4K Ultra Gold

4K Ultra Gold: Slot Overview

7 Gold Fruits, 7 Gold Gigablox, and 4K Ultra Gold; if there's one precious metal developer, 4ThePlayer appears to have a fondness for, it is the shiny yellow stuff. To be fair, gold is an extraordinarily popular metal in the online gambling business in general, and along with 'bonanza' is a word you can tack on to just about any set of words to spice them up. Wallpaper Gold, Visit to the Dentist Gold, Gas Bill Gold, see, it just goes on there to give any subject an extra blast of pizzazz. 4K Ultra Gold links itself to a couple of earlier 4ThePlayer slots in other ways, too, via its Money Ways prize feature, which is joined by Collect Spins, free spins, and more.

If you've seen one of these retro slots, you have kind of seen them all, to an extent. There are exceptions, of course, and many players no doubt have their favourites. 4K Ultra Gold joins the group, being neither exceptionally eye-catching nor optically damaging. It's got the bright colours and the flashy presentation endemic in this genre, so fans of this style shouldn't feel short-changed, though there's nothing that stood out to remark on from a graphical standpoint, aside from a slight graininess. The tunes, hmm, they might be an acquired taste.

What's not a classic feature is 4K Ultra Gold's 4,096 ways to win pay system, operating on a 6-reel, 4-row gaming grid. Winning combinations, and this includes Money Ways wins, are awarded when matching symbols land from the leftmost side of the panel over consecutive reels. The math model is a medium-high volatile machine, pushing out an RTP of 94%. Stakes of 20 c to $/€80 are available, as are a bunch of bonus buy options.

4K Ultra Gold's low pays are 10 to Ace card ranks, with values of 1.25x to 1.5x the bet when creating a winning way. Then there are 5 higher paying bells, chips, horseshoes, gold bars, and dollar sign symbols awarding 2 to 7.5 times the stake for a 6-of-a-kind way. Wilds jump in to help compete winning ways by substituting for all symbols except scatters.

4K Ultra Gold: Slot Features

4K Ultra Gold provides several different ways of potentially winning cash. These are Money Ways, Collect scatters, Fortune Prizes, and two selectable bonus rounds – Collect Spins and free spins.

Money Ways

Money Ways has roots in games like the "4 Fantastic" slots and 5 Doggy Dollars. Gold symbols may land on any reel with a Cash Prize of 0.6 to 100 times the bet. They increase their value whenever they land on the grid up to the respective reel's maximum level before any wins. If Gold symbols create a winning combination from the leftmost reel, they award the prize values they possess. Once a payout has taken place, the Gold symbols revert to their original prize values.

Collect Scatters

When Collect scatters hit, each one awards the cash values of all Gold symbols on the reels. This occurs separately from Gold symbols forming Money Ways.

Boosting Fortunes Prizes

Present on the rightmost reel are the Fortune symbols. If a Fortune symbol is part of a Gold symbol way win, the Fortune Prize on the symbol is awarded. These are the Ultra (4,000x – 10,000x), Mega (500x – 2,500x), Super (100x – 750x), and Big (50x – 300x) Fortunes. If they land and are not won, the Fortune Prize increases (up to the maximum values) and may be won on later spins. When the Fortune Prize is won, its value is reset to the starting value.

Bonus Rounds

Landing at least 3 scatter symbols triggers the bonus round where players may choose Collect Spins or free spins: 3 scatters (2 collect spins or 8 free spins), 4 scatters (3 collect spins or 12 free spins), 5 scatters (5 collect spins or 20 free spins), or 6 scatters (10 collect spins or 40 free spins).

Collect Spins

For Collect Spins, only Gold symbols bearing Cash Prizes and Collect symbols may land. On each spin, 1 Collect symbol is guaranteed to land. Cash prizes can still be awarded via Money Ways, as well. This feature cannot be retriggered.

Free Spins

During free spins, when wilds appear, they become multiplier wilds appearing with a random multiplier value of x5 to x50. This multiplier is able to multiply wins and Cash Prizes. Free spins can be extended by hitting 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 scatter symbols to get 5, 8, 12, 25, or 50 extra free spins, but Collect symbols do not appear during this feature.

Bonus Buy

The bonus buy is where players can get to the bonus phase triggered by 3-6 scatters for 50x the bet, 4-6 scatters for 75x the bet, 5-6 scatters for 125x the bet, or 6 scatters for 250x the bet.

4K Ultra Gold: Slot Verdict

Not so sure about these 7 Gold, Ultra Gold games so far. The reason why is that 4ThePlayer usually stands out from the crowd by stuffing more imaginative subject matter into its games than classic fruit iconography. The retro angle feels like plucking at low-hanging fruit by comparison instead of leading players somewhere off the beaten trail like the studio did in games such as 10X Rewind or 60 Second Heist. Those slots were as imaginative on the features side as they were on the theme side. Of course, this is the online slot bizz, and cranking out classic, retro, fruit games is basically a de facto requirement, but that doesn't stop these kinds of games from feeling a dime a dozen.

4K Ultra Gold tries to push its way out of mediocrity by coupling a standard money symbol collect dynamic with Money Ways, which you know, is something. The bonus phase, too, gives players choices. Having a guaranteed Collect symbol on each Collect Spin is quite a thought, though the amount of spins doesn't leave much margin for error when triggered by a lesser number of scatters. What's interesting is how closely the dual pick bonuses mirrored Fortune Factory Studios' slot Mask of Amun. In fact, a lot of things about that game are similar to 4K Ultra Gold. Coincidence? Who can say? 4K Ultra Gold does win out in the winning potential battle, though, tipping the scales at 12,000x the bet.

4K Ultra Gold gives players looking for a retro hit with a more modern set of features an option to consider. The features did come across a little on the tired side, compounded by the generic, somewhat tacky visuals. Whether you ultimately like them or not, 4ThePlayer games are often quite a way out there on the edge of the envelope doing things few other slots do. Not 4K Ultra Gold, though, which felt diluted due to the below standard RTP, generic, slightly blurred look, at times annoying music, and recycled gaming.