Stars Alliance Slot Machine
Stars Alliance is a futuristic video slot developed by software firm WorldMatch. The cosmic casino game is set in a mysterious galactic realm which is under attack from evil intruders.
Thankfully, the formidable Stars Alliance squad is on hand to repel the villains. If it all sounds a bit “B-movie”, don’t fret: there’s plenty to get excited about from a gaming perspective. The spacey slot features 5 reels, 3 rows and 15 paylines, and though there’s not a progressive jackpot up for grabs, there are scatter and wild symbols to unearth. The player can also look forward to winning free spins and multipliers.
Coins and Lines
The vast majority of WorldMatch slots offer the same coin values, which stretch from 0.01 to one credit, but in Stars Alliance the highest coin in use is two credits. As such, the maximum bet-per-spin is 30, if you’re playing on all 15 win lines. You’ll notice numbers ranged along the sides of the reel grid. These represent options for the player; you can elect to play on one, three, five, 10 or 15 lines. The choice is entirely yours.
The objective, as you might have guessed, is to find matching combinations of three, four or five symbols, starting from the leftmost reel. Only the highest win is paid per line, and scatter wins are added to regular line wins, which are multiplied by the number of credits staked per line.
Visuals
Stars Alliance is set in an unknown metropolis, which has been partly destroyed by…well, that’s not really clear. The photorealistic backdrop shows gutted buildings, razed high-rises and tower blocks. What we have is a city at war. Who ya gonna call? No, not the Ghostbusters – but the Stars Alliance!
The graphics are terrific on the main screen, and the 5x3 reel grid appears superimposed upon it. The title of the game is located at the top of the screen, and you’ll find the control panel along the bottom, with buttons for Autoplay (you can play up to 1,000 spins), Max Bet and Information.
Introducing the Alliance
There are 11 symbols in total in Stars Alliance, including two bonus icons and four character symbols. Icons include a dyad of alluring female soldiers toting some pretty futuristic-looking weapons. One femme fatale is blonde, clad in a leather jacket, while another sports a shaved head. There are two male members of the Alliance, also: again, one is bald, one has hair.
Perhaps the brains at WorldMatch decided this was the simplest way of differentiating the symbols on the grid? In any case, these avatars are well-drawn and closely resemble characters in an Xbox or Playstation video game.
Other symbols include some sort of gunship floating in the clouds and four playing card icons: J, Q, K, A. The playing cards look vaguely futuristic, although there are no spades, clubs, hearts or diamonds.
The aforementioned symbols trigger normal pay-outs, with the best-paying being the male soldier in the bulletproof vest. This figure pays 20 for three, 200 for four and 1,000 for five. The other three characters are next along, with the blonde female paying 20 for three, 150 for four and 750 for five. Next, it’s the bald male soldier (20, 75, 350), followed by the bald female servicewoman (10, 75, 200). The playing cards are the game’s least lucrative.
Special Features
A slot game ain’t worth its salt unless there’s a wild symbol kicking about, and players of Stars Alliance won’t be disappointed. The game’s wild is represented by the planet Earth, embossed with the inscription WILD. The wild can replace all others except for the free spins icon.
Speaking of which, the free spins icon grants – what else? – free spins. You need to find three or more to win free spins, and the number you receive never differs – it’s always 10. The pay-outs do differ, though. You’ll win 10 credits for two, 50 for three, 100 for four and 500 for five. During free spins, all prizes are tripled.
Space Age
There’s no shortage of space-themed slots, but Stars Alliance is a welcome addition to the canon. The casino game is fun and fast-paced, providing the potential for solid wins in the free spins bonus game. The scatter pay-outs are also higher than in many other slots, while the design is first-rate. One downside, it must be said, is the inclusion of playing cards, which have precious little to do with the theme.
