Supernova Shooting Stars

Supernova Shooting Stars: Slot Overview 

Buckle in with developer Hacksaw Gaming as we take off on a trip through the universe in the studio's outer space-themed online slot Supernova Shooting Stars - a follow up to Supernova Galaxy Orbs. Fuelling the flight is an expanding wild, wild multiplier feature, the sort of thing players will have seen the studio pull out on numerous occasions in the past. Here it has been used to middling effect, adding a dash of life to what is, at the end of the day, a rather middling slot. But space is a big place, so there's room for all sorts of games, and Supernova Shooting Stars' glitzy, retro design might just ignite the right player's imagination. With that, let's 3, 2, 1, and see where the game ends up.

Supernova Shooting Stars is a space-themed slot that places its base game before clouds of stars and a never-ending rain of comets. The visuals change in the Rain of Light bonus round to a travel at the speed of light type thing, before changing once again to a scrolling purple-ringed, vaguely hypnotic effect in the Starstruck round. At all times, the visuals are on the so-so side, somewhat generic for a space slot, exacerbated by the run-of-the-mill classic slot symbols landing on the reels, barely scratching the surface of wonder even though we're dealing with the grandeur of the cosmos.

A blue-lined gaming grid hosts the action, landing symbols on a 5x3 grid. Nine paylines line the reels, awarding wins left to right from the leftmost reel. A medium volatile math model drives the game, generating a max RTP of 96.26%, with two lower values available, and players can wager $/€0.10 to $/€200 per spin.

Landing on the reels are 10-A card ranks, watermelons, cherries, grapes, and bells as the regular paying symbols. A line of 5 matching royals is worth 1x the bet, and when a 5 OAK premium symbol combination hits, the payout is 2x to 5x the bet. Regular wilds substitute regular pay symbols, and wilds of all types pay 10x for a line of 5. 

Supernova Shooting Stars: Slot Features 

The features to encounter on this voyage are spreading wild Stars, the Rain of Light bonus, the Starstruck bonus, and feature buys.

Spreading Wild Stars 

Star and Epic Star symbols are wild, so they substitute all symbols on the paytable. When a Star or Epic Star lands, it can spread before wins are evaluated if that symbol or the transformed symbols are part of a win. Star symbols spread to the bottom of the reel, transforming symbols in those positions into Star symbols. The Epic Star spreads up and down, transforming symbols into Epic Stars on the whole reel. When a Star or Epic Star spreads over a wild, the wild becomes a Star or Epic Star Multiplier with a value of x2 to x250. Multipliers are applied to wins they are part of. Multipliers are added when more than one is part of the same win. Only one Star of any kind can land per reel on the same spin.

Rain of Light Bonus

Hitting 3 scatters in the base game awards 8 free spins in the Rain of Light bonus. This feature has the same mechanics as the main game, plus at least 1 Star symbol is guaranteed to land on each spin. Hitting 2 or 3 scatters in this feature or the next awards players with an extra +2 or +4 free spins. 

Starstruck Bonus

If 4 scatters land in the base game, players win 10 free spins in the Starstruck bonus. This is the same as Rain of Light, except at least 1 Epic Star symbol lands on every spin. 

Feature Buys 

BonusHunt FeatureSpins cost 3x to make each spin 5x more likely to trigger a bonus game. Astral FeatureSpins cost 50x to land at least 2 Star symbols, while Starlight FeatureSpins cost 100x to land at least 2 Epic Star symbols. Rain of Light may be bought for 50x, or 200x the stake buys the Starstruck feature. 

Supernova Shooting Stars: Slot Verdict

Hacksaw Gaming is famous for its spreading wild, spreading wild multiplier features, but Supernova Shooting Stars is not one of the more memorable releases. Despite one or two decent hits, it failed to blast off anywhere wondrous, creating the impression that this particular trip could have reached for the stars a little more. Visually, it settles for a fairly familiar cosmic backdrop, while the traditional symbols make the game feel more like a classic slot in a fairly cheap space-themed outfit. The changing visuals during the bonus rounds provide some variety, but they don't completely overcome that feeling.

That's not to say there is nothing to like here. The spreading Star and Epic Star symbols can produce some entertaining moments, particularly when they take over a reel and transform existing wilds into multipliers. Stacking multipliers together may lead to some worthwhile wins, giving Supernova Shooting Stars flashes of the kind of explosive action which you might expect to see in a Hacksaw Gaming release. The bonus rounds also give the game a couple of opportunities to shine. Rain of Light adds a guaranteed Star symbol to each free spin, while Starstruck takes things a notch further with a guaranteed Epic Star. The mechanics fit the theme reasonably well, and the scenery change gives the free spins a slightly different feel to the base game. However, even with these additions, the overall experience doesn't quite reach the level of excitement suggested by the game's title. 

After touching back to earth, Shooting Stars came across as an extraordinary entry from Hacksaw Gaming. Supernova Shooting Stars has a win cap of 5,000x the bet, and is likely to have some sort of mainstream appeal, but if you're looking for a slot with expanding wilds and multipliers that feels less like a light snack, then the studio has loads of those to choose from.