Spectrum Slot
Fancy a round of a Tron inspired looking slot machine, from the developers at Novomatic? Known for their plain looking though enjoyable slots, Spectrum is a surprising design choice from the brand.
Occasionally they release online slots for real money, but they’re preferred go to seems to be old school online activities. And one thing this slot machine is not is old school – have you seen the neon lights?
The 3x5 grid is still in place, as are the mundane looking paytable symbols, though they’ve been made to look more in-keeping by adding some popping colours. But what is very different here, in regards to gameplay, is that the brand has provided 243 ways to win. Gone are the conventional paylines and their rules, and hello to multiple ways to play. We’re excited for the first time in a long time about a Novomatic game.
Spectrum has but one exclusive feature, which isn’t exactly anything to get worked up over, but it helps to make the game stand out from the rest, and thus we have to salute the company for trying something more modern. But will the lack of features come back to bite Spectrum in the behind - let’s get down to the betting and find out!
Simplified Betting
Seeing as the paylines have been cast away, we have an easy means of starting up a play for real game; we only have to adjust the betting level and we’re good to go. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. That being said, it does mean that the starting wager is slightly larger than what you may be accustomed to: it’s 50 credits. This sum may sound daunting, but with the number of ways you can win, it’s a fair figure to ask for.
Like we said, everything is more laid back on the control panel, due to the aforementioned design feature, and so the only other aspect you may want to tweak is the Autoplay, and even then it’s only an on/off button. No need to get weighed down selecting a specific number of waves, just turn it on and get spinning.
Reel Lock
We’re now returning to that one special feature we mentioned, for it’s an important part of the title; Reel Locking is where two connected reels spin at the same time, and thus turn out the same symbols. They’re essentially twinning.
The use for such an idea? It can assist in making even more wins, especially if you happen to land three or more symbols on a winning line.
However, as exciting as it sounds, its usefulness does run dry before too long, leaving us longing for another extra to keep the magic of this game alive. There’s a wild, but that’s hardly enough to keep us sated.
Going for Broke
As is customary with Novomatic slots, the betting range impacts on the paytable, or what Spectrum have called the ‘winplan’. Therefore, if you go with the lowest stake, which let’s face it, a lot of us will do, you’ll only ever be looking at a max payout of 2,000 credits. However, should you crank your wager up to 10,000 credits, you’re looking at rewards closer to 400,000.
The top amount comes from the triangular spectrum icon, that so happens to look like the front of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. It’s an attractive looking icon, but it doesn’t do more than look the part and hand over wads of cash; it's good, but we want more.
Something is Missing
Spectrum looks great, and it has a unique design characteristic, but besides that it’s a classic slot made to look better than what it actually is. Novomatic might appear to be moving ahead with the times, but they actually haven’t, and so a lot of you are about to feel cheated out of your bet once you’ve experienced the title for yourselves.
Our advice? Play the free online slot version before you try it for real, as that should give you more than enough time for you to figure out whether you like what you’re seeing. As far as playability goes, it’s okay, but this isn’t a game we’d highly recommend - there’s far better out there to keep you entertained.
