Thunderstruck II Pokies Review: Microgaming at its Best

Microgaming has released hundreds of new online pokies over the years. Some have gone on to last the test of time, while others became total flops. Thunderstruck II Pokies falls into the first category, having spent the last seven years at the top of the digital gaming giant’s best-in-breed rating’s list.

Thunderstruck II is the sequel to the original Thunderstruck pokies game, which was a phenomenal success in its own right. In fact, until part two came along, the original was one of Microgaming’s most popular reel spinners.

Unlike most sequels, Thunderstruck II was infinitesimally better than the first, delivering a fantastic theme, cutting-edge graphics (for its time period) and a non-progressive jackpot payout capped at 2.5 million coins.

Thunderstruck II Review

Released in May 2010, Thunderstruck II pokies brings the epic Gods of Norse Mythology to life on desktop and mobile screens. With 5 reels and 243 ways to win, players can spend anywhere from $0.30 to $15.00 to spin the reels.

The game’s four main characters are the Norse Gods – Valkyrie, Loki, Odin and Thor. The Thunderstruck II Logo is the Wild, substituting for all but Bonus symbols and delivering a 1,000 credit payout for 5 on a line, and doubling the payouts for any winning combination it helps create.

The only time the Wild doesn’t double wins is when the randomly activated Wildstorm feature triggers. When this occurs, the player receives 1 free spin with anywhere from 1 to all 5 reels being Wild.

The Bonus symbol is Thor’s Hammer. This is the symbol player’s will want to see most often, as it triggers the game’s iconic Great Hall of Spins feature whenever 3 or more appear on the reels in a single spin.

There are four levels of free spin bonus features that can be awarded in the Great Hall of Spins, each characterized by it’s Norse God figure. The feature that is played will be based on how many times the Great Hall of Spins has been activated in the current session.

Valkyrie Feature: (1^st to 4^th trigger) Valkyrie’s feature awards 10 free spins with a 5x multiplier that can be re-triggered during the bonus round.

Loki Feature: (5^th to 9^th trigger) Loki gives players 15 free spins with a Wild Magic feature. The Wild Magic symbol is a Wild, and can only appear on the 3^rd reel. When it does, it randomly turns other positions on the reels Wild.

Odin Feature: (10^th to 14^th trigger) Odin grants 20 free spins, while his Odin’s Raven power can turn symbols into 2x and 3x multipliers. If both 2x and 3x multipliers appear, they combine to deliver a 6x multiplier.

Thor Feature: (15^th+ trigger) The mightiest of all, Thor bestows players with 25 free spins and a Rolling Reels feature. Every time the reels reveal a winning combination, they will respin with an added 1x multiplier, increasing up to 5x.

Overall Opinion of Thunderstruck II Pokies

When this game was first released, it became the ultimate online poker machine, decimating the competition. A year later, Microgaming released Immortal Romance, a virtual mirror of Thunderstruck II that inevitably stole the crown from its predecessor – mostly because it had a slightly higher max payout.

Overall, Thunderstruck II is still up there with the top 5 online pokies games ever released. Anyone who enjoys the mythological theme should enjoy it, and the frequent payouts don’t hurt either.