Epic Fish: Marlin Madness Slot Review
Meet Bazza McReel, a Coral Sea legend and the only fisherman that you’d want on your boat if you’re down under. Get ready to chase the fabled Black Marlin in Quickspin’s Epic Fish: Marlin Madness release!
After learning how to tackle the biggest fish of the Caribbean and Norwegian seas in Epic Fish Adventure & Epic Fish: Net of Fortune, Quickspin has us dipping our rods into Australian waters in search of the legendary Black Marlin, but will we be successful?
There was a time when new Quickspin releases were being thrown at us from all directions. Today, they’ve taken a back seat, releasing 1 or 2 games here and there, but nothing like it used to be, unfortunately.
Home of the iconic Cash Truck series, Epic Fish: Marlin Madness marks the start of a new series for Quickspin, focusing on the increasingly popular Fishing theme. While the fishing theme is still a proven favourite with players and developers alike, we’ve noticed a small decline in the number of new releases in this category, making way for the latest ‘3 pots’ mechanic trend.
In Epic Fish: Marlin Madness, you will fall prey to a Fish Collection feature, Wilds, Modifiers, and more. With a fixed RTP of 96% and a medium (3/5) volatility score, this game can produce wins of up to 7,673x your bet.
Get ready to take in your new surroundings and cast your net in a sea of rewarding fish and potential…
Base Game & Features
Epic Fish: Marlin Madness is the latest release from Quickspin, as part of an ongoing series, consisting of 5 reels, 3 rows, and 10 fixed pay lines. Winning combinations are established when 3 or more matching symbols land on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
The highest-paying symbol falls to the Turtle, followed by other sea creatures, waste, and A, K, Q, J, & 10 card suits. When a win is evaluated, payouts between 0.1x and 75x your bet are applied, where applicable.
Additionally, Wild symbols, represented by Bazza McReel, can appear on all reels, substituting for all symbols except Scatters & Collect Fish symbols. Wild symbols award a payout of 2.5x, 15x, and 150x your bet for 3, 4, or 5-of-a-kind.
Fish Symbols
During gameplay, special Fish symbols, available in 3 different sizes, can appear on the reels, carrying a random Cash Prize between 1x and 25x your bet. In the base game, the value of all Fish symbols can be collected when a Fisherman Wild appears in the same spin.
In the Free Spins mode, Fish symbols will have their values collected by Wilds, while the size of the Fish increases as the Multiplier increases.
Shark Attack
Randomly in the base game or Free Spins mode, Wild symbols visible on the reels may trigger the Shark Attack feature. Once active, the shark will eat 1 or more Low-paying symbols and replace them with Fish symbols.
Epic Fish: Marlin Madness Free Spins
Landing 3, 4, or 5 Scatters in the base game triggers one of the following Free Spins modes:
- 3 Scatters: Awards the Black Marlin mode with 10 Free Spins
- 4 Scatters: Awards the Nudge Up mode with 12 Free Spins
- 5 Scatters: Awards the Hooked mode with 14 Free Spins
During all 3 modes, a special Fisherman Meter is active above the reels, responsible for collecting Wild symbols. For every Wild that hits, the Meter increments by +1. Once 6 & 12 Wilds have been collected, +2 Free Spins and unique Features are unlocked.
Black Marlin
In this mode, whenever a Black Marlin lands partially or fully in view, the Marlin Multiplier increases. To benefit from the current Marlin Multiplier, you will need to land a full Black Marlin & Wild symbol in the same spin.
When 6 Wilds have been collected in the Fisherman Meter, the Nudge Feature will activate, awarding an additional +2 Free Spins. Alternatively, collecting 12 Wilds in the Fisherman Meter will unlock the Hooked Feature and a further +2 Free Spins.
Nudge Up
When the Nudge Up mode is active, each Black Marlin symbol that appears partially in view will nudge up or down by 1 row. Collecting 6 Wild symbols in the Fisherman Meter will trigger the Hooked Feature, awarding an additional +2 Free Spins.
Hooked
During the Hooked feature, each Black Marlin symbol that is not captured will remain sticky on the reels for a single Free Spin.
Extra Bet & Bonus Buy
Players may purchase one of the following Extra Bet & Bonus Buy options:
- Extra Bet: Adds an extra row to the matrix and increases your chance of triggering Free Spins for 2x your bet (96.22%)
- Black Marlin: Instantly triggers this mode with 3 Scatters for 45x your bet (96.62%)
- Nudge Up: Guarantees to trigger this mode with 4 Scatters for 100x your bet (96.63%)
- Hooked: Direct access to this mode with 5 Scatters for 200x your bet (96.21%)
Epic Fish: Marlin Madness has a maximum win capacity of 7,673x your bet. If a single session achieves this, the current mode ends, and the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Our Honest Verdict
Don’t get us wrong, we love a spot of fishing as much as the next person, but with summer finally coming to an end, is it time to put the Fishing theme to bed…for a while anyway?
One provider that won’t be giving us a break from the rod is Reel Kingdom and their repetitive Big Bass Bonanza series. With our fishing quota at max capacity, can we squeeze in one more? As part of an ongoing series, Quickspin has us travelling to the open waters of Australia in search of the biggest Marlin.
In the base game, you’ll face a fair few dead spins due to the lack of pay lines available. When a game offers a maximum of 10 pay lines, it makes it rather difficult to create winning combinations during spins. Fortunately, this game allows players to claim Cash Prizes from Fish symbols in the base game, unlike Big Bass Bonanza.
The Cash Collect Feature is a great way to break the tension in the base game, giving players a little something to keep them engaged. Although it doesn’t trigger often, another feature available in the base game is Shark Attack. This feature trades several Low-paying symbols for Fish symbols, but only when a Wild symbol is visible, thus triggering the Cash Collect Feature.
Depending on how many Scatters land in view, 1 of 3 Free Spins modes will trigger. It’s not uncommon to see multiple Free Spins modes in a slot,
Strangely, it seems, the better the Free Spins mode, the higher the number of Free Spins awarded. While we’re not turning our noses up at a few extra Free Spins, it’s just not something we’re used to seeing.
After playing the Free Spins mode, you genuinely need the extra spins as 6 & 12 Wild symbols are required to achieve the next level upgrade, and speaking from experience, we all know how the Fisherman Wild tends to disappear from the reels.
When all is said and done, Epic Fish: Marlin Madness follows in the footsteps of its predecessors, operating a timeless Cash Collect Feature and a higher max win potential of 7,673x your bet. If you’re up for one more fishing adventure before the summer is out, then there’s no better place to go than Epic Fish: Marlin Madness.
*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.
