Big Bass Bonanza Demo
Big Bass Bonanza Slot Review
Dust off your fishing rod and load your tacklebox, Reel Kingdom is taking us for a spot of fishing in their new release, Big Bass Bonanza!
Loyal followers of Blueprint Gaming’s Fishin’ Frenzy slot series can put their fishing skills to the test in Big Bass Bonanza – the first-ever fishing slot release from Pragmatic Play partner, Reel Kingdom.
The Fishing Collection mechanic has become a proven formula, linked to a variety of popular fishing-themed slots, but will it prove to be worthy in Big Bass Bonanza? As you spin the reels, let’s hope the Fisherman is a lot more willing and able to perform than the likes of Fishin’ Frenzy: The Big Catch.
When we’re not angling for the Free Spins mode, we’re attempting to reel in sizable wins of up to 2,100x your bet during base game spins. Without further ado, let’s drop our rods into the deep, blue sea of Big Bass Bonanza and see if anything bites!
Base Game & Features
Big Bass Bonanza is a brand-new fishing slot release from Reel Kingdom, featuring 5 reels, 3 rows, and 10 fixed pay lines. Bet sizes can be customised via coins per line and coin value for those who prefer a personalised touch; otherwise, you can choose a predefined bet size.
Winning combinations occur when 2-5 matching symbols from the paytable appear on reels 1-5, on adjacent reels. The highest-paying symbol is the Float, followed by rods, dragonflies, tackleboxes, fish, and A, K, Q, J, & 10 card suits.
In addition, the Fisherman symbol serves as the game’s Wild & Collect symbol, appearing in the Free Spins round and substituting for all symbols except Scatters.
Fish (Money) Symbols
During each base game spin, a series of Fish symbols can appear on the reels, revealing a fixed Cash Prize between 2x and 2,000x your bet.
The value of each Fish symbol is inactive during the base game; however, they do award a fixed payout of 1x, 5x, and 20x your bet for 3, 4, or 5-of-a-kind wins. Please note that Fish (money) symbols only activate during the Free Spins mode.
Big Bass Bonanza Free Spins
To trigger the Free Spins mode, 3, 4, or 5 Scatters are needed to hit in the base game, awarding 10, 15, and 20 Free Spins, respectively.
During this round, the visible Cash Prizes upon fish symbols are now obtainable. To access their values, you need to land Fisherman Wild symbols within the same spin. Once this happens, he will gather up all available Cash Prizes and apply them to your total win amount.
Furthermore, Fisherman Wilds are collected and stored within a special Free Spins Trail above the main reel set. When 4 Fisherman Wilds are stored, the game will award +10 Free Spins and a Multiplier of x2, x3, and x10 for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd retriggers, respectively.
The newly-awarded Multiplier is then applied to all collected Fish (money) symbols from the Fisherman Wild. If a game round exceeds the 2,100x max win potential, the current mode will end, and the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Lastly, when Fisherman Wilds are visible on the reels, without Fish (money) symbols, a special Dynamite animation will transform certain symbols into Fish (money) symbols.
Our Honest Verdict
Reel Kingdom’s Big Bass Bonanza release shares many similarities to the Fishin’ Frenzy series, but it’s a great addition, nonetheless. However, there are a couple of intricate differences that make this title a far better offering, one of which is the Dynamite animation within the Free Spins mode.
During the Free Spins mode, the Fisherman Wild becomes a solid part of gameplay, collecting up Cash Prizes and progressing us along the Free Spins Trail. Strangely, the minute we gain access to him, he does the dirty on us and disappears, making it rather difficult to obtain anything significant.
Thanks to the Dynamite animation, we’re hopeful to receive a fish collection or two during our time here, but it’s spotty at best. When the Free Spins mode does play ball, it can be really exciting watching the Free Spins Trail climb to new Multiplier levels, but as we’re already aware, reaching the more promising Multipliers is no walk in the park.
Our only bug-bear is the 2,100x max win potential. If you’re still on the fence about this release, it may be worth mentioning that the Fishin’ Frenzy series offers five times this amount in potential. If you’re here for the crazy-big wins, you’ll be thoroughly disappointed.
Let’s just hope Reel Kingdom can do better next time, eh? That’s if there is one. If the Fishing genre continues to climb the ranks in popularity, we’re almost certain there will be more to come.
All in all, Big Bass Bonanza will charm the pants off players with a hand in all things fishing, but it lacks in the feature and mechanics department, with the occasional dry spell throughout gameplay.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before real play is available.
