Big Bass Blast

Big Bass Blast: Slot Overview

Benjamin Franklin might have said, 'In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes', in a letter, but only because Big Bass Bonanza hadn't been invented in 1789. Spin the wheels of time forward a couple of hundred years, and the certainty that Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom's monolithic fishing series will rumble on with yet another release feels almost guaranteed. The latest angling outing to join the fold is Big Bass Blast, a slot that reheats the classic Money symbol/wild symbol collection combo for fans to digest, while making a handful of changes around the periphery to freshen up the experience. Or at least, attempt to.

The theme is… unusual. There are plenty of fishing references, of course, including a speed boat powering along a body of water in a secluded area of forest and mountains. On top of this is a strange use of electricity, with bolts of energy dividing the reels, and blazing up tubes above and beside the gaming area. The question is whether the theme choice came from a creative spark or was just some random combo. Either way, it did feel like the studios were running out of logically creative ideas with which to keep the Big Bass train rolling along the tracks. The same goes for features which, you know, are tweaked, but boil down to essentially more of the same.

The electrified gaming space is a 5-reel gaming area, holding 3 reels and lining up winning combinations of matching symbols along 10 paylines. The top RTP is 96.5%, and the math model's volatility rating is listed as high. Pragmatic Play has eased back on the mountain of ante bets and feature buys it has been up to recently, while base stakes range from $/€0.10 to $/€240.

Regular symbols pay left to right from the leftmost reel, and nine different symbols make up the table. They are 10-A royals, fishing boxes, fishing rods, dragonflies, and floats. Landing a line of five matching royals is worth 5x to 10x the bet, or a line of 5 matching premium symbols pays 50x to 200x.

Big Bass Blast: Slot Features

Fisherman Wilds may appear in the base game and free spins round, which go on to collect Money symbols. Free spins also collect Fisherman Wilds to progress the multiplier and award more free spins. The main feature may be bought, and players also have access to an ante bet.

Fisherman Wilds & Money Symbols

The Fisherman Wild may land on the leftmost and rightmost reels. It substitutes for all symbols except the scatter. During the base game, the Fisherman Wild can randomly hit with a multiplier of x2, x3, or x10. Fish symbols are Money symbols, which are worth 0.5x to 500x the bet. Money values are collected by the Fisherman Wild in the base game and in free spins.

Free Spins

Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatters awards 5, 7, or 9 free spins, respectively. In the base game, when 2 scatters hit, a third scatter may be brought onto the screen by a hook animation. Fisherman Wilds that hit during free spins are collected. Every 7th collected Fisherman Wild symbol awards +5 more free spins, and the multiplier for Money symbol collection increases to x2 for the first retrigger, x3 for the second retrigger, and x10 for the third.

Also, during the round, three further features may activate. When there are Fisherman Wilds in view, but no Money symbols, Money symbols may randomly appear on the grid at the end of the spin. When there are Money symbols but no Fisherman Wilds, a hook may pull Fisherman Wilds onto the grid. Lastly, when there are Fisherman Wilds but no Money symbols, a Bazooka may change all symbols on the screen (not wilds) into something else at the end of the spin. These features may randomly occur during the base game, too.

Feature Buy & Ante Bet

By paying 100x the bet, players can buy the free spins round triggered by 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols. Select the ante bet, and the stake is increased by 50% to increase the chance of winning free spins.

Big Bass Blast: Slot Verdict

At this stage in the lifespan of the Big Bass franchise, gamblers have a very good idea of what they can expect before they even brush the spin button. Reel Kingdom and Pragmatic Play have turned the series into a well-oiled conveyor belt, churning out sequels with the clockwork consistency of a Swiss timepiece. Big Bass Blast breaks up the visual monotony by introducing unusual, high-voltage imagery that mixes high-speed boating with erratic bolts of electricity. While this approach separates BB Blast from its sunny, seaside predecessors, the energised theme came across less as a stroke of creative genius and more like an attempt to just inject a new gimmick for the ageing concept.

Big Bass Blast doesn't stray far from its mechanical comfort zone, either, but there are tweaks to the formula. The most earth-shattering was including Fisherman Wild symbols in the base game instead of being a free spins only feature. Doing so does open the game up, allowing for Money symbol collection at all times, though it's not hard to find other fishing slots that already do this. Free spins are more restrictive than they have been in other Big Bass slots, too. For starters, the number of initial free spins is quite comparatively low, and you need to collect seven wilds to level up, rather than the usual four. It's a game that adds on one hand while snatching away with the other in an attempt to balance the scales instead of really dropping the accelerator and ripping across open water.

All in all, Big Bass Blast is neither a great fishing slot nor a total dud. Dedicated enthusiasts of the series get an electrified change of scenery with a 5,000x win cap and base-game collection potential, though the tightening of the bonus round isn't great. For anyone experiencing Big Bass exhaustion, this outing probably doesn't do enough to blow away the cobwebs and dust. However, it remains a competent, playable fish slot, though one that treads water rather than makes big waves.