Play Big Bass Amazon Xtreme For Real Prizes
Big Bass Amazon Xtreme Review
Pragmatic Play brings us yet another version of Big Bass Bonanza, but to its credit, Big Bass Amazon Xtreme switches things up a lot more than we’re used to. For a start we’ve now relocated to the Amazon jungle and the Fisherman has donned his explorer outfit. On top of that, there are some welcome new features, making it a fairly complex game. Yes, working through Big Bass features can be like hacking through endless trees and vines in the Amazon, but we’ll do our best here to help you understand the gameplay rules.
Rating this slot overall, it’s still stingy. Yes, one of our main gripes with this series is that it promises a lot, but ultimately the Fisherman doesn’t show up quite enough in the bonus rounds for our liking. And unfortunately, it’s the same thing again here – in fact, it may even be harsher than in previous titles. So despite all the bells and whistles, plus a decent RTP percentage, Big Bass Amazon Xtreme can be very highly volatile and frustrating at times.
The grid is 5 x 3 and in the base game you’re still looking to line up symbols on traditional paylines, of which there are 10. 3 or more Scatter symbols take you into the bonus round, where you get to crack open clay jars to find modifiers that will help you out in various ways. Then you’re hoping for the Fisherman Wild to land – he always collects the Fish Money symbols on-screen and helps you work through the progressive meter to retrigger more spins and gain multipliers.
If you do advance through the bonus rounds to the higher levels, the multipliers can be very rewarding, but it’s a rare event.
Pros
- Another sequel in a popular series
- Pragmatic has added enough new features to make this version feel worthwhile
- Choosing your modifiers is fun
- High theoretical RTP percentage
Cons
- Frustrating and stingy as ever
- In fact, it feels like the Fisherman shows up even less than before
- Very highly volatile, which doesn’t suit everyone
- May feel too complex for beginners
Gameplay
How To Play
- Choose your bet size and start spinning.
- The aim is to land 3 or more symbols (2 or more for the lure symbol) on 10 traditional paylines.
- Fish Money symbols don’t count for anything in the base game unless the Fisherman wakes up and grabs them all in his net, which happens randomly once in a while. A multiplier is also applied when he does this.
- Hit 3 or more Scatter symbols to trigger the bonus round for 10 free spins. You can also switch on the ante bet to improve your chances of spinning in, or buy the bonus.
- Before the bonus round begins, you choose from clay jars on screen, each one hiding a different benefit, or the boot, which ends the selection process.
- With your modifiers in hand, the bonus round begins. It’s similar to the base game with a 5 x 3 grid, but now the Fisherman Wild can potentially show up to help create paylines and also gather up any Fish Money symbols on-screen – this is how you make your money here. When he does show, he’ll light up a square on the progressive meter too. For every four squares lit, you get 10 more free spins and an increased multiplier to apply to any wins till the end of the round.
Bonus Symbols
- Scatter symbol: 3 or more Scatter symbols trigger the free spins round. Hitting 4 or 5 Scatters will start the modifier pick feature with 1 or 2 boot items already shown so you can avoid them.
- Fisherman Wild: This shows up only in the bonus round. It functions as a normal Wild would, and also gathers up any Fish Money symbols on screen to turn them into a win. Each appearance also lights up a square on the progressive meter, and every 4 you’ll retrigger free spins and add/increase your multiplier.
- Fish Money symbols: These show up in the base game and free spins round. In the base game, their values have no effect, unless the Fisherman wakes up and grabs them all in his net – this happens randomly. In fact, in the base game, unlike previous Big Bass slots, these symbols cannot form lines. In the bonus round, they can be collected and turned into wins when the Fisherman Wild appears on the grid on the same spin. Possible values are 0.2x, 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, 200x, 250x, 333x, 500x, 1000x total bet.
Bonus Features
- Net feature: Randomly, after a base game spin, there is a chance that the values of the Fish Money symbols on screen are collected by the Fisherman in his net. A random multiplier will also be applied and this turns into a win. The potential multiplier values are 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 30x, 40x, 50x.
- Third Scatter feature: In the base game, whenever 2 Scatter symbols hit without a third, there is a chance for another to be brought onto the grid.
- Randomly, if the Scatters on the screen can move down one position without leaving the grid, a respin is triggered. The reels with Scatters move one position down and the reels without Scatters respin.
- Randomly, a crocodile can appear and change one symbol on the screen into a scatter.
- Free spins modifiers: Before the round starts, pick from the various clay pots on-screen to try and obtain modifiers. Keep picking until you reveal a boot, at which point the free spins start with the modifiers you’ve gained. The modifiers available are listed below:
- More free spins: Reveal 1, 2, or 3 extra free spins. A maximum of 6 free spins can be gained this way.
- Guaranteed fish: Reveal up to 3 fish items to have 1, 2, or 3 guaranteed Fish Money symbols on every free spin.
- Already collected Fisherman Wilds: Reveal up to 3 Fisherman Wilds to start the round with a headstart on the progressive meter.
- Remove lowest fish: Reveal this up to 2 times to remove the 2x and the 5x Fish Money symbols as possible symbols in your upcoming free spins.
- Free spins round: Land Fisherman Wilds with Fish Money symbols to win all the values on screen. Every fourth Fisherman Wild symbol retriggers the feature, awarding 10 more free spins and a multiplier for Fish Money symbol collection. There are 8 levels available. You start on the first which has no multiplier, then you can gain 2x, 3x, 10x, 20x, 30x, 40x, and 50x multipliers. After the eighth level the feature cannot be retriggered again.
- Randomly, when there are Fisherman Wild symbols on the screen but no Fish Money symbols, Fish Money symbols can appear in random squares. Another possibility is that a waterfall will come and replace all symbols except for the Wilds.
- Conversely, when there are Fish Money symbols but no Fisherman Wilds, a hook can randomly appear to pull up a random reel and bring a Wild onto the grid.
- Also, randomly, a hook can appear at the end of a free spin to pull reels up and drag Wilds or Fish Money symbols onto the grid.
- Ante bet: Bet 50% more of your stake for a higher chance of spinning into the bonus round.
- Buy the bonus: Pay 100x your wager to buy into the free spins.
- Hit frequency: 1 in 8.5 spins.
- Free spins frequency: 1 in 148.43 spins.
- Max win: 10,000x with a 1 in 14,321,518 chance.
SweepsPlays Verdict
- At first we were pleasantly surprised to see a Big Bass game that had made changes to the core formula. But after playing for a while we still found it difficult to win anything of any value.
- We’re not sure what the Xtreme in the title refers to – maybe the extreme volatility? There’s a technically high RTP percentage here, so big wins are possible, but it’s very hard to gain any traction in the bonus game.
- There’s so much going on, and the game design itself is impressive, but that doesn’t change the fact that you don’t win very often. It can feel like the base game pays better than the bonus feature at times!
- Big Bass Splash is probably a more balanced game all things considered, and a little more streamlined.
