It’s probably a good thing Disney released Hercules in 1997. If it came out today, Zeus would have been canceled before the opening credits, Phil would be facing an HR investigation, and Hades would have his own podcast explaining how the mainstream media had conspired to keep him out of Olympus.
To avoid the landmines its source material didn’t have to deal with, Popiplay’s Zero to Hero: Perseus slot leans into mocking tropes that we can all agree are worth mocking.
Oympus has a bicep-width requirement
The Zero to Hero: Perseus slot is played on a 6×6 grid and features 50 paylines. Betting starts at $0.10 and goes up to $17.50 per spin. With a maximum win multiplier of 25,000x, playing at the highest bet gives you a shot at winning up to $437,500.
The slot features high volatility, so it’s unlikely you’ll be able to count on small, consistent wins as you chase those big wins. The slot’s theoretical RTP is 97.28%.
Coin symbols can appear on the reels with values ranging from 1x to 100x your bet. These symbols appear on the first five reels and can be collected when a Collector symbol lands on the sixth reel.
Things get a little more interesting when the Collector lands on one of the two Hot Spots in the middle of the sixth reel. Provided there’s at least one Coin or Multiplier symbol on the reels, this triggers the Heroic Hold & Respin bonus.
During a round of the Heroic Hold & Respin bonus, Coin and Multiplier symbols are fixed in place when they appear on the reels. You get three spins to grab as many symbols as possible, with your spins being reset each time a new symbol lands. Your round ends when you go three spins without a new symbol appearing.
The slot also features two types of wild symbols. The Perseus wild appears exclusively on the first reel, substituting for regular paying symbols. The Medusa wild can appear on reels two through six and comes with a multiplier of 1x, 2x, 3x, or 5x, which is applied to winning combinations in which it appears.
Landing both wild symbols on a single spin triggers the Medusa Hunt free spins feature.
Every Medusa wild symbol that appears during the round is collected by the Perseus wild, which remains on the reels throughout. Collecting a certain number of Medusa wild symbols increases the size of the Perseus wild.
Collecting five unlocks a 2×2 wild and awards three additional free spins. Collecting four more upgrades it to a 3×3 wild and awards three more spins, and so on until you reach a 6×6 symbol.
The Rolling Stone feature can randomly trigger after a losing spin, as long as there’s at least one special symbol on the reels. Depending on which symbol is present, it awards a respin on a specific set of reels, giving you another opportunity to land a winning combination.
Meanwhile, the Hero Spin feature can randomly activate during Medusa Hunt or Heroic Hold & Respin. It awards an additional free spin or respin once your allocated spins are exhausted.
If you’re not particularly interested in waiting around for the gods to bless you with a bonus, Zero to Hero: Perseus also offers five Bonus Buy options.
Is the Zero to Hero: Perseus slot a Greek tragedy?
I loved the Hercules movie, and I am equally fond of a little bit of clever satire. So, what do I think of the Zero to Hero: Perseus slot? It captures the feel of the movie while adding some funny elements, like the empty protein vase at the bottom of the screen.
The slot is also not short on features. While I would have loved this to be a lower-volatility slot to maximise that gameplay, this one has a lot going for it.
I give the Zero to Hero: Perseus slot a nine out of ten.
If you’re looking for a few other fun Popiplay slots to try out, I recommend Mad Labs and Wild Wild Duck.
