Big Bass Bonanza and its younger sibling Bigger Bass Bonanza are by far two of Reel Kingdom's most popular games. So, it stands to reason the first Megaways powered slot from the Pragmatic Play partner studio would be another entry in their bass fishing range. Big Bass Bonanza Megaways mixes the original with a couple of new extras thrown in to freshen the experience. However, at its heart, Big Bass Bonanza Megaways retains the angler's dream of reeling in as many prize-bearing fish symbols as possible during free spins to pile up wins.

Visually, Big Bass Bonanza Megaways is almost the exact likeness of Big Bass Bonanza, with an upsized game grid as the only major difference. This time, the action occurs on a game panel made up of 5 main reels, plus an extra 4 symbol reel up top spinning horizontally. Reel Kingdom has not pushed the Megaways matrix to its full capacity, so ways to win top out at 46,656. As to the rest, fans of the original bass fishing experience will feel right at home amongst the deep blue waters, shimmying fish, and of course, the chilled island soundtrack.

Putting everything on a larger reel format has meant that each number associated with the game is larger than the original's as well. Starting on a positive note, default RTP has increased to the respectable value of 96.7%, while volatility comes in as officially high, with a 5 out of 5 rating. There are mixed feelings on the game's potential, though, which is higher than the original but still feels lacking, particularly for a Megaways game. If chasing fish rather than major riches appeals, the game may be played on any device, accepting stakes of 20 p/c to £/€100.

Regular paying symbols are the same as those used previously, and pay from left to right on adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost reel. Low pays are 10-A card ranks, while high pays are tackle boxes, dragonflies, fishing rods, and a fishing float. Values for landing six premium symbol combinations are 2 to 50 times the stake. The other paying symbols are the fish symbols. In the base game, combinations of fish pay up to 1.75x the bet, and during free spins, their prizes are collected by the fisherman symbol. Finally, appearing only on the upper four-position reel is a wild symbol which substitutes anything except the fish or fisherman symbols.

Big Bass Bonanza Megaways: Slot Features

For the most part, the features have remained reassuringly the same, meaning free spins with the fish and fisherman collection system. On top of these are tumbles, plus random Bazooka or Dynamite features which may appear in the bonus game.

Tumbles
On any spin, winning combinations are paid and removed from the reels. Remaining symbols fall into the gaps, and new combinations may line up, creating additional wins. Tumbles continue until no wins occur.

Free Spins
Hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatters triggers the bonus game, awarding 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. First thing to note is that in free spins, fish symbols are not removed from the reels as part of the tumble feature but fall to the bottom of the screen as tumbles happen. Also, when fish symbols land at the same time as a fisherman symbol, the fisherman collects all of the values and awards them to the player. If there is more than one fisherman symbol in view, the collection is repeated.

In addition, when fisherman symbols hit, they are collected in a meter to the side of the grid. Every 4 fisherman collected retriggers the feature, awarding +10 extra free spins and a multiplier which is applied to the values on the fish symbols. The first, second, and third retrigger awards a x2, x3, and x10 multiplier, respectively. After the third, no more retriggers are possible.

Bazookas and Dynamite
In free spins, if there are 1 or 2 fisherman symbols on the screen with no fish, two random features may activate. One is a Dynamite feature that adds fish symbols to the screen in various positions. The other is the Bazooka, which explodes all symbols in view, except for the fisherman symbols.