Montezuma Megaways: Overview

The fight for the most impressive Megaways bonus feature has a fresh challenger. SG Digital and legendary developer WMS have teamed up to give an older title the Megaways treatment, and the outcome is a highly playable slot. The original Montezuma isn’t particularly ancient, yet it clearly benefits from the revamp and the added polish. The last couple of WMS Megaways releases were a bit of a mixed bag. Raging Rhino Megaways delivered in places but had noticeable issues, and the less said about Battleship Direct Hit the better. With Montezuma Megaways, it looks like much of the feedback aimed at those games has been taken on board, resulting in a release that outperforms both across most areas and measures.

Visually, it’s largely familiar, which works well since this is an upgrade. The symbols are unchanged, and the humid South American atmosphere remains, just with a few refinements. Overall, fans of the original should feel instantly at home—until the reels start spinning and the Megaways engine kicks in. The main playfield features 6 reels with 2 to 7 symbols on each. Above sits a 4-symbol strip called the Montezuma Wheel. At full stretch, the game offers 117,649 ways to win. Montezuma Megaways also uses the Megaways Cascading Reels mechanic, where winning symbols blow up and disappear, and new ones fall into place. This can create sequences of wins from a single spin.

As with most cascading win setups, individual symbol payouts are generally quite modest. Wins are made with 3 – 6 of a kind, and the paytable is split between low and high-value symbols. The low group is the four royals, J to A, while the higher-value set includes a snake, mask, plumed hat, hawk, empress and emperor. The empress carries the striking name Chichimecacihuatzin, and the emperor is Montezuma himself. He’s the premium symbol, paying 25 times the stake for six of a kind. That’s decent, though the other premium symbols pay 0.25x – 1x the stake for six on a payline. On the numbers side, RTP switches between 95.92% in standard play and 96.17% with the Buy Pass enabled. Expect medium/high volatility, paired with a strong bonus round where the game truly stands out.

Montezuma Megaways: Features

One of the main tools for linking wins is the Temple Wild symbol. It appears only on the Montezuma Reel and can replace any standard paying symbol. After a spin that doesn’t produce a win, the Montezuma Respin Wheel can trigger at random. The top 1×4 horizontal reel gets a small push to give players another shot at a payout—this can happen in both the base game and during free spins.

Beyond those two, the key symbol to watch for is the Aztec Calendar scatter. Hitting 3 or more activates the Free Spins feature. As in the original, there isn’t a fixed number of free spins. Instead, a segmented wheel spins, and the value it lands on becomes the free spins total, usually 12 – 30. Free spins play like the base game, but with two crucial upgrades. First is the Unlimited Win Multiplier, which increases by +1 with every cascade. In addition, scatter symbols can still land, but they won’t retrigger free spins. Instead, if two or more appear, the wheel spins again and the result is added to the multiplier. The more scatters that spin the wheel, the bigger the extra boost, which can reach up to +100.

Ideally, you’ll want those scatters to show up at any point in the bonus, but they’re especially valuable on the last free spin. When they land then, they spin the wheel again, and whatever multiplier is selected is applied to the total amount won across the free spins round—an outcome that can dramatically shift the result.

Free spins also include a bonus guarantee. If the round ends with winnings below 30 times the total bet, the game replaces the smaller total with a payout of 30 times the stake. It’s not something you’d chase, but it’s a welcome safeguard.

Subject to your local rules, Montezuma Megaways may include a Buy Pass option. This costs 85 times the stake, which is relatively modest compared to many recent releases. Activate it and you’re guaranteed at least 3 scatters on the next spin.

Montezuma Megaways: Verdict

Montezuma Megaways is a clear step up from both the original game and other WMS Megaways titles. Credit to WMS for listening to feedback and delivering something far smoother than the clunky feel seen in Raging Rhino Megaways. The end product still carries hints of its land-based roots, while also feeling like a genuinely modern refresh.

In terms of potential, Montezuma can pay up to 12,500 times the stake. It may not top the Megaways charts, but it’s still a strong maximum—and comfortably better than the baffling 2,500x cap used in Battleship.

The unlimited Megaways Multiplier in free spins is the feature most likely to fuel future highlight clips. Players who can jump straight to it using the bonus Buy Pass will find it hard to resist. Those who can’t access buy features have yet another reason to feel let down by their regulator. Either way, Montezuma Megaways is a standout remake, and WMS have done an excellent job updating a proven slot using Big Time Gaming’s popular engine. It keeps enough of the original identity while modernising the experience, resulting in a slot that’s as entertaining as it can be rewarding.