James Dean Slot Review

James Dean is an actor that many of us have heard of, but normally not because of the movies he starred in. Instead, we tend to recognise him due to him dying incredibly young in a tragic car accident. This shocking event propelled Dean to cult status and there he’s remained ever since, his films now raved about for capturing his rebellious nature.

His status as a symbol of the wild American teen has meant many different mediums of him have made their way into our homes, with this slot machine being yet another. Having played Rebel from iSoftBet, we expected a very Hollywood silver screen aesthetic to run with, but what we got here was an ultra modern style. It’s a surprising choice from NextGen, but we think it works quite well.

Futuristic Style

As we’ve already commented on, the appearance of this slot machine is quite out of the ordinary, given its subject matter. James Dean was a classic Hollywood star, coming from an era where technology hardly reigned supreme, though advancements had been made. And so to have a 3×5 grid that has all the bells and whistles of The Matrix seems rather odd to us. Brilliant, but odd nonetheless.

What we most appreciate about the design choice here is that the background and controls are very contemporary, glowing light blue and white, and yet many of the key symbols are vintage. They’re illustrated to look like the icons associated with the star: his flashy sports car, a film reel, some bad boy shades, and so on. This slot machine has style, but it’s not predictable at all, which undoubtedly gives it an edge.

Face of an Age

One of the first areas we want to look at is the James Dean Pick Bonus. As you may have guessed from the name, this is a feature that involves some interaction on your part. Rather than merely watching some spins play by themselves, in this you get to click your prize. This will happen when at least three of the James Dean tiles appear on one of the active 25 paylines.

In terms of value, how much you stand to gain is dependent on when you triggered this feature. You see, if you activate it when in the base game, you can get x150 of your bet, which can be awesome or lacklustre depending on what you wagered. However, should you play the feature inside the free spins, you stand to gain as much as x300 your stake. If bonuses are your thing, we’d suggest paying the maximum 62.50 credits rather than the 0.25, just to keep the prizes on the larger side. And yes, that is a very unusual bet amount.

Another Classic

There are a lot of film themed slots out there, as there are many other themes, and so you’re not going to be stuck for what to play next. However, what kind of gamers would we be if we didn’t suggest a title to you? That’s right, we’d be shameful ones, and so we present to you Marilyn Monroe. This is a 20-winline real cash slot from the gaming brand Playtech, and it has multipliers and free games as large as the personality of Monroe herself.

In contrast to James Dean (the slot), Marilyn Monroe is a more in-keeping stylised game – it looks glamorous and sexy, like the lady herself was. It mirrors her style and elegance and matches it on all 5 of the reels. However, while this is good in one sense, it’s a predictable move from the brand, whereas NextGen surprised us, which in turn made us curious.

James Dean Lives on

When it comes to how we feel about this James Dean slot, we’re both curious and unmoved at the same time. This is due to the fabulously unique aesthetic, alongside a paytable that is rather standard, something James Dean never was. We’d have liked to have seen more daring features, a real homage to the actor rather than something that gently brings his work to your attention.