Slot Review of Starburst from NetEnt
Some modern slot machines are overcomplicated with too many bonus features and options. On the other hand, traditional fruit slot machines are often too plain to be entertaining anymore.
The Starburst online slot machine from Net Entertainment manages to find the perfect balance.
You will not find a lot of bells and whistles in the Starburst slot game. It doesn’t have bonus games or some of the features that are common in other slots.
But the simple design, excellent graphics, and wilds more than makes up for it.
In our Starburst slot review, we’ll go into more detail about the features that make Starburst such a fun and popular slot game. We’ll also explain everything you need to know to play Starburst online.
Starburst Slot Overview
We’re going to start this Starburst review with some general information about the game.
Here is what you need to know.
Key Details About the Starburst Slot
- Theme: Space, Jewels
- Manufacturer: NetEnt
- RTP: 96.1%
- Reels/Rows: 5/3
- Paylines: 10- Both Ways
- Minimum bet: $0.10
- Maximum bet: $1.00
- Maximum Prize: 50,000 coins
- Jackpot: No
- Volatility: Low
- Mobile Compatible: Yes
The 96.1% Return to Player (RTP) percentage is average when you compare it with slots from other software providers.
It’s even average compared to most NetEnt slots. NetEnt has a reputation for creating slots with higher RTPs. Take Mega Joker, for example – it has an RTP of 98.90%.
So, if you intentionally choose to play Netent slots because they offer high RTP games, you may be disappointed with the Starburst casino game.
You should also know that Starburst is a low-volatility slot. That means that most players will experience frequent small wins. High-paying wins do not come along very often.
Low volatility slots aren’t for everyone, but we think they’re great for slot players on a budget. You can get many wins playing Starburst on a modest $50-$100 bankroll, which we think adds to the fun factor.
That wraps it up for general information about the Starburst online slot. Now let’s dive a little deeper into the game by answering this question – how do you play Starburst?
How to Play Starburst
The Starburst casino slot game is easy to play. It is a simple matter of setting your bet amount and then spinning the reels.
When you play Starburst online for money, you can choose your bet level and one of the following coin values.
- $0.01
- $0.02
- $0.05
- $0.10
- $0.20
- $0.50
- $1.00
Starburst slots have ten fixed pay lines. No matter which bet level you choose, you will always play ten pay lines. However, changing your bet value will multiply your coin bet.
Once you have set your bet amount, it is time to start spinning. Manual spins are an option, but many players prefer autoplay.
If you choose to use the autoplay feature, you can choose from nine pre-set numbers of spins between 10 and 1,000. The advanced settings button will allow you to add win or loss limits, too.
We appreciated these options during our Starburst slot machine review. Some people prefer playing a specific number of spins, while others are more interested in how much they have won or lost.
The Starburst online slot machine gives you the ability to choose the autoplay system that works best for you.
Starburst Symbols and Paytable
Most of the symbols on the Starburst online slot are different colored gems. They are very similar to the gems on the popular cell phone game Bejeweled.
Netent has added some animations to the jewels to make the game more exciting. Any gems that are part of a winning combination will sparkle to let you know it was a winner.
The purple and blue gems are the low-paying symbols, so they appear the most frequently on the reels. Red, green, and yellow gems offer medium payouts.
Classic slot machine symbols are the highest-paying symbols. The Bar symbol offers the highest payout of 250 coins for five, followed by the sparkling seven.
We appreciate that the symbols are something different than the traditional playing cards. But the gems and slot machine symbols are not exactly an original idea.
It is also not clear how the gems relate to the space theme of the game. This makes the Starburst online casino slot feel disjointed.
Starburst Symbols Pay Both Ways
One of the features we enjoyed most during our Starburst slot game review are the both-ways pay lines. With these you can win on any pay line, no matter which side of the reels they started on.
When you play traditional slot machine games, you can only win if the symbols line up from left to right. That can be frustrating when you get a four-of-a-kind on the second through fifth reels!
Keep in mind that you can only win the highest-paying payout for each pay line. For example, you will not get two payouts (left to right AND right to left) if you get five symbols in a row.
Another example would be if you were to get three wilds on a pay line. You would only get one payout based on the wilds and the highest-paying symbol that appears next to them.
It is not easy to get three wilds in a row on any slot game. But the wilds on the Starburst online slot make it possible. They are the most valuable feature of the game.
Starburst Wilds
The multi-colored star is the wild symbol when you play Starburst. There are no scatter symbols, so the star can replace any symbol on the reels to offer a payout.
When you get a Starburst wild symbol, it will immediately take over the entire reel because it is an expanding wild.
You will get your payout based on any winning combinations at that point. But the excitement of the Starburst wild does not stop there.
It also automatically triggers a re-spin while holding the wilds in place. You can get a second payout based on the new combinations that land on the reels.
Starburst wild symbols only appear on the second, third, and fourth reels. It is possible to get a second or third Starburst wild during the re-spin.
Each additional wild triggers another re-spin. You Could win three separate times if the re-spins create new winning combinations.
Many other slot games have wild symbols, alongside free spins features, progressive jackpots, and bonus games.
NetEnt made sure that their wild symbol was as exciting as possible to compete with all of those extra slot features that other games offer.
That is why the Starburst wild symbol is an expanding wild with automatic re-spins.
It may not seem as exciting as all of the extra features that other games have. But once you start playing, you will see that the wild symbol offers enough excitement to keep you playing Starburst online for hours on end.
Starburst Review Verdict
The Starburst slot is one of the most popular online slots of all time. There are clearly some things that people (including us) appreciate about the game.
However, we want our Starburst slot review to give you the whole picture. That means we need to include the things that we think could be better.
Here are some pros and cons of the Starburst real money slot.
- Expanding wilds
- Automatic re-spins with wild symbols
- Simple graphics with fun animations
- Both-ways pay lines
- Background music matches the theme
- Customizable autoplay settings
- No progressive jackpot
- No free spins feature
- No scatter symbols
- Symbols don’t match the theme
- Lack of bonus features
- Unoriginal design
In some ways, the Starburst slot machine feels like a copycat of Bejeweled. The only differences are that they added a wager to the game, included a wild symbol, and added space-themed background music.
However, Bejeweled is also a popular game. It turns out that the simplicity of the game is what makes it so appealing.
The same is true of the Starburst casino slot game. Anyone can enjoy this simple slot game. We think that is one of the reasons why it has become so popular.
If you enjoy slot games with lots of bonus features, you may get bored while playing Starburst online. But we think it is worth trying anyway.
You might find that the frequent wins that this slot offers make up for its lack of features.
Other Slot Games Inspired By Starburst
NetEnt released the Starburst slot online in 2012, and it was an instant success. It became so popular that many other software providers tried to create similar games.
Here are a few other slot machine games that were inspired by Starburst.
- Crystal Sun from Play’n Go includes the same expanding wilds with re-spins and a similar space theme.
- Bejeweled 2 from Blueprint Gaming is a jewel-themed game based on the mobile game of the same name. It has more bonus features than the Starburst casino slot.
- Space Gems from Parlay Gaming is another example of a slot game that is similar to Starburst. It also has the same expanding wilds feature.
Unfortunately, NetEnt games are not available to players everywhere. If you are in a location that doesn’t offer the Starburst slot, you can try one of the other games inspired by it.
You may also want to consider playing one of these other similar games.
- Davinci’s Diamonds is another gem-themed slot, but this IGT game combines the jewels with a fine art theme and more bonus features.
- Gemtopia is a fun slot machine from Realtime Gaming with a jewel theme, expanding wilds, automatic re-spins, and both-ways pay lines. You can also win fifteen free spins.
- Turning Totems is a slot machine from Thunderkick. It has an entirely different theme, but it also has both-ways pay lines.
- Cyrus the Virus from Yggdrasil is another game with both-ways pay lines. It also has an expanding wild symbol that triggers re-spins.
- If you are looking for a slot game with a more authentic outer space theme, check out the New Space Adventure from Playtech.
If you like to play Starburst for real money online, you will also enjoy any of these games. They’re available at many of the top online casinos.
Where to Play Starburst Online for Real Money
Now that you have read our Starburst slot review, you are probably ready to start playing. The only thing left is to find a Starburst online casino.
Here is a tip. When you are looking for casinos with a particular game, it is often easier to search by the software provider.
You can use our reviews section to find online casinos with Starburst. Our casino reviews explain all about the promotions and banking methods that the best Starburst casinos online offer.
They also tell you about the Starburst mobile casino options. You should be able to play Starburst on your mobile device without downloading a particular app.
Most Starburst mobile slots can be accessed through your device’s internet browser. The software is optimized to your screen size, so the quality of the graphics should be the same. If you do prefer to use a dedicated gambling app, check out our recommendations for the best real money slots apps.
No matter where you choose to play Starburst online for real money, or how you choose to play it, we are sure you will enjoy this excellent casino game.