Sparks

Net Entertainment tends to make a lot of games that have what would typically be seen as somewhat generic symbol sets. However, because other companies aren't really using them as often, and because NetEnt provides levels of graphics that are above and beyond what most of the competition is doing, they are able to create some pretty outstanding games. The Sparks online slot is a good example of this because they use a sort of generic theme with different types of lit-up spark-like symbols paired with good gameplay to give players a solid experience.

The Format of the Game.

This game uses 20 paylines on a five reel and three row layout. However, you get to choose between having the game pay in both directions or having it pay in a single direction (left to right). Most players are expected to play with pays going in both directions, and that's what our payouts reflect that are listed below. We recommend that you play with pays in both directions since it gives the game a higher hit-rate.

Betting Options.

Like most NetEnt-powered online slots, you get a ton of betting options with Sparks. It starts with choosing your coin size that can range from $0.01 to $2 apiece. Then you can bet between one and ten coins per payline. The number of paylines has to stay at 20, and that can't be adjusted in this game. You'll be able to play for $0.20 per line at the low end of things and the $400 per line at the extreme high level. It's easy to see that you'll find a suitable bet side no matter if you play small, medium or high stakes.

Available Symbols.

There are high symbols and low symbols in this game. The high symbols are red, orange, green, purple and blue sparks of various shapes. These all give you payouts of between 100x and 200x for five of a kind. The "hotter" the color, the higher the payouts since this is how the symbols are ranked in this game. From strongest (hottest) to weakest (coldest), the order is: red, orange, green, purple and blue. This is a cool color convention that plays on the science-related theme of Sparks.

Low symbols give you some moderate payouts with A, K, Q, J and 10 available. The five symbols follow the same color convention with the red A, orange K, green Q, purple J and blue 10 symbols. Like the high symbols, you'll need to get at least three of these symbols on an activated payline left to right (or right to left with both ways turned on) to get paid. The use of these symbols seems to be the only real weakness in this game since we're sure that Net Entertainment could have come up with something a little more creative.

Wild Symbols and Features.

There are two types of wild symbols in Sparks. Blue wild symbols show up on all five reels, and they substitute for any symbol. These act as normal wilds, and you can get a 200x payout for getting five or more of them on an activated payline. These wilds show up pretty often, and they're responsible for a fair amount of value as a part of the standard paytable.

Aside from that, there are also orange wilds that are Expanding Cloning Wilds, the key feature of the game. In Sparks, the Expanding Cloning Wilds (orange wilds) only show up on the second and fourth reels. The way this works is that when you get an orange wild, it has a chance to first expand vertically either up or down, though it can do both. Once the expansion is decided, the symbols on the left side of the wild are cloned to show up on the right side.

This has the effect of lining things up for what amounts to guaranteed wins. However, it also gives you big chances for four of a kind and five of a kind payouts since you only have to line up two more symbols to get five of a kind.

Conclusion.

The thing about Sparks is that it falls into a pattern of games with Net Entertainment where they use futuristic graphics with atypical and innovative features to create a certain type of game experience. This is a very stylistic game because of those tendencies by this company, and when you play with both ways, you'll get a high hit-rate that's also a hallmark of these titles. Overall, this fits right in with some of the best titles that Net Entertainment has released in this genre, and it will be a hit with players who like this type of experience.