NetEnt hasn't just gotten radical, it's gotten triple 'X' radical to make the online slot Reel Rush XXXtreme. Players that have been around for a bit will know this is a remade version of Reel Rush, a slot NetEnt first dropped in 2013 before giving it an HTML upgrade five years later. Reel Rush 2 followed in 2019, and now, buckle up, NetEnt has tuned the RR engine to cater for gamblers who like to dice with danger, joust with jeopardy, or, whatever, in Reel Rush XXXtreme, the extremist one of the lot - so far.

If you were wondering whether Reel Rush XXXtreme would follow the original Reel Rush or the more modern sequel, a cursory glance is all it takes to confirm we're dealing with the former. Blocky yet rounded-edged items are back, the diamond play area is too, as are the relaxing sounds. Part of the attraction depends on familiarity with the first game, but even players with no awareness of Reel Rush who lean towards sweet, retro-styled slots should be drawn to Reel Rush XXXtreme's easy-going, yesteryear nature.

Central to the Reel Rush charm is a 5-reel gaming area with active symbols arranged in a 1-3-5-3-1 diamond pattern at the start of each base game spin. Wins unlock covered symbols until the entire 5x5 grid is freed, increasing ways to win from 45 up to 3,125. With its high rating, Reel Rush XXXtreme is the most volatile so far, while its RTP tops out at 96.06% when staking 30 c to $/€60 per base game spin. If that's not extreme enough, don't panic; the three Elevate Feature bets allow gamblers to go significantly larger.

Six oval candies are the low pay symbols, awarding 0.33x the bet for 6 OAK. Then there are plum, grapes, watermelon, lemon, pineapple, and strawberry candies as the highs, worth 0.67x to 10 times the bet. Wild symbols appear in all phases on all reels except the leftmost reel. Wilds substitute anything except Mystery Features symbols.

Reel Rush XXXtreme: Slot Features

Respins and Expanding Reels are delivered alongside a handful of Mystery Features, free spins, and Elevate feature buys.

Respins, Expanding Reels & Mystery Features

In the main game, a winning combination triggers a respin, up to a maximum of 5 respins. For each respin, two covered positions on the reels are uncovered, increasing the number of ways to win. At the end of respins, the total win is awarded. During respins, each new uncovered position may reveal a Regular Mystery feature or a Golden Mystery feature. Regulars are:

• Multiplier +1 - increases the main game multiplier by +1 (by default set to x1), which applies as of the next win.
• Wild - places a wild on its position for the next respin.
• Bomb - unlocks an extra pair of positions on the reels. If there are no positions to unlock, each Bomb awards an extra free spin when free spins begin.

The possible Golden Mystery features are:

• Multiplier +10 - increases the main game multiplier by +10, which applies as of the next win.
• Sticky Wild - places a Sticky Wild on its position, which remains on the reels till the end of the round.
• Expanding Wild Reel - each wild in view expands to cover all positions on its reel, starting on the next respin. This feature remains active for the rest of the round, so any new wild symbols that land also expand to cover their reel.

If a Sticky Wild is revealed on the same reel where an Expanding Wild Reel symbol is revealed, then a Sticky Wild Reel is created, remaining in place till the end of the round.

Free Spins

When all positions on the grid have been uncovered in the main game, 7 free spins are awarded on a 5x5 play area. Any multiplier, Sticky Wild, Expanding Wild Reel, or Sticky Wild Reel won in the base game transfers over to free spins, as do any wilds won on the last respin before free spins triggered.

Elevate Feature

At 3x the bet, XXXtreme Spins 1 guarantees one Golden Mystery feature will be revealed. XXXtreme Spins 2 costs 25x to guarantee at least one Golden Mystery Feature is revealed, and a Mystery feature will be revealed on every covered position. For 200x, XXXtreme Spins 3 guarantees four Golden Mystery features will be revealed, and a Regular Mystery feature will be revealed on every covered position.

Reel Rush XXXtreme: Slot Verdict

Gamblers who missed Reel Rush the first time around might find Reel Rush XXXtreme a little too retro for their tastes, but don't let the looks and sounds fool you. NetEnt has put Reel Rush through a modernisation process to produce Reel Rush XXXtreme. That means heavier volatility, feature add-ons, and greater winning potential. What's nice for returning gamblers is the spirit of the game is quickly recognisable, so not only is Reel Rush XXXtreme a charming time capsule of sorts, but the original's catchy respin and unblock the reels sequence is readily apparent. In an epoch where more is more, Reel Rush might be showing its age, but the XXXtreme makeover helps bring this group of slots up to date.

It kind of needed to. After going back to Reel Rush for a refresh, it is showing its age. The sequel added complexity through effects such as 8 random modifiers and a token collection system. Reel Rush XXXtreme strikes a balance, being neither too heavily complex nor too light. As before, stringing consecutive wins together is the name of the game, and revealing features from uncovered blocks is a more logical fit than blasting them onto the grid from a train. The Mystery features in and of themselves are nothing special, but each has a useful part to play in the overall scheme of things.

The XXXtreme Spins part is a talking point, and not only because it gets pricey at the upper level. From a purely numerical, might never happen in real life perspective, the 200x option in a slot with a max win of 8,130x felt lopsided when compared to, say, Starburst XXXtreme where the biggest bet was 95x and, on paper, potential was 200,000x (haven't seen much of that unfortunately). But this is an XXXtreme slot, so pricey feature buys are a big part of what they're about. To wrap up, for gamblers with an eye on bygone eras but who prefer extra depth, Reel Rush XXXtreme delivers a blast from the past that goes bigger. Other than that, it's a fairly forgettable experience that doesn't do much to stand out.