Starburst
Game Information:
Online pokie machine giant NetEntertainment presents you with Starburst, one of the most popular pokie games anywhere on the Net.
With this popular addition to NetEntertainment’s already impressive arsenal, they attempt to recreate the casino days of the old with classic symbols and combine it with space-age styling and cosmic music, bringing back the old and mixing with the new.
Starburst returns to the roots of pokie machines by making things easy. This doesn’t mean that the game is dull; however, the crisp design and beautiful graphics should keep you glued to your screen for hours on end.
Something Old and Something New
Many welcome bonuses at some of the top-rated online casinos in New Zealand feature this pokie. Starburst online pokies present you with a beautiful, vibrant design. Bright colors, shiny jewels, and candy-like buttons provide a sensational graphic experience. The purple background combined with that neon green makes the buttons alluring and tempts you to keep pressing. The game’s style feels like an outer space setting with stars glittering all across the screen, and the symbols utilized are those long forgotten from the golden age of casinos, including gems, Sevens, and BARs.
The soundtrack goes along well with the design in creating a futuristic atmosphere while still being subtle enough to fade into the background to ensure it doesn’t become repetitive; At the same time, the sound effects provide a soothing sensation every time you spin the reels. Some pokie games prefer the use of complex images for their symbols; While this makes for some exciting designs, too often, it means that after playing, you carefully inspect the characters after every spin to differentiate between them. With Starburst pokies, however, the characters are large, distinct, and nicely laid out, making it easy to follow exactly what’s happening.
Sevens, Bar, and Gems
Starburst online pokies searched the archives for their symbols and found some familiar favorites lost through the generations. They’ve done an excellent job breathing some new life into their characters, and the designs are truly spectacular. The wild symbol is represented by a rainbow-colored star, instantly recognizable when it pops up on the screen. For a breakdown of the characters and their worth, see below. Note that the number represents combinations of 3, 4, or 5 symbols.
- Purple Amethyst: 5, 10, 25
- Blue Sapphire: 5, 10, 25
- Orange Amber: 7, 15, 40
- Green Emerald: 8, 20, 50
- Yellow Citrine: 10, 25, 60
- Seven: 25, 60, 120
- BAR: 50, 200, 250
The game sports five reels with three lines each and ten winning lines, which can be activated and deactivated as needed. Bets start at a minimum of $0.01 and can go up to $100 when all winning lines are active, which should satisfy all players. Unlike most pokie games, winning lines are calculated not only from left to right but from right to left as well, as long as the combination starts on the first or last reel.
The wild Starburst symbol can complete any broken combination on a winning line. Should more than one winning variety be available, the most valuable will be used to calculate your winnings.
You will receive an additional reward if you find the wild symbol anywhere on the middle three reels. The reel where the wild symbol is found will expand, transforming all other symbols on that reel to fantastic, and the game will then re-spin all other reels for a second chance at winning. Should the wild symbol make another appearance, another free spin will be awarded.
Win Small to Win Big
With a jackpot of up to $50,000 on the line with the wild reels and pokie-free spins, there are several reasons to keep playing Starburst pokies. The winning lines can be matched from left to right and right to left, which is not a common feature among online pokie machines. With no storyline driving the game, there is also nothing to attach any bonus features to.
Starburst is thus devoid of any groundbreaking bonus features apart from the expanding wilds, but this only makes the game much simpler and easier to enjoy. Mostly, you’ll be winning smaller amounts, but with the two-way winning line system, you should win more often than expected.
Something Special
As mentioned, Starburst, unfortunately, doesn’t offer many unique features. The wild symbols, which only appear on the middle three reels, will expand, covering the entire reel they pop up on and grant you a free spin. Any winnings earned with wild reels will be stored and added to winnings earned during your free spin. Also, remember that winning combinations can start from either the left or the right side of the screen, dramatically increasing your chances of winning.
Starburst pokies games also feature an automatic play mode which allows you to set the game to play a set number of spins without supervision, should you be otherwise occupied.
Our Take
Starburst then doesn’t offer anything revolutionary to the world of iGaming. This, however, should not necessarily be seen as a bad thing. What they’ve done instead is go back to the roots of what made pokie machines great, dust it off, and give them a fresh coat of paint. The visuals in this game are truly spectacular, and the retro symbols instill a sense of nostalgia that is very much appreciated.
The lack of special features is hard to miss, but Starburst has taken the basics of pokie machines and executed them so well that you’ll soon forget about them and enjoy the game’s simplicity. As always, Netent stands up to its name in the online casino world.
