At first glance, Novomatic software’s Power Stars digital slots game is a standard slots title with a retro theme. All the icons are fruit, bells, sevens or stars, just like a mechanical fruit machine of old. However, it is the bonus combos and special features that these symbols can trigger, that make Power Stars an exciting, modern online casino option.
The game features five reels and three rows, against a dark red background with clear, solid icons on the transparent reels. There are 10 bet lines, with a maximum bet of 10 coins per line, meaning a maximum bet of 100 coins per spin. After wins, icons in the winning paylines burst into flames, adding plenty of visual interest in between the spins.
Low Value Fruit Symbols
Power Stars has an autoplay button, so players can chase the top wins for long periods of play painlessly. Prizes are paid for three, four or five icons of a kind in sequence on one bet line, but an unusual feature of Power Stars is that these combos can start either on Reel 1 or Reel 5, running left-to-right or right-to-left.
The values for three, four or five matches, respectively, is as follows for the various symbols: for cherries or lemons; 20X, 40X or 100X the line bet; for oranges or plums; 20X, 60X or 150X the bet; for grapes or watermelons; 20X, 50X or 200X the bet. The gold star serves as both the wild symbol and the scatter symbol.
Bells, Sevens and Stars
Among the higher value icons, bells win 50X, 200X and 500X the bet for combos of three, four or five, and the same sequence for the Lucky 7 icon in Power Stars is 100X, 500X and 1,000X, so a payline holding five 7s is a thing of beauty indeed. The gold star serves as both the wild symbol and the scatter symbol.
Wild and Scatter in One
A gold star anywhere on the Power Stars reels acts as a wild, substituting for any other icons to increase the number of winning lines possible from the spin. A star landing in reels 2, 3 or 4 expands to fill the whole reel, immediately offering more winning possibilities. However, this also triggers an immediate free spin, with the expanded wild frozen in place.
Another expanded wild on another reel will trigger another free spin, with both expanded wilds now frozen in place. In theory, a three-spin succession that ends up filling reels 2, 3 and 4 with stars can yield huge wins on all paylines.
Gamble Feature
Like most Novomatic games, Power Stars features a Gamble button: after each win, players can choose to try to double the prize, but they do risk losing it all. But with or without a Gamble option, the stacked wilds, held reels and instant free spins allow Power Stars to offer more big-win options than many other titles with a retro fruit-machine theme.
Add in the ability to score winning combinations in both directions, and it is clear this is a slots title that can deliver some substantial prizes.