Another month, more releases from online casino software giant Microgaming. For November at Intertops, slot fanatics can check out the fresh releases Lucky News and Star Appeal.
Lucky News apparently takes place in a very happy world indeed: The reels of this 20-payliner are filled with the jolly-happy money, sports, health, news reporters of big network LNN. If garishly colored talking heads sound good to you, well, you’re probably not here. But if you are, Lucky News is an appropriate spin.
But with the central theme matched in annoying qualities only just by the background music recalled some unmade comedy-drama flick set in the newsroom, the Os Man can’t imagine Lucky News is up much appeal to anyone. Perhaps it would have all been different if the Os Man’d hit the promised maximum bonus multiplier of 157x in the bonus round, but after a (short) while, this one was about as exciting as watching stock exchange quotes for Seoul rolling across the bottom of a CNN broadcast at 3am. LCD rating: 39 electoral votes (270 needed to win).
Star Appeal is a bit better; while company PR on this online slot promises a “sparkling new slot” with “all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood,” Star Appeal has little of that and instead simply provides a nice play.
Immediately apparent is Star Appeal’s lack of garishness against Lucky News, with (imagine that) whites backgrounding the reels. The Star Appeal symbols contain the requisite would-be leading lady, agent figure and paparazzo. There’s also a curvier Oscar statuette and a SCATTERing Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
The bonus round has an interesting feature as well. After landing three SCATTERs, the screen opens into your traditional “pick three” game; anything found under the stars – typically “coins” or bonus multiplier – is added to the player’s winnings in ten subsequent free spins. The intriguing bit is the possibility that the player could pick up a substitute symbol underneath a star; this symbol changes all agent symbol to starlet – thus WILD – symbols in the free spin rounds. Now that’s a career boost! LCD rating: ***.