Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel Slot Review
Pragmatic Play partner Reel Kingdom is back with another epic instalment to their ‘Big Bass’ series, in Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel!
Everyone’s favourite jolly fisherman is back for a 5th round of fishing in Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel, where the Free Spins round introduces a Golden Fisherman symbol and a special Landing Net, along with an Ante Bet option that increases your chance of Scatters with every spin.
Reel Kingdom’s Big Bass series has won the hearts of many players in the past and so it’s no surprise that they have chosen to continue its success by adding another to the series, but will Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel live up to expectations?
In terms of design, Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel gives nothing away and Reel Kingdom has chosen to keep this game cosmetically identical to the other ‘Big Bass’ titles with the underwater background. On the surface Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel looks just like the rest of them, but underneath this, there are many changes.
Since the original Big Bass Bonanza, we’ve had the pleasure of playing alongside our favourite fisherman in a Megaways and Christmas version, but how will Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel compare to these much-loved titles? Let’s play on and find out!
Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel Base Game and Features
Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel is a 5-reel slot with 10 fixed paylines. Winning combinations are formed when 3 or more (or 2 or more of the highest paying symbol) land from left to right, starting from the left-most reel.
The minimum bet available to players is £/€0.10 (£/€0.15 Ante Bet) per spin and the maximum bet available is £/€250 (£/€375 Ante Bet) per spin, with plenty of other betting options in between the two. Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel has a theoretical RTP of 96.07% and a maximum win capacity of 10,000x.
In terms of symbols, the highest paying regular symbol in Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel is the Fishing Float, followed by the Fishing Rod, Dragonfly and Tacklebox. Low-paying symbols are standard Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten. There is also a Wild symbol present which only appears in the Free Spins round and substitutes for all symbols except Scatters.
Since the release of Big Bass Splash which introduced a feature involving Scatters and Respins, Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel offers something similar where if 2 Scatters land during the base game, a third Scatter can be pulled onto the reels by a Hook animation, triggering the Free Spins round. In addition to this, Reel Kingdom has also thrown in an Ante Bet option for you to take advantage of.
Ante Bet
On the left side of the reel set sits an Ante Bet option. Choosing to activate the Ante Bet option will increase your current bet by 50%, but with that comes certain benefits.
Once active, more Scatter symbols are present on the reels which increases your chances of triggering the Free Spins round. When the Ante Bet is active, the RTP will remain the same at 96.07%.
Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel Free Spins
Landing 3, 4 or 5 Scatters in any position across the reels triggers the Free Spins round, awarding 10, 15 and 20 Free Spins respectively. If 2 Scatters land, there is a chance of the third Scatter being pulled onto the reels through a Hook animation feature, but this is not guaranteed.
The Free Spins round is similar to previous Big Bass titles, but there’s quite a catch to this one. During Free Spins, you will be introduced to the Golden Fisherman symbol and a Landing Net that is perched in the top left corner of the reel set.
Like previous Big Bass titles, all Fish symbols and their values now become active, but they are not just collected in the usual way. If Fish Money symbols land without a Fisherman symbol present, they will be collected and stored in the Landing Net and their values will be added together. At the start of every Free Spin, a random Fish and its value will escape from the Landing Net and its value is subtracted from the total amount.
Also during Free Spins, if a regular Fisherman symbol lands at the same time as Fish Money symbols, their total prize values will be collected and added to the total win amount. If a Golden Fisherman symbol lands, it will collect all prize values of any present Fish Money symbols and also the total amount accumulated in the Landing Net.
All regular and Golden Fisherman symbols are then collected and stored at the bottom of the reel set in a Meter. Every 4th regular or Golden Fisherman symbol that is collected will retrigger the round, awarding an additional +10 Free Spins and increasing the multiplier for Fish Money symbols to x2 for level 2, then x3 for level 3 and finally x10 for the last level.
At the end of a Free Spin, when a Fisherman symbol lands on a reel without any Fish Money symbols, one of two features can be triggered. The first one is a Dynamite animation can appear and randomly place Fish Money symbols onto the reels. The second one is a Boat that is dragging a net will drive across the reels, replacing random symbols with Fish Money symbols.
If the roles are reversed and Fish Money symbols land on the reels minus a Fisherman symbol, a Hook animation can appear which pulls a random reel up to reveal a Fisherman symbol.
Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel Bonus Buy
For those of you who are outside the UK, you will benefit from a Bonus Buy option.
Reel Kingdom has granted players access to the Free Spins round for a generous 100x your current bet. The RTP when purchasing the Free Spins round remains the same at 96.07%.
Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel: Our Verdict
Reel Kingdom is intent on milking the Big Bass Bonanza series for all its worth, and who could blame them when it’s become so popular?
Years ago if you’d have asked someone what the go-to fishing slot is they’d have probably said Fishin’ Frenzy, and Big Bass Bonanza and all of its variants certainly feels like the modern day fishing game of an ever-changing era.
Will it ever be knocked off its perch? Probably one day, unless Reel Kingdom keep it going forever.
They seem to improve on the original formula each time. Compared to the original Big Bass Bonanza there’s a fair few bells and whistles, and players will certainly appreciate the new features.
In our review, one issue our team noted with the Big Bass series is how predictable it can feel. There are lots of times where you’ll reach next level before watching in frustration as the fisherman all but disappears. Did he fall into the water? Who knows, but it certainly is a bit of a cold shower.
In terms of potential, Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel is capable of up to 10,000x, which is bigger than all of their previous games.
All in all, Big Bass Bonanza is another great fishing slot to grace our screens, but many other providers look to reinvent the genre in their own way. Will one of them succeed, or is Big Bass Bonanza Keeping it Reel the epitome of fishing slots?
We don’t think so, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.
Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel
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What is new in Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel compared to earlier Big Bass slots?
This version introduces the Golden Fisherman symbol and a Landing Net mechanic, which adds a new layer of strategy to how Fish Money values are collected during Free Spins. -
How does the Landing Net feature work in Free Spins?
When Fish Money symbols land without a Fisherman present, their values are stored in the Landing Net, but one random Fish escapes at the start of each Free Spin, reducing the total held amount. -
What does the Golden Fisherman symbol do?
The Golden Fisherman collects all visible Fish Money values on the reels and also captures the full amount stored in the Landing Net in a single spin. -
What is the purpose of the Ante Bet option?
The Ante Bet increases the stake by 50 percent and adds more Scatter symbols to the reels, improving the chances of triggering the Free Spins feature without affecting RTP. -
What is the maximum win potential in Big Bass Bonanza Keeping It Reel?
The game offers a maximum win of 10,000x the bet, which is the highest win cap seen so far in the Big Bass Bonanza series.
