Net Entertainment gives us in Champion of the Track a game with a horse racing theme, one of the few slot machines that have approached this subject and managed to make a presentable game out of it. I used to think that developers found it impossible to make a decent looking slot machine with a theme that involved horse racing, but Net Entertainment proved me wrong with this particular game, which is way above average if you compare it with its direct competitors.
Quite a few paylines are in this game, on its 5 reels being offered no less than 30 different opportunities to create a winning combo. Free spins, bonus games with horse racing action, wilds and scatters constitute the features provided in Champion of the Track. The biggest prizes offered will reach $20,000, provided that you’ve made the right bets.
Features of Champion of the Track
Horse racing is an actual part of the game, thanks to one of the bonus games, but it’s not the only one. You will discover that there are also wild symbols, free spins and scatters, the overall effect being quite pleasant.
First of all, I’m going to give you info on the wild symbol, my favorite feature in most games. It’s the case here as well, even though it’s a basic wild, without multipliers or any other qualities. However, besides acting as a substitute for the regular symbols, the wild gets you the top jackpot, worth 10,000x the line wager. It doesn’t substitute for scatter or bonus symbols, as expected.
The Horse symbol is, together with the jockey wild, one of the main features of the game. The Horse is used as a scatter, the one symbol that doesn’t need to be on an active payline with all its symbols in order to give you its prize. The simple presence of two to five Horses on the reels will give you the 2x to 100x the triggering bet payout.
Free Games Feature
The free spins require the same scattered Horses on the reels, to get you their 10 free spins. A minimum of three scatters constitute the requirement. Besides the free spins, you also get access to the Training Track and a 2x multiplier for the payouts obtained during the free rounds. The multiplier doesn’t apply to the career steps or to the bonus game payouts.
Each time you get a scatter symbol in the game, you advance on the training track by one position, passing one other horse. You can get up to five scatter symbols per session, and if you manage to get past 5 horses in one session you advance in your career by one step, you also reset the free spins to 10 and the scatters reset to 0.
Career Bonus
As I’ve mentioned above, you can advance in your career in this game. You need to advance through 20 steps, in order to get the Career Bonus started. In order to keep your progress saved, you must play the game within 48 hours after the last spin. You can keep building up your career over time, an interesting feature that makes you want to come back to it.
Bonus Game
You can start the horse racing bonus game by getting the Champion Trophy symbol, on the same payline, at least three times. A horse race follows, with the outcome and the position of your horse deciding what kind of payout you get from it.
Betting options and jackpots
Despite the presence of 30 paylines, it’s not a very expensive game to play. Each line can get a maximum of four coins, with the denomination’s range being $0.01 to $0.50. It translates into a line bet of $2, while the total goes up to $60, way below many of its competitors.
The most you can walk away with is the equivalent of 10,000 times the line bet, or 40,000 coins. It means $20,000 total, if $0.50 denominations were selected for that spin.
Design and symbols
Champion of the Track and its horse racing theme are well thought out and designed, Net Entertainment doing a great job in this particular title. The track surrounds the five reels of the slot, with a total of 20 steps that you can advance though, on your way to the finish line. There are a lot of small details on the screen, with high quality symbols and buttons that are fun to look at.
Symbols: Jockey (wild, 10,000x), Trophy Cup (scatter), Race Horse (scatter, 100x triggering wager), 2nd Place Ribbon (1,000x), Horseshoe (600x), Stop Watch (400x), Binoculars (300x), Jockey 9 (200x), Jockey 7 (150x), Jockey 5 (100x) and Jockey 4 (75x).
Is It Worth Playing?
Fans of horse racing don’t have that many good looking options to choose from out there, so give this one a chance if you like what you see. It’s got good enough prizes, plenty of paylines and its bonus games can be a lot of fun.
The Champion of the Track slot machine is offered through the Net Entertainment platform, so if you want to play it for real or just to practice, look out for casinos that use it.
