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.
I find myself play NetEnt's Starburst at a regular basis. It's one of those slots that keep you coming back for more. I've had mixed experiences with it, but I never play it for long during a session. The graphics in my opinion are great and so is the whole theme, which makes you feel like you're outer-space.
I'd say it's a medium/low-variance slot which is very handy to grind out wagering requirements with. I've done it several times thanks to the ability of Starburst to pay out small wins like 30x, 40x, 50x bet many times during small game sessions.
The reason I never play this slot too long is that it also has a habit to give many dead spins when the slot is cold. I usually try to make a hit and play a bit to see how things turn out, but if I have the feeling it won't award me more then I usually run.
The slot concept is quite simple, yet so addictive thanks to the fantastic graphics. I think the designers did a great job, and it doesn't come to me as a surprise that it's one of the most played slots at Net Entertainment casinos. I fairly also think that Starburst is one of those slots that gets most exposure since it gets involved a lot during free spins promotions at several online casinos.
But maybe that's just because of the smallest bet being only €0.10 with Starburst lol. However, this slot is appropriate for high rollers and newbies, since I've seen bet sizes ranging from €0.10 up to €50 per spin. I usually keep my bets modest with between €0.50 and €2.00 each spin, depending on the way my session goes.
The Bars and Sevens are the best paying symbols and usually pay a lot more than the rest. Reels 2, 3 and 4 contain a Star symbol, which can turn a whole reel wild and award you a free spin. The art or the luck is to have the Star symbol at Reels 2, 3, 4 at around the same time so the previous spin and Free spin can turn into a huge pay-out!
I've had the 3-stars twice I think and one time with a few Bar symbols, good for around 300/400x bet size, which helped me to get a very nice payout.