Magic Portals slot review

Magic Portals offers us the chance to use some good old-fashioned magic to get results in this classic and colourful slot.

Developed by NetEnt and released in 2013, Magic Portals has been somewhat of a fixture in the NetEnt game library. Sure, it’s been surpassed by other slots both in looks and popularity but I remember the game attracted some attention when it first came out.

At first sight, the slot does not have a lot to set it apart. It has a 5-reel, 3-row playing field with 25 paylines. The graphics are nice, especially considering its age, but there also isn’t too much to set it apart.

We’re placed in a rather innocuous location, with a view of the galaxy peaking at us from behind the reels and some odd spikes. It doesn’t really evoke a sense of where we are or how we got there, although I would wager the idea is that they have to do with the portals.

It’s a shame because the rest of the slot looks good. The characters have a realistic art style that I haven’t seen NetEnt use much. All the different symbols are unique. No card suits or King and Ace in this slot. I appreciate the creators went through the trouble of creating those since most slots still use the standard symbols, even if they don’t make sense in the context of the game.

The soundtrack is what you’d expect from a slot dealing with magic portals. It’s suitably mysterious and toned down, with the occasional jingle when there is a winning payline. It’s serviceable but nothing special.

Symbols

As I said before, all the symbols are uniquely made for this game. The lower-paying symbols are different elemental orbs, while the higher-paying symbols are different characters and animals. It kept things simple but clear.

Unfortunately, the symbols aren’t animated. Getting a winning payline draws a line across the winning symbols for clarity. When the portals are activated you can see lightning arch between the matching symbols which I thought looked cool.

The symbols are from highest to lowest:

• Free Spins: Get a Free Spin each in both portals and it activates Free Spins mode with 10 Free Spins.
• Red Sorceress: Max. 500 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Green Wizard: Max. 300 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Blue Sorceress: Max. 200 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Demon: Max. 175 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Owl: Max. 150 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Wolf: Max. 125 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Red Orb: Max. 100 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Green Orb: Max. 75 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Blue Orb: Max. 50 coins with five-of-a-kind on a winning payline.
• Wild: Substitutes all other symbols in the game, except the Free Spins Symbol.

I liked the vibes the different symbols give off and I wish they had put some more effort into the background of the game to tie it all together.

Features

There isn’t too much to look at when discussing Magic Portal’s features. They are mostly what you’d expect, but the magic portals feature was a lot of fun. It shows that it doesn’t always need to be excessive to get a good result.

The features are:

• Wilds: During both the base game and the Free Spins mode, Wilds do not show up normally. Instead, they appear when the Magic Portals are triggered.
• Magic Portals: There is a Magic Portal in the middle of reel 1 and reel 5. Matching any symbols in them will activate the portals, changing all similar symbols on the playing field into Wilds.
• Free Spins: If there are Free Spins symbols on both Magic Portals at the same time, this activates the Free Spins mode with 10 free spins. During Free Spins mode, 2 more random portals are added.

As you can see the portals are the core of the game, relating to both other features. The game still functions as a normal slot beside them though. You get winning paylines like normal and the Wilds substitute all symbols except the Free Spins symbol.

One big difference to keep in mind is that you only need 2 Free Spins symbols at the same time, instead of the usual 3. But since there are only 2 spots on the playing field that count, the portals, it’s actually not easier to get a Free Spins activation. Nonetheless, I had it trigger quite often so I don’t think it mattered too much.

In Conclusion

Magic Portals has been around for the better part of a decade but it has kept relevant over time. The graphics are still great although a little static. The features are simple but effective, adding a little colour to what is in most ways a classic slot.

If you’re looking for something that’s different but not too different, I’d recommend Magic Portals. I had a good time playing it and I remember why it stayed relevant all this time. NetEnt has a skill at creating slots that stay good for years.

Are you on the hunt for something similarly magical? Then I’d suggest Faerie Spells, created by Betsoft and a lot newer. It also puts the player in the middle of a magical surrounding as they spin their reels.

Magic Portals has a Low Volatility which I thought was fair, although the portals system can add quite a lot of Wilds to the playing field if a particular symbol is overrepresented. This can result in a substantial win. You can choose a bet between £0.25 and £250 per spin so you can decide whether to go big or small. The max. win of 500x your bet was a little low but coupled with the volatility means you might actually win it!