Sparkling Joker X UP

Sparkling Joker X UP: Slot Overview

Sparkling Joker X UP is a continuation of Alchemy Gaming's line of X UP slots that the developer has been working on since Africa X UP dropped in 2021. That was one of Alchemy Gaming's earliest slots, and the studio has returned to the X UP mechanic repeatedly over the years for use in a variety of different settings. This time, the setting is the populous joker one, a common occurrence in online slots, and to match the unoriginal theme choice, Alchemy Gaming has reused gameplay and maths previously found in Chronicle of Olympus II - Hades.

Adding another twist to the story, Alchemy Gaming had already released another joker slot with the X UP function, Joker X UP, prior to this one, but Sparkling Joker X UP is admittedly a sparklier version. Where Joker X UP starred a zany joker character, Sparkling Joker X UP drops the cartoon approach to adopt a clubbier, more risqué vibe. The main character in this instance is a female joker wearing a skin-tight outfit, a large multi-coloured ruff, and one of those dangling hats with adornments attached to the ends. Sparkling Joker X UP does attain a respectable level of sparkle, but it's not the most interesting X UP game to look at. Partly because previous X UP slots have been rather handsome, partly because of the joker overkill situation.

Played on a 5-reel, 4-row gaming matrix, Sparkling Joker X UP supplies 1,024 ways to win, where winning combinations must begin from the leftmost reel. The volatility is very high, and the default RTP is 96.05%, while lower models are available. On the default return, players can expect a theoretical hit rate of 25.33% and may pick a stake of 20 c to $/€50 per spin.

Sparkling items litter the payable, displaying from low to high: 5 gems, 4 of them clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades, then cards, dice, 7s, diamonds, and jokers as the pay symbols. Winning combinations of 5 OAK award 0.8 to 4 times the bet. Wild symbols may land on all reels, as well, paying up to 5x the bet for a 5 wild winning way. Wilds are able to substitute for any regular pay symbols, and when doing so, each wild can add an x2, x3, or x5 win multiplier.

Sparkling Joker X UP: Slot Features

Sparkling Joker X UP rolls out the same features used in Chronicle of Olympus II - Hades without altering or adding to them. The list includes the X UP feature, free spins with a win multiplier, the Upsizer, and a bonus buy.

X UP Feature

Three different scatters land in Sparkling Joker X UP – Red, Blue and Diamond scatters:

• Red scatters land on all reels in the base game; on the leftmost and rightmost reels in free spins.
• Blue scatters appear on the leftmost and rightmost reels in the base game but not in free spins.
• Diamond scatters appear on the leftmost and rightmost reels in both phases of the game.

Landing 2 Red scatters collects 1 X UP token. Collecting X UP tokens activates higher free spins multiplier levels on the X UP trail. When 2 Blue scatters land in the base game, they permanently upgrade one X UP multiplier level, starting at the top of the X UP trail. When the whole X UP trail has turned blue, any 2 Blue scatters landing finally doubles the top level multiplier to x25. When hitting 2 Diamond scatters in the base game, free spins with the highest current X UP multiplier is awarded.

Free Spins

Landing 3 Red scatters in the base game triggers 8 free spins with the active X UP multiplier. A payout of 2x, 20x, or 100x is also made when 3, 4, or 5 Red scatters, respectively, hit. During the free spins round, landing 2 Red scatters awards +2 free spins and an X UP token, while landing 2 Diamond scatters awards +2 free spins and the top level X UP multiplier. Blue scatters do not appear in free spins.

Upsizer

When triggering free spins, players can make use of the Upsizer feature to activate a higher free spins multiplier for a calculated cost. Collected X UP tokens reduce the cost of the available free spins multiplier options.

Bonus Buy

From the base game, it is possible to buy the free spins bonus with an x25 multiplier for 200 times the stake. X UP tokens cannot be collected during free spins when buying the round.

Sparkling Joker X UP: Slot Verdict

As if the X UP range wasn't samey enough, here's a cloned copy with a standard joker theme plastered over the top. They're not bad samey, it must be said. The features are able to come together rather nicely to create entertaining moments, boasting the ability to keep players on their toes in the base game and in the free spins round. The graphical standard in Alchemy Gaming's slots is generally high as well, and joker games have a popularity factor built in, so maybe Sparkling Joker X UP will do well. More power to it.

If you've ploughed through a few X UP games by now, though, Sparkling Joker X UP is not the most exciting release. Whilst jokers are popular, they can struggle so sparkle; what doesn't after you've seen it countless times already? If Alchemy Gaming had bothered to shake up the extras, change them, or add something, then Sparkling Joker X UP might have caused more of a stir. But it didn't, so we've got a repeat performance with about as common as it gets theme on top. Winning potential is 5,000x, which is low compared to a lot of other X UP slots. Chronicles of Olympus, for example, has 10 times that, partly because the multiplier in that game can reach x50, but even the original, Africa X UP, advertised a 30,000x max win (it remains questionable how realistic this number is), and it made do with an x25 multiplier at the top of its trail, too.

To wrap up, Sparkling Joker X UP was one of the least satisfying X UP slots reviewed so far. The recycled features coated in a garden variety theme were hardly wish fulfilment material, and the outcome failed to create any desire for a second look at Sparkling Joker X UP.