The Merlin’s Money Burst slot takes on one of the most famous WMS features and gives it it’s own unique NextGen studio twist.
This is an interesting slot review for us to write because it’s a strange Frankenstein monster of a game.
On one hand, you get all the colourful graphics, sounds and animations from NextGen’s famous Merlin’s Millions slot. On the other, it’s borrowing all its features and maths from the Moneyburst games by Williams.
How did this happen? Well, both of these smaller studios got bought out by a bigger one, and now they are one big happy family who created this Merlin’s Money Burst mobile slot oddball child… and it kinda works.
That’s what makes the Moneyburst name – you see what most of us would consider two reels that are two symbols high, this is actually 4 individually spinning symbols, making each space one reel.
We are going to call them the two mini reels though, for ease, and because that’s what they look like. It’s 5 reels, two of which are two symbols high and three are 4 symbols high, giving you a total of 60 paylines.
The appeal is that those four reels are the most important of all, as all of the wins come through them and they trigger two of the best features.
The most common you trigger by getting three scatters. Then you can trigger them by getting 4 of the same symbols on the mini reels, and finally by getting both the 4 same features and the scatters.
All the features get progressively better, but catching that last one is literally like waiting for Christmas. It’s a once a year event, and even if it arrives, it may be more disappointing than you’d expect.
But that what you get with volatile slots. Meanwhile, unlike the Neptune’s Quest game, this Merlin Moneyburst slot has the famous NextGen superbet option where, for a little extra cost, you can increase both the RTP and the multipliers on the stacked wild.
It’s frustrating because you need to be able to bet at least 1.50 a spin to be able to enjoy a decent RTP. But then the same can be said for the brilliant Merlin’s Magic Re-spins slot – only that one had more energy and action and you felt it was worth the extra cost.
Here it didn’t quite mesh for us, a little too volatile, too slow, the features too hard to catch. But if you love Moneyburst slots and can bet more than your average gambler, you’ll love this Merlin Moneyburst game.
Mobile Slot released | June 2019 |
Slot type | Video Slot |
Software | NextGen |
Slot reels / paylines | 5 Reels / 60 Paylines |
House edge / RTP | 3.25% / 96.75% |
Slot volatility | High |
Min/Max bet | 0.30 No Super Bet / 2.50 At Max Superbet / 7.50 No Super Bet / 62.50 At Max Superbet |
Free spins | 10 Free Spins / Extra Wilds or Sticky Wilds |
Bonus rounds | Respins, Wilds, Stacked Wilds, Multipliers, Moneyburst, Sticky Wilds, Sticky Wins, Superbet |
Slot Themes | Fantasy |
Merlin's Held Respins: If on the first two mini reels you get 4 matching symbols, these reels are held for 5 free re-spins of the other 3 reels.
Merlin's Free Games: If you get 3 scatters on reels 3, 4 and 5 you win 10 free games where Merlin may come onto the screen and enchant whole screens into wilds.
Merlin's Wild Spins: If you get the first two mini reels with the same symbols and you catch 3 scatters, you also get 10 free spins. Except for this time, any wilds are held on the reels.
Superbet: Select the superbet slot to boost your wins by adding multipliers on the wild.
If you go all the way to level 10, the minimum increases to an expensive 2.50 a spin.
The iconic NextGen character is given the WMS twist with some classic MoneyBurst Mechanics and overall... it works? More or less?
The more is the fact that this is basically the much loved Bruce Lee Moneyburst slot but with 60 paylines and the famous NextGen superbet.
The less is that you need to bet high, not just to get the big wins, but in order to increase the overall RTP of this machine. And somehow, you feel cheated if you don't.
Still, the big wins are here, and if you can bet at least to superbet level 3 for that 6x multiplier then add a star because there are some magical features in this Merlin's Moneyburst slot on mobile.
Merlin's Moneyburst is a 5 reel slot with 60 paylines, with two mini reels that spin each symbol individually and a superbet option that can increase the multiplier on the stacked wilds.
Review by Lucky Mobile Slots, last updated: March 26, 2021 - Rating