GENRE
	Puzzle
	DEVELOPER
	Elorg
	PUBLISHER
	Nintendo
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	WORTH PLAYING TODAY?
	no
	BUY NOW AT

If you're the kind of gamer who reads video game websites, then you've probably played some version of Tetris over the years. Needless to say, Alexey Pajitnov's simple yet addicting concept defined the puzzle genre that has yet to shake the now-formulaic gameplay. I could tire you with shocking sales statistics or Grisham-caliber legal battle stories, but it'd be better to just dig right in with the review of the home console version that started it all: Tetris for NES.

visuals

In this dinosaur of a puzzler, the simple blocks or "Tetrads" that fall down into the bland-walled well are given some false lighting and no animation during rotation. With each 10 lines and level gained, the palette is swapped to another set of 4 colors, making some Tetrads -- particularly burgundy and dark blue -- difficult to see. The background of the well is always pitch-black. Sure, it's a simple and utilitarian graphics approach during gameplay, but it suffices.

The menus and reward screens are slightly more impressive, each displaying a plain vista of the St. Petersburg Cathedral (or "Tetris Castle"). Following a high-scoring game in Type-A, a rocket sized according to the score will blast off of a Kazakhstani launch pad right next to the Cathedral. After the completion of a round in Type-B, almost unrecognizable images of your favorite Nintendo characters will play a Russian ballad around the Cathedral to celebrate. Also interesting to see is Tetrads are arranged in formations for the menus' backgrounds.

audio

The music in Tetris consists of classic Russian compositions in MIDI form lifted from their original works without being given proper credit, most notably Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies," now known by some as "The Tetris Song." For a Russian-designed game, they seem quite appropriate, and allow players to groove away whilst dropping Tetrads at a sometimes-frenzied rate. The music speeds up as the stack approaches the top of the screen, adding to the mayhem.

gameplay

It's Tetris, plain and simple. Drop one of seven randomly selected Tetrads into a well and assemble them to form as many horizontal lines as possible. Each Tetrad is made up of 4 squares and fits on the stack in a different way. Let's review, shall we?

• 4-Square: don't bother rotating this Tetrad, as it's a perfect 2x2 square. It needs a flat surface to land on or will create a gap.
• 4-Bar: seemingly the rarest of all the Tetrads -- at least when it's really needed -- this 1x4 piece is the only one capable of clearing four lines at once. That's what we call a Tetris.
• L-Block: this block is critical in filling in a hole that's two squares high on the left and three blocks high on the right. It also comes in handy for filling in any overhanging pieces.
• L-Block Reverse: same as the L-Block, but its mirror image.
• Z-Block: I hate this piece, especially in too many numbers at the start of the game. It cannot be placed on a flat surface and needs some unevenness to fit in well.
• Z-Block Reverse: same as the Z-Block, but its mirror image.
• T-Block: this block is a great substitute for either Z-Block, filling in any sort of two-square wide uneven surface or topping three-square wide even surface.

So when every layer is completed in a horizontal line, it disappears and points are tallied according to the speed and number of lines cleared simultaneously. With levels incremented upon passing a multiple of 10 total lines, the Tetrads fall faster and faster until the stack reaches the top of the screen, the game is reset (A, B, Select, and Start all at once), or power to the system is lost, whichever comes first.

Type-B offers the option of playing with a pre-generated field of randomly placed blocks ranging from "Heights" 1-6. Clear the requisite number of lines and see the aforementioned Nintendo characters celebrate your victory, in greater numbers with greater height and level. Eventually, DK, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Bowser, Link, Samus Aran, and Kid Icarus will applaud the victory. Huzzah.

multiplayer

It seems as though this title were either rushed to market or not meant to compete with its Game-Link killer-app brethren on the newly released Game Boy, but Tetris for NES doesn't offer a two-player mode. This is one sore spot missing that was included in the reportedly superior Tengen Tetris that was pulled from store shelves due to licensing issues surrounding the ugly legal battle for console rights.

overall

While NES players in the 80's may have been "Tetrisized" by this groundbreaking puzzler, it loses quite a bit with the lack of any multiplayer. Modern versions of Tetris offer so much more in terms of jivin' puzzle music, beautiful visuals, 4-player gaming, and new features that there's little reason to relive this early incarnation of the game. Unless you're a nostalgia nut like me or just love to dance with sugar plum fairies, stick to The New Tetris for N64 or something similar.

7.2/10