Not everyone likes science fiction. Some find it a bit over the top, some find it silly, and some are just not interested in looking into the future, but would rather stick to the present. However, even if you’re not that into Star Trek, there’s a product based on it that you’ll absolutely love – Wagerworks’ new branded release – “Star Trek” slot machine, which many had a chance to play in land casinos, but which now comes in an online form.

There’s much about this 5-reel, 30 payline slot to like – starting from its genuine background, authentic sound effects, exquisite cinematic additions, the characters that ring a bell even if you haven’t seen the movie: Spock, Uhura, Scotty, and Kirk, but a number of special features, as well. Speaking of which, each of the above mentioned characters has their own bonus round in which you can win some hefty prizes. In addition to the bonus rounds, the special features also include wilds, scatters, free spins and multipliers.

The only thing many may dislike about “Star Trek” is the betting range that it offers. What this means is that for most people, the coin denominations provided in the slot (going from $1 to $30) are much more than they can spend on a simple pastime. Realistically, having in mind that there are 30 lines, and that chances are much better when one plays on a maximum number of lines, bet amounts would in that case range from $30 to $900 per spin – and what an expensive sport that seems to be! Of course, prizes are in line with the bet amount, so once you win, you win it big. But it still does not justify the lack of lower coin denominations, which would make the real-money play of this otherwise excellent slot available to everyone.

Special Features:

There are standard special symbols in “Star Trek” – wilds, bonus symbols, scatters. And we know what they imply – wilds replace all other standard symbols, scatters pay any… But the bonus symbols in this game carry a special significance, because two of those on any position in the reels two and three, combined with a Scotty/Kirk/Spock/Uhura bonus symbol, trigger the particular character’s retriggerable bonus round.

Each of these rounds has a different set of prizes: Kirk’s bonus awards from 3-6 win spins, with a 3x multiplier (win spins spin until you get a prize, and the bonus allows up to 250 spins in total, with an special wild Kirk symbol on the reels); Spock’s bonus awards 10-15 free spins, with wild Spock symbols and additional doubled Kirk wins and Extra Wild Spock symbol; Uhura’s bonus may get you between 6 and 12 free spins, in which you may get extra scatter pays for three or more Uhura or wild symbols anywhere on the reels; finally, Scotty’s bonus round grants 10 free spins, with an increasing multiplier after the first five spins, which will certainly boost your winnings.

One would say that a slot with a single drawback is close to perfection, and “Star Trek” certainly deserves that title. Everything about it is superb – from graphics to prizes, from regular rounds to bonuses. However, the fact that it’s so expensive to play reserves it for the ones with bigger pockets, which is unfair to others. In the end, it’s up to you to decide whether you’d like to gamble for bigger money and bigger prizes or stick to your usual favorites.

- reviewed by Latest Casino Bonuses, last updated 2011-07-05