Dazzle Me Megaways Review
This is NetEnt’s fourth entry into the popular Megaways™ arena and following the trend set by its predecessors (Twin Spin Megaways™, Fruit Shop Megaways and Divine Fortune Megaways™) it is another reimagining of a classic video slot with Big Time Gaming’s Megaways™ function added. Now BTG is part of the Evolution family alongside NetEnt and Red Tiger, we should probably expect to see more and more of our much-loved games getting the frantic Megaways™ makeover. Is that a good thing?
Well, on the evidence of our sessions on Dazzle Me Megaways™ so far, we can say we’re behind it 100%! At first glance, the progress made from the original Dazzle Me might not be all that clear. The style is the same; the crisp, clear old-school symbols remain, as does that recognisable background but look again and you’ll spot the 6th reel added into the grid as a hint of what’s to come. Start playing and the huge changes will become even more apparent. Players of Dazzle Me v1 may recall a pretty chilled, relaxing slots experience. Well, the Megaways™ mechanic has put pay to that! Paylines have expanded to an enormous 99,225 (slightly down on other Megaways™ games, but still plenty enough to keep us entertained) and reels can randomly hold anywhere between 2 and 9 symbols on each spin, meaning you’re really going to have to be paying attention.
It’s clear that a lot of thought has been put into integrating the latest mechanics into a solid slots game. This isn’t just a tired rehash, far from it, it’s treading a completely new path. The grid itself is pretty unusual, even amongst its other Megaways™ stablemates, but things remained clear for us in our tests even when the mayhem was really kicking off. The more we played it, the more everything clicked and felt fluid. Soon enough, we were just enjoying this latest NetEnt release on its own terms, and comparisons to its ancestry was completely forgotten.
How To Play Dazzle Me Megaways™
Although this is very much a modern game stuffed full with all of the latest wizardry and pyrotechnics, actually playing it felt as natural and easy for us as slipping on our favourite pair of shoes.
- Bet sizes are set within the quick bet panel, which is opened by clicking on the coin stack on the main screen
- Autoplay offers the standard set of options, including setting the number of automated spins you want to play as well as Turbo Spin and Quick Spin
- The Fast Forward mode will spin the reels by in a blur – we’d recommend taking some time to familiarise yourself with the game before choosing this
- You start by, you guessed it, simply pressing the Spin button!
Dazzle Me Megaways™ Features
Megaways™ and Avalanche™
Here comes the science bit, take notes because there may be a pop quiz at the end!
For any spin, the number of symbols landing on the reels is completely randomised. For the first two reels, this can between 2 and 5, from 3 to 7 for reels 3 and 4, and the last two reels jump to 4 to 9. On each spin, if you multiply the number of symbols on each of the reels, you’ll get the number of Megaways™ – all the way up to a massive maximum of 99,225.
To win a Megaway™ you have to match symbols (in any position) across the entire screen, from left to right. Do this, and you’ll cause an Avalanche™ whereby all winning lines tumble from the grid and new symbols fall into their slots. If these also deliver a paying combo, the cycle continues until there are no more wins on the board. This is how the big wins are possible.
Dazzling Wild Reels™
During normal play, the Dazzling Wild Reels™ feature can occur at random. In a Free Spins situation, though, it is automatically guaranteed. When this is fired, a random selection of reels from 2 to 6 transform into the Dazzling Wild Reels, on which the Wild symbols can appear. In an Avalanche™ situation standard, non-wild symbols can appear on the Dazzling Wild Reels™.
Free Spins
A total of 8 free spins are awarded by the appearance of 4 Free Spins symbols anywhere on the reels. If you’re lucky enough to land more than 4 Free Spins symbols at any time, each addition symbol adds +4 Free Spins to your haul (so 5 symbols are worth 12 Free Spins, 6 gets you 16 Free Spins and so on). You’ll know that you’re playing in Free Spins mode when the background changes to a bright orange splash, as if you were on a 1970s gameshow.
Here, at least one reel is converting into the Dazzling Wild Reel – but unlike the normal play, only wild symbols can appear for both spins and Avalanches. The Dazzling Wild Counter is equal to the number of Wild symbols landing on that reel. This tally starts at 2 and will increase with each Wild symbol on that particular reel becoming a part of a winning combination.
Dazzle Me Megaways™ Verdict™
We had great fun playing Dazzle Me Megaways. We’re not sure if it was its lengthy development time, or the fact it’s limped in at the tail-end of a string of Megaways™ launches from NetEnt, but our expectations weren’t all that high for this game. However, after just a few short minutes all doubts were dispelled. It’s great addition to NetEnt’s more modern roster, making the most of both the original Dazzle Me’s best features and the added adrenaline only a Megaways™ game can deliver. Some of the features did seem pretty scarce during our tests (we saw several instances of the Dazzling Wild Reels™ but Free Spins, for example, were a much rarer sight) but the RTP seemed more than fair enough to keep us playing. Time will if the volatility settles down after a while out in the lobbies, and we’ll be sure to update you when it does, but in the meantime we can highly recommend trying Dazzle Me Megaways™ out in any NetEnt casino.
