Starburst Game Review

Theme and Story

Starburst lacks a strong story or theme, with symbols being typical of slot machines, such as lucky sevens, bar symbols, and an array of gems. The background conjures the atmosphere of a night sky or outer space, resulting in a vibrant and cheerful slot machine.

Graphics, Sounds and Animations

Starburst has a buoyant and cheerful tone, with the electronic soundtrack being slightly hypnotic in nature. The purple space-like void of the reel symbols is beautifully animated, and the background features graciously floating stars. The incredibly high definition graphics may cause the software to run slowly. The exquisite attention to detail is evident with the twinkling of gem symbols and the ability to scroll over the winlines, making them more visible. As expected from NetEnt slots, the animations and visuals are of the highest possible quality, keeping true to the company's reputation as a purveyor of exciting games.

Gameplay

Starburst has ten winlines, and players can select their preferred number of lines from one to ten. Unlike most games, winlines can be read from both right to left and left to right, which increases the likelihood of payouts, but does not impact the 96.1% RTP. The user-friendly interface and high-quality graphics contribute to the overall immersive and entertaining experience. The reels are stacked, making combo wins more probable.

Wilds, Bonuses and Free Spins

The bonus trigger of Starburst is its special Wild symbol. Instead of an extra round or free spins, the Wild symbol activates and expands to cover the entire reel when it lands. Following the completion of payouts for that spin, a free spin begins, with the wild reels remaining frozen, allowing players to win twice with all wild reels. If any further Wilds hit, they will trigger yet another free spin with the Wild reels still locked in place. Wild symbols only appear on reels two, three and four, and their frequency does not change during the free spins.

Bet Sizes, RTP and Variance

According to the design team, the RTP of Starburst is 96.1%, and both-way winlines and stacked symbols result in consistent small wins, producing relatively low volatility. The vast range of potential bet sizes starts from €/£/$0.01 and goes up to €/£/$100. Three different controls for coin value (€/£/$ per coin), lines (number of lines), and level (number of coins per line) offer players significant control over their bets. The maximum payout per spin is 50,000 coins, although substantial payouts of this magnitude are infrequent.

Conclusion

Starburst is an attractive game, with occasional unique aspects such as its frozen Wild symbol bonus and both-way winlines. Its simple and streamlined gameplay design is noteworthy. However, the average RTP and low volatility make it less suited to seasoned slot players, and our strategies tend to work more effectively with high volatility games.