Amazing Fruits Slots
Symbols of cherries, watermelons, plums and oranges have been the staple diet of slot machines for over 100 years, so the Amazing Fruits video slot from Novomatic is perhaps mis-named, as these are pretty standard images. Perhaps it should have been called Amazing Star, as this symbol triggers the most interesting bits of the game, starting a free spins bonus round with enhanced reels, and if you are lucky enough, landing you with a huge progressive jackpot prize.
But let’s not be picky with the fruit, as these symbols will be the ones that form the more frequent win-lines when they stop across the 5 reels and 40 paylines of this classically-designed game. Anyone who has even glanced at a game from this supplier, in the many Novomatic online casinos, will recognise the style, as this Austrian-based company tends to use similar symbols across many of their games and fill them with similar features. But they clearly know what punters are looking for and have become one of the premier suppliers of land-based, online and mobile-optimised slot machines across large parts of the world.
The classic fruit machine theme and style extends to the somewhat old-fashioned design of the game, where we see the title in a font that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the 1970’s, and all that we have in the way of a background image is a bit of blue and coloured bars to indicate where the paylines run. But players are not looking for or expecting much more than this in a fruit machine, and the symbols are presented in a nice 3D effect, with little droplets of water on them to add a bit of realism to the game.
Fruity fun
Symbols are in 4 rows and you will need to line matching ones across adjacent reels from the left side, across a payline in an unbroken sequence to win a prize. It’s possible to activate any number of lines, but many players have seen high-paying combinations land across in-active ones, so most opt to play all available and claim all the potential winnings.
Prizes are shown as multiples of the stake per line, with the cherries returning wins of 5x when seen on reels 1 and 2, while lines of 3, 4, or 5 will pay you 10x, 50x and 200x respectively. The oranges, lemons and plums are worth the same, although you don’t win anything for just 2 on a line, while going up in value, there’s a watermelon which returns wins of 25x, 100x, or 400x the line stake.
That’s the same amount as the golden bell, which is another classic symbol, and the traditional icons keep coming, with the top prizes awarded by a red 7. This is valued at 100x, 1,000x, and 10,000x the line bet when it’s seen on 3, 4, or 5 reels across an active payline, so don’t expect to see it too often.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Scatter Star
The amazing star symbol is a scatter, so it doesn’t need to appear in any particular positions to be worth a prize, with just 3 in view paying out 40x the line bet, which is equivalent to 1x the total stake if all lines are active, while 4 stars pays out 80x and 5 of them will be worth 120x.
Any of these combinations will then launch 10 free spins, but stars shine brightly during this round, as the triggering symbols stay in place, and any extra stars that appear in the free spins will also remain in position until the feature ends.
You don’t actually win anything during the free spins, as it’s all about collecting as many stars as possible, with a prize awarded at the end based on how many are filling the reels. If you only managed to land one more star during the free games, bad luck, but you still win a prize of 160x the line stake and this goes up and up until we get to 19 stars for a prize of 12,000x the stake. However, should you manage to land 20 stars and fill every reel position, you win a progressive jackpot. This prize slowly grows as a small portion of all bets made on the game, across all online casinos that carry Amazing Fruits, is put aside until one lucky punter gets this perfect combination and scoops the lot. There’s a bit of a sting in the tail however, as the portion of the jackpot won depends on the stake, so if you are at a low bet level, you only get a percentage of it.
Gamble Game
There’s an optional 50/50 gamble game to play with winnings under certain amounts, with any prize doubled in value if you correctly pick the colour of a playing card as it flashes between red and black. If you get it right, you can go again and again, up to the high limit prize of 40,000x the line bet, but of course getting it wrong at any point loses not only any gains in the round, but also the initial prize.
When you Wager upon a Star
Coin values range from 0.50, which equates to a 2.00 total bet if all lines are active, to 0.20, for an 8.00 bet per spin. It’s not a huge maximum bet, so claiming all of that progressive jackpot isn’t just reserved for high rollers and as with all slots from Novomatic, Amazing Fruits is reliable, fair and comes with a good return to player ratio.
Other options include setting the reels spinning on Autoplay, practicing on free Amazing Fruits video slots, and activating the generic soundtrack, which consists largely of bells and beeps as the reels tumble.
Fruit-Filled Favourites
There’s a seemingly endless list of classic fruit machines available and it’s hard to pick just a couple, but Novomatic certainly seem to have more than their share of similar slots, with the Fruit Sensation video slot being a typical example of their range. This is about as simple as online casino slots can get, and has the usual fruits, bells and red 7’s lining up across the 5 reels to pay out prizes, with nothing other than a gamble game to interrupt the important business of collecting winning combos.
Is it Worth Taking a Bite?
People either love traditional fruit machines or won’t give them a second glance. If you don’t like them, you probably haven’t read this far into the review, so assuming the design and format appeals, we’re happy to report that the Amazing Fruits video slot is a good example of the type.
The way that stars gather on the reels during the free spins bonus feature is the real highlight here, as once the 10 spins are triggered, you are guaranteed to win something at the end, even if it’s just a small prize for landing a couple more stars. The chance to claim a progressive jackpot is certainly going to attract a lot of players, but even without this huge reward, it’s still a high-quality game with lots of winning potential.
