The 1980s incarnation of the Man of Steel gets the video slots treatment in Superman II, a 5 reel, 25 payline title from Playtech. Based on the 1980 film starring Christopher Reeve as Superman, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane and Terence Stamp as arch baddie General Zod, it comes with 3 free spin features as well as a pair of pick ’em rounds and a shot at 4 progressive jackpots. Take to the skies on all devices from 25p per spin.
The skyscrapers of Metropolis form the backdrop to the reels in Superman II – symbols on show include A to J playing cards as well as Clark Kent’s black-rimmed spectacles, a crystal of kryptonite, Lois Lane and baddies Zod, Ursa and Non. Superman is the most rewarding standard symbol – a 5-in-a-row combination awards 1,000 coins.
Superman’s famous red and yellow S shield is the wild – it substitutes for everything apart from the Daily Planet logo which is the scatter. 3, 4 or 5 wilds on a single payline will get you 15, 1,000 or 5,000 coins. An animated Superman can also fly across the reels at random in the Superman Wild feature and transform 2, 3 or 4 randomly chosen symbols into wilds.
There are plenty of features on offer in Superman II – land the Daily Planet logo scatter on reels 1, 3 and 5 to trigger the Daily Planet Headline Bonus feature. Click stop on 1 of the newspapers and you’ll be awarded 1 of the following bonus features:
Skyline Fight Free Games feature – an initial award of 10 free spins is made here. Watch out for Superman – when he lands, the free spins counter is frozen (in effect adding extra free spins to your total). Each Superman symbol that then lands boosts a multiplier by 1, up to a maximum of 5x. The evil General Zod has the opposite effect – whenever he lands, the frozen counter is unfrozen and the multiplier reverts back to 1x.
- Phantom Zone Free Games feature – you won’t be awarded a specific number of free spins. Just keep on spinning until you land the bomb symbol. Before that, watch out for the giant 2×2 Phantom Zone wild which zags across the reels to a new position on each free spin. The Super Reel can also add 2 or 3x multipliers or an extra life which means the bomb won’t end the feature.
- X-Ray Vision Free Games feature – land this round and you’ll be awarded 15 free spins. Keep a special eye out for the X-Ray wild – when it lands on the middle reel, it will magically turn into a wild and add extra wilds to reels 2 and 4.
- Battle For Metropolis feature – in this multi-level pick’em feature, you’ll be shown an inverted triangle made up of 6 Superman shields. Pick to reveal coin prizes, the X-Ray vision symbol which awards the level’s top prize or the crystal which offers an extra life. Keep on picking until you find a collect.
- Lois & Clark Bonus feature – this is another pick’em round. This time, you’ll be shown 30 shields. Keep picking until you land 5 of the same colour. Prizes of up to 100 times your stake can be won depending on what colour shields you find first. If you reveal an arrow, the prizes will be doubled with up to 200 times your stake on offer!
You’ll also have a shot at winning a mega prize in Superman II as it’s part of the DC Super Heroes Jackpot network. This bonus is activated at random – pick from the icons on the matrix and you could win the Mini, Minor, Major or Grand jackpot. The latter will give you a minimum of £1 million.
As you’d hope from a tie-up between giants of the slots and movie worlds, Superman II looks excellent. There’s a whole load of action on offer too courtesy of the 6 bonus features. If you like plenty of variety in your play, then this won’t disappoint.
Many critics rate Superman II the best of the 1980s movies – this video slot version maintains those high standards. It is a highly entertaining adaptation that’s well worth a closer look. I would also suggest you take a look at the prequel, Superman The Movie and Man of Steel which feature the Metropolis Marvel.
