Big Bass Xmas Xtreme

Ah, Christmas, it's the time for merriment, feasting, enjoying the company of loved ones, the giving of gifts, and, of course, slot clones. The clone in question here today is a Big Bass job, courtesy of Pragmatic Play and their fishy-fingered friends, Reel Kingdom. If you caught yourself rolling your eyes at the thought of yet another Big Bass remake, don't worry; you're not alone. The feeling is mutual, but this time, the studio has copied one of the better BB slots, namely Big Bass Amazon Xtreme, so maybe it won't be a total nightmare. It's good to be positive, right?

The skin is sort of what one might expect, yet also not what they might expect. Big Bass Xmas Xtreme takes place in a cold, icy, snowy domain, maybe at or near the North Pole, though, visually, it's not very Xmas-y at the same time, aside from during the pick bonus sequence. There are puffins of all things, a bit of red and green going on, but as for the target season, Big Bass Xmas Xtreme isn't overly festive.

A bubble-lined 5-reel gaming grid is where some of the spirit is attempted to be captured. Each reel holds 3 rows of symbols, and 10 paylines cross the grid for the game to calculate winning combinations. The maths has stayed the same, so volatility is high, and the highest available RTP model is 96.07%. This figure stays the same whether betting 10 c to $/€250 per spin, buying free spins entrance, or using the ante bet. With the ante bet on, the stake goes up by 50% to have more scatter symbols present on the reels.

Hit a 5 OAK winning line consisting of the 10-A card rank low pays gets you a reward of 5 to 10 times your bet. Or, do the same with the higher value backpacks, rods, puffins, or floaters, and the reward is 50x to 200x. Wild Fisherman symbols replace any regular paying symbol to help make wins, but they show up only in the free spins round.

Big Bass Xmas Xtreme: Slot Features

Big Bass Xmas Xtreme unloads such features as Money symbols, free spins, a bonus buy, plus various picks and random effects.

Money Symbols

In the main game and free spins round fish, Money symbols may appear on the reels, each carrying a random value of 0.2x to 1,000x the bet. There is a chance that all visible Money symbol values may be awarded after any base game spin. When this occurs, a random multiplier of x1 to x50 is applied to the total win amount from the Money symbols.

Free Spins

Should players land 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols in the base game, they win 10 free spins. If 4 or 5 scatters landed, then the Pick feature is activated with 1 or 2 box items already revealed, respectively. To possibly help players advance to free spins, in the main game, 2 scatters in view may be potentially boosted by a third scatter when these modifiers randomly trigger:

• Respin - if the scatters can move down one position without leaving the reels, a respin may trigger. The reels without scatters spin again in an attempt to bring another scatter into view.

• Narwhal - a narwhal may change one symbol into a scatter.

Before free spins begin, a Pick feature commences where players pick boxes to reveal modifiers. Picks continue until a Boot symbol is revealed, ending the Pick feature. It is possible to win these:

• Extra Free Spins - +1, +2, or +3 additional spins are awarded up to a maximum of 6.

• Guaranteed Fish - up to three +1 Fish symbols may be revealed, guaranteeing 1, 2, or 3 Money symbols land on each free spin for the duration of the round.

• Already Collected Fishermen Wilds - reveals up to 3 Fisherman symbols, which starts the free spins feature with up to three already collected Fisherman for the Progression Trail.

• Remove Lowest Fish - reveals the Lowest Fish symbol up to 2 times. The first reveal removes the 2x Money symbol, whereas the second reveal removes the 5x Money symbol from the free spins round.

During Free Spins, each Fisherman symbol that appears collects all cash values from the Money symbols in view. In addition, Fisherman symbols are collected to progress the Progression Trail. Every 4th Fisherman Wild collected this way retriggers the free spins round, granting an extra +10 free spins. At each retrigger a multiplier of x2, x3, x10, x20, x30, x40, and x50 is granted for levels 2 to 8, respectively. Multipliers apply to Money symbol collections. After the eighth level, the feature cannot be retriggered anymore. As in other Big Bass games, these modifiers may trigger, too:

• Random Money Symbols - if there are Fisherman symbols but no Money symbols in view, at the end of the free spin, Money symbols may be randomly added to the reels.

• Hook - when there are Money symbols but no Fisherman symbols in view, a hook may appear at the end of a free spin to pull up a random reel to reveal Fisherman symbols.

• Waterfall - if there are Fisherman symbols but no Money symbols, a waterfall animation may trigger at the end of the free spin, transforming all symbols (not Fisherman symbols) into something else.

• Random Hook - at the end of a free spin, a hook may randomly appear, pulling up a reel to reveal Fisherman and Money symbols.

Bonus Buy

Should a player wish to skip the base game, they can do so by paying 100 times their stake to trigger the free spins round.

Big Bass Xmas Xtreme: Slot Verdict

Big Bass Xmas Xtreme was like a Secret Santa gift from a work colleague that you really didn't need, aren't sure you actually want, and have a sneaking suspicion you'll never actually end up opening the packaging of. There are so many Big Bass slots by now, so many copies, reskins, whatever; it's verging on the point of being shameless. Like, really, how many more of these do we need? As always, if the game in question shows even an iota of originality, okay, sure, fans of the series, fill your boots. But when they're like Big Bass Xmas Xtreme, a regurgitation of a previous slot, and one that's not even very Xmas-y, then, why?

On a more positive note, Big Bass Xmas Xtreme's possible saving grace is the fact Reel Kingdom has chosen to copy and paste one of the better Big Bass slots. Big Bass Amazon Xtreme got rapturous applause when it was reviewed due to things like the larger-than-many 10,000x max win, an extensive list of features, and the way it extends the Progression Trail far beyond many others. Players will no doubt be used to the trail ending after the final level is reached and a x10 multiplier gained. Big Bass Xmas Xtreme blows that gate wide open with its impressive x50 max value. But so did Big Bass Amazon Xtreme, so what? As a clone, Big Bass Xmas Xtreme does everything its masters ask of it. However, it's hard to turn a blind eye to the fact that not only has all of this been done before, mechanically, but as an Xmas slot, there are far more festive options to choose from.

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