Extra Juicy Megaways: game review
Pragmatic Play released Extra Juicy Megaways on 24 February 2022 as a sequel to its earlier Extra Juicy slot, with the title reviewed here in connection with the Spilnu casino catalogue. Instead of developing an entirely unrelated game, Pragmatic Play used the established Extra Juicy concept as the basis for a substantially revised Megaways edition. The developer officially presented the release as a continuation of the original title, designed to retain its recognisable identity while introducing a different game structure. Extra Juicy Megaways also comes with a maximum win potential of up to 5,000x the stake, giving the newer edition its own mathematical profile rather than making it merely a visual update of the earlier slot. This approach makes the game better understood as a separate sequel within the Extra Juicy line, rather than simply the original slot with minor cosmetic changes.
Features of the update
Megaways fruit-themed products are quite common now, but they are sure to appeal to players who like to mix and match elements of classic slots with something more modern. Along with all the fruit, features such as tumbling, sticky multiplier symbols in the free spins, Ante bet and a bonus buy – a full vase of fruit are squeezed in.
There may have been significant changes to the gameplay, but players who loved the pastel, bubbly background of the original will be happy to see it return in the current version. However, a couple of new bits make their way onto the screen too.
The biggest of these is that the action now takes place on a six-reel game grid, where the number of symbols changes with each spin, creating up to 117,649 ways to win. The rest of the visuals are pretty straightforward. It looks like a new creative team may have been responsible for designing the game, as it doesn’t quite live up to the high standards of many of Pragmatic’s other games.
Bet Ante
Another change to Extra Juicy Megaways is the addition of Ante betting. Normal bets range from £20 to £125 per spin, the value of which increases by 25% when the Ante bet is activated, doubling the likelihood of triggering free spins. As expected, volatility is high, and although the RTP has dropped slightly, it’s still at a respectable 96.42% at the default setting, increasing to 96.43% when using the ante bet or 96.48% when buying free spins.
Playing Extra Juicy Megaways is slightly different to playing the classic version. A minimum of three matching symbols on adjacent reels is required to create a winning path, but the combination can start anywhere. Thus, a triple win can happen on reels 3, 4 and 5, for example.
Symbols
In the symbols department, Extra Juicy Megaways uses a bunch of fruit, bells and lucky sevens as the usual payouts. From low to high are cherries, lemons, grapes, kiwi, oranges, plums, blackberries and watermelons at 0.6 to 2.5 times the bet per six on the payline.
Next up are Bells at 3.75x and Lucky 7s at 6x the bet for hitting six on a payline. Because of the way winnings are created, jokers are not used in the game at any stage.
Features
Like the previous Extra Juicy game, the centrepiece of Extra Juicy Megaways is the free spins bonus round, where sticky multiplier symbols come into play. Other features are the tumblers and the bonus buy button – where available.
The tumblers are triggered when winning combinations are struck. Rather than removing only the winning symbols, everything from the winning reels is eliminated and replaced by an entirely new set. Drops continue until a new winning combination is created.
