NextGen Gaming gives us with Starmania a slot machine which seems a bit unusual for this developer, not only because it has a different kind of look, but also because it doesn’t have too many paylines to offer you. Themed around stars, it uses them as symbols, but makes them look more like jewels. You see the star filled universe behind the reels though.
It’s not your typical NextGen slot machine, offering only 10 bet lines on the 5 reels it comes with. The features consist of stacked wilds, free spins, scatters and regular wilds. Payouts will go up to $4,000.
Features of Starmania
While the look might be unusual, the feature list is pretty standard for NextGen, featuring wild symbols, scatters and free games with extra stacked wilds.
To start with, let’s take a look at the wild symbol, with its own Logo representing it. This symbol can only substitute for others, without giving away prizes, as it can only appear on three reels, the ones from the centre of the game area. Wilds don’t substitute for scatters, but that’s not unusual at all.
The Bonus Logo is actually a scatter icon which is both the trigger for prizes of up to 200 times the bet, and a way to get the free spins started. The scatter’s power allows it to do both things no matter where the symbols appear, as long as they’re all present in the same spin.
Free Games Feature
You will need 3 or more Bonus Logos scattered on the reels before you can get into the free spins mode. 10 rounds are available when this happens, during which you get a wild symbol to the three middle reels each round. A total of 30 extra wilds will be added to the three reels during the free spins, which can be retriggered as well if you’re lucky.
Betting options and jackpots
While you always have to bet on all 10 lines, the bets can be very small and it shouldn’t be a problem, no matter what your budget is. The betting range goes from $0.10 to $20, using line bets of $0.01 to $2.
The best prize comes from a scatter symbol, which awards 200 times the bet as a prize, and that will mean $4,000. Regular symbols give you up to $1,000.
Design and symbols
There isn’t that much to talk about when it comes to the design of Starmania. It’s a simple picture of the night sky, filled with stars towards which you seem to be advancing, a decent background picture considering the theme. The symbols are star shaped jewels, in various colors, some of them with golden circles around them. Nothing special there, and I’d say it’s not enough variety when it comes to the visuals, so you’re going to get bored quickly.
Symbols: Wild Logo (wild), Bonus Logo (scatter, 200 times the bet), Red & Gold Star (500 coins), Pink & Gold Star (100 coins), Green & Gold Star (75 coins), Blue & Gold Star (75 coins), Pink Star (50 coins), Green Star (50 coins) and Blue Star (50 coins).
Is It Worth Playing?
If you’re tired with the usual slot that this developer creates, this one certainly seems different, but unfortunately not necessarily better.
You will find Starmania at any online casino which chooses to use software from NextGen, playable either for free or for real money.
