GENRE
	Puzzle
	DEVELOPER
	Bullet Proof Software
	PUBLISHER
	Nintendo
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	CONNECTIVITY
	No
	BUY NOW AT

This is the original Tetris, the one that made it all famous! The first of the long line of games to use pieces made of four squares and clearing 10 spaced lines with them. What more could you ask for? It’s already portable.

visuals

There isn’t much to be said for graphics in Tetris games. The pieces are easily distinguishable from the background, which makes for easy placing. When you switch from left to right where you want to put a piece, it just kind of zaps one column over, but it’s nothing to worry about, you won’t notice it. There is a clear little section on the right that shows you the score, level, lines cleared, and the next piece, which you can turn off and on.

audio

There’s the classic Russian music as Music A, which is my personal favorite. Music B is from the NES version as well, and Music C is kind of happy music if you don’t enjoy A or B. Whenever you place a piece, there is a good confirming *clunk* noise. If you manage to clear 1-3 lines simultaneously, there is a little magic noise. If you don’t clear the lines quick enough you will obviously build up quite a few pieces and the music will get faster. If and when you lose, you get a nice dying noise used in Super Mario Land. Those of you who have beaten that game will recognize it. It plays some “fallen hero” music when you enter your name for your score.

gameplay

The basic premise behind Tetris is a puzzle game that throws every possible two-dimensional design made of four blocks without using designs connected diagonally. They fall at a certain rate in a 10 column 18 row container, and you must place them so that they fill one to four rows at a time. When a row is taken up without any spaces, the row disappears, and everything above it drops into the row(s) which were just removed. If you are unable to do this, then the pieces pile up and when they get to the top the game is over.

Simplistic as it may sound, it’s pretty addicting. You should try it if you haven’t, and if you have, good for you. Now try it again! The only real problem with this game is it only keeps your high scores while it’s turned on, and given battery life, that’s about 15 hours. Still a fun game though.

multiplayer

If you try two-player, you’ll be treated with nice little sprites of Mario and Luigi celebrating/not-celebrating every time you finish a round. There is also quite a lot of flashing when you clear a line.

overall

Sometimes the simplest of games are the best. You don’t need objectives leading to a plot, or fancy character design. The best part is, it’s an old game, no one is selling it for too much, and it shouldn’t be hard to find, so what’s your excuse for not buying it now? Go get one!

9.0/10