Starburst Review - Editor’s Impressions
Starburst is one of the best online slots in iGaming. It's available in many online casinos, and it's impressive how its popularity has been maintained over the years.
It has re-spins, Wild substitutions, and win-both-ways features. This Starburst slot review reveals the secret to what continues to keep this game hot.
Overview of Starburst Game
The Starburst slot is from provider NetEnt and is played with 5 reels, 3 rows and 10 paylines. With a space theme, it’s a legendary game that is the most popular online slot game of all time. It benefits from Win Both Ways technology meaning winning combinations are created from left to right and right to left. Playable from 10p to £100 per spin, it’s compatible with desktop, tablet and mobile devices. Land Starburst Wilds to see them expand and award re-spins with Starburst Wild Reels. Mesmerising and hypnotic, Starburst can dish out 500 x bet max wins per spin.
Starburst RTP, Payout and Volatility
The Starburst slot has 5 reels, 3 rows and 10 fixed paylines. With Win Both Ways payouts, winning combinations are created when you match 3, 4 or 5 symbols across any of the paylines. These can start from the leftmost and rightmost reels (i.e. reels 1 and 5). Only the highest win per payline will be paid.
You can play from 10p to £100 per bet. Whilst the max bet may vary at different online casinos, you can adjust your bet by changing the level (between 1 and 10) and the Coin Value (between 0.01 and 1.00).
In some jurisdictions (not the UK), there is an Autoplay function where you can choose from 10 to 1,000 auto spins. There is an Advanced settings section where autoplay is stopped on any win, on a single win of your choice and if the balance increases or decreases by a specified amount.
Starburst is a low-volatility slot game which ensures you’ll get winning combinations often, but smaller in nature. For the highest RTP setting, the hit frequency rate is 22.6% meaning a win will land every 4.42 spins on average. Other RTP versions offer a hit rate of between 21.2% and 22.8%.
The Starburst RTP is 96.09%. Just above the 96% online slots average, NetEnt offers various RTP settings: 95.05%, 94.05%, 93.05%, 92.05% and 90.05%. The RTP you’re playing with can be checked by opening the game’s Paytable.
Regarding payouts, Starburst offers 500 x bet max wins per spin or re-spin. This can be won if you fill all positions with BAR symbols along with Starburst Wilds.
Starburst Graphics and Gaming Experience
Originally released in June 2012, the Starburst slot has a space theme. With a retro feel, the sights and sounds of bygone arcades are brought back to life (according to NetEnt). Mesmerising and using high-definition graphics and animations, NetEnt has revamped this favourite a few times.
The reels are filled with vividly lit jewels that pop out from the dark, outer space backdrop. When a winning combination hits, you’ll experience dazzling, arcade-like light effects which accentuate the winning paylines and symbols. This is coupled with electrifying sounds which is both calming and exciting.
On the reels, there are 5 jewels, a lucky red 7 and BAR. Below is a table highlight what each of the symbols pay for a 3, 4 or 5-of-a-kind winning combination:
- Purple & Blue Jewels - 3, 4 or 5 = 0.5, 1 or 2.5 x bet
- Orange Jewel - 3, 4 or 5 = 0.7, 1.5 or 4 x bet
- Green Jewel - 3, 4 or 5 = 0.8, 2 or 5 x bet
- Yellow Jewel - 3, 4 or 5 = 1, 2.5 or 6 x bet
- Lucky Red 7 - 3, 4 or 5 = 2.5, 6 or 12 x bet
- BAR - 3, 4 or 5 = 5, 20 or 25 x bet
With Win Both Ways technology, you can land wins in both directions meaning you can essentially double payouts for each symbol. If you filled all reel positions with BAR symbols, a 250 x bet prize will be awarded. Due to Win Both Ways payouts, you’d win 500 x your total bet.
Finally, there is a Starburst Wild symbol which appears on reels 2, 3 and/or 4 only (the 3 central reels). Substituting for all symbols, it will also expand and trigger the game’s solitary bonus feature (more details below). There are no Scatter or Bonus symbols.
Despite being released in 2012, the Starburst slot still holds its own when it comes to design. It can also be played on desktop, mobile and tablet devices that use iOS, Android or Windows operating systems. A major reason for its popularity is the Starburst mobile slot. The simple 5x3 layout works well on smartphones.
Starburst Mobile (Touch)
Created and revamped using HTML5 technology, Starburst has been optimised for play on desktop (laptops and PCs), tablet and mobile devices. It’s available to play on both Android and iOS smartphones. The 5x3 layout works well on smaller devices guaranteeing a smooth gaming experience. NetEnt Touch is simply the mobile version of any NetEnt slot game.
Starburst Bonus Features
The Starburst slot has 1 bonus feature. Known as the Starburst Wilds feature, it’s triggered by landing a Starburst Wild symbol anywhere on reels 2, 3 and/or 4.
When the Starburst Wild symbol lands, it expands to take over the whole reel. This gives you a wild reel as well as a free re-spin. With the other reels re-spinning, another Starburst Wild landing will reward you with another wild reel and a further re-spin. You can repeat this process up to 3 times for 3 Starburst Wild Reels and 3 re-spins.
If no Starburst Wild lands during a re-spin, the feature ends and you revert back to the base game. With Starburst Wild reels, your chances of landing winning combinations increases dramatically.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Playing Starburst?
Here are the pros and cons of this NetEnt online slot:
Pros:
- Internet’s most-played online slot game ever
- Simple gameplay + mesmerising aesthetics
- Slot paylines pay both ways
- Bonus feature triggers frequently
Cons:
- Low max win potential
- Lower RTP versions used at many casinos
Starburst Review Verdict
The Starburst slot game has become the most popular online slot since its launch in 2012. Iconic and achieving cult status, it’s the subject of many free spins offers from online casinos. You’ll also often find casinos offering Starburst free spins as part of their welcome offers.
The gameplay is simple and easy to follow making it perfect for new and seasoned players. Aesthetically, it’s mesmerising with soothing graphics and animations that light up when you land winning combinations.
The low variance ensures your bankroll will stretch giving you the opportunity to land plenty of Starburst Wilds. For reference, the Starburst Wilds feature will trigger every 11.9 spins on average (8.4% bonus feature trigger rate).
Fast-paced, Starburst Wilds can lead to 3 fully wild reels which makes it a lot more feasible to achieve the 500 x bet max wins on offer. Due to Starburst’s popularity, NetEnt released Starburst XXXtreme in July 2021. A souped-up version of the original game, it comes with multipliers up to 450x and 200,000 x bet max wins.
Starburst is one of most played video slot from NetEnt and most online casinos offering free spins (deposit and no deposit) for this game. Personally I find this game very handy when you don't have a large balance but still want to play a long time.
Since the arrival of this game within a short of time other casino software have made a Starburst look a like game which is make this game an original game.
It happened a few time that I hit the big win playing this game with just 10 cent stake. A fellow gambler told me that Starburst is a great game if you want to meet the wagering requirement of deposit bonuses and she is right! From now on I will use this game for meeting the wagering requirements, thanks Coco! I wonder if Starburst will have a sequel because I think a big hit game needs his sequel.
There was one time I got a big win with a 10 free spins no deposit bonus, how big? 12,50 euro, that's 125 times bet. It also seems to me that after a big win, the second big win won't appear soon after, most of the time you need to play a few hundreds spins before you hit the second big win but then again this apply to all video slots.
I am very satisfied about Starburst and I will keep playing this game now and in the future. I am a small time gambler and that's why is Starburst a fitting game for my wallet.
I see also a lot of positive feedback from my fellow gamblers about this game so I know for sure that they also had the same good experience with this game. Like other video slots there are a few downsides of it.
I give Starburst a great 8 stars rating because it deserves it.
I find they should add more paylines to this game (maybe an idea for the sequel) and the star symbol (expanding wild) can only appears on reel 2, 3 and 4 and that's really pity because if they have added those symbols on reel 1 and 5 this game would be more interesting and I am pretty sure that a lot of us would play this game more often.