ThunderCats Reels of Thundera: Review

The cult ‘80s cartoon ThunderCats is a nostalgic favourite for plenty of players. It centres on a group of feline humanoid aliens—Lion-O, Tygra, Panthro, Cheetara, Wilykat, and Wilykit—who flee their ruined planet to a new world. There, they attempt to build a fresh home while battling a range of villains. Although it was originally produced in Japan with American voice actors, the series was acquired and absorbed into Warner Bros in 1989, who still holds the rights to the franchise.

With Warner Bros on board, Blueprint Gaming adds another branded title to its already sizeable line-up with ThunderCats Reel of Thundera. It follows the same blueprint as other entries in the studio’s nostalgia-driven branded range, including The Goonies, Mars Attacks!, and Beavis and Butt-Head. If you’ve tried any of those, you’ll have a good idea of what’s coming. Running on 5 reels and 20 paylines, it packs in a stack of random base-game events, multiple bonus options, and a feature gamble aimed at the fearless. ThunderCats Reel of Thundera supports stakes from 10 cents up to 200€ per spin, so it caters to casual bettors and big spenders alike.

From a presentation standpoint, it’s hard to fault. The visuals use cartoon-style art that matches the original show and should hit the spot for ThunderCats fans. A bubbling lava backdrop and punchy, fast-tempo music help set the tone, while the reels feature J, Q, K, and A royals alongside surfboards, nunchakus, ThunderTanks, swords, and the ThunderCats logo. The logo, which shows up super stacked on the reels, pays best, awarding 50 times your stake for 5 across a full payline. The wild symbol replaces all symbols except the scatter and carries the same value as the top symbol.

ThunderCats Reels of Thundera: Features

During the base game, Awaken the Eye if Thundera may activate at random on any spin, awarding 1 of 6 reel modifiers. Here’s what they do:

• Lion-O – adds wilds to the reels, greatly boosting the likelihood of landing a winning combo.
• Tygra – sweeps across the reels with a chance to turn them wild, and any win will retrigger the feature.
• Panthro – hits the reels to link between 2 to 5 reels together, causing them to show matching symbols.
• Cheetara – races over the reels and rearranges all visible symbols into new positions. This feature can retrigger up to 5 times.
• Wily Kit and Wily Kat – places Mystery Symbols onto the reels, which then all change into the same symbol.
• Snarf – adds scatter symbols to the reels, sharply increasing the odds of triggering the bonus.

On top of that, four extra reel modifiers can appear after a losing spin, potentially delivering five of a kind wins, symbol upgrades, and symbol removals.

Watch for the ThunderCats logo, which acts as the bonus scatter—landing 3 or more on screen starts the bonus wheel, which ultimately lands on 1 of the 6 bonus features. It’s worth mentioning that we found the wheel to be disproportionally weighted, usually stopping on the two lowest-value bonuses. Regardless, once a bonus is awarded, you’re given the option to gamble it in an attempt to upgrade to something better, with the risk of having to settle for a cash prize instead, or simply keep what you’ve won. Once you’re in, these are the bonus possibilities:

• Sight Beyond Sight – Choose an Eye of Thundera to uncover one of four results: Lion-O (Cash Multiplier is increased); Thundercats Logo (Cash Multiplier values are upgraded); Mumm-Ra (will end the feature); Thundertank (takes you to another bonus). You can activate any one of the five other bonuses if the ThunderTank appears three times.
• The Black Pyramid – You pick from emblems to reveal one of three results. Lion-O (moves your marker along the pyramid); Thundercats Logo (upgrades the bonus at the top of The Black Pyramid); Mumm-Ra (ends the feature). Hitting an arrow pushes you up The Black Pyramid—reach the top to trigger another feature.
• The Ever-Living: Free Spins – An on-screen multiplier chooses a random value each spin from x2 – x5, applying it to any win. If two or more Special Mumm-Ra symbols land in view on any spin, extra Ever-Living Spins are added. During the retrigger, the multiplier selects a random value between x6 – x10 each spin.
• Hear The Roar: Free Spins – If a special Lion-O symbol appears in view on any spin, it upgrades another symbol shown by the image beside the reels. This can occur up to four times. When the free spins finish, you get a shot at more spins. Selecting an Eye of Thundera will either end the feature or grant additional spins.
• Thundercats Hooo! Free Spins – Any wild that lands in view becomes sticky until the feature ends. You receive five extra spins for filling an entire reel with wilds.
• Ancient Spirits of Evil – Activated by landing 5 scatter symbols, gambling to, or when the bonus wheel stops on the Ancient Spirits of Evil segment. You choose from emblems to reveal one of five outcomes. Lion-O (spins the wheel); Thundercats Logo (moves you to the next ring); Mumm-Ra (the feature ends); Red Arrow (adds more red arrows to the wheel); Upgrade (increases wheel values). Landing on a cash value replaces that segment with a red arrow. Landing on a red arrow moves you to the next ring. Reaching the wheel’s centre awards the Ultimate Thunder bonus.
• Ultimate Thunder Bonus – Your total winnings from Ancient Spirits of Evil carry over into the Ultimate Thunder bonus. You then select one of the ThunderCats to reveal a multiplier, which is applied to your winnings.

ThunderCats Reels of Thundera: Verdict

It would be dishonest to say there wasn’t some let-down in discovering that ThunderCats Reels of Thundera is essentially a reskin of The Goonies and other Blueprint-branded releases. If those titles didn’t click for you, this one likely won’t either. But if you can look past the clear gameplay overlap—and you enjoy the studio’s bonus-packed, feature-heavy style—there’s a strong chance you’ll have fun with this.

The different modifiers feel thoughtfully put together, the audio is genuinely strong, and the vivid colours plus lively animation make it an exciting slot overall. As an adaptation, ThunderCats Reels of Thundera does a great job of reflecting the show’s rapid-fire action, while also delivering a top potential of up to 10,000 times your total stake.