My Experience With... Tetris

I’ve done a couple of video game reviews, and both times, I’ve managed to review them on significant milestones. In this case, Dr. Mario and Tiny Toon Adventures hit their 25^th Birthday. This one… not so much. Okay, this came out in ’83, and I didn’t have this blog when this rendition of Tetris turned 25, so…

Happy 29 ½th… Birthday….. ?????

?????

I know that there are a ton of versions of Tetris out there, but I will mainly talk about my favorite, which is this NES version right here.

I have also played this version, which is cute as well, but I’ve found it harder and visually less pleasing to play.

When you start it up and wait a few seconds at the title screen, as usual, you get a bit of an Easter egg. In this case, it’s just a demo.

After hitting “Start,” you go to the main menu. At the top, you will see “A-type” and “B-type.” You will also see four music options.

Music 1:

Music 2:

Music 3:

The last option is “none,” but you can clearly tell that they’ve ripped off 4’33” by John Cage.

Now on to the modes of gameplay:

A-Type:

This is the standard gameplay. You stack the Tetris pieces so that they fit, and you can break up to four lines at a time. When you overlap pieces at the top, you get a game over.

There are incentives to this game. After a certain number of points (30K, I believe), you get to see a Russian spaceship take off, and it gets bigger every time. The last incentive gives a nice surprise.

Another thing I’d like to consider an incentive in this game is the COLORS ON EVERY LEVEL. I wish I could make clothing patterns out of those, they’re so gorgeous! Well… except for level 6. Very depressing.

You can start at any level from 0 – 9, but the levels continue until your game ends. Level 0 has pieces moving mind-numbingly slow, and the speed progresses with each level. Also, you score the fewest number of points per move with level 0, and that increases over the gameplay. The level changes after every 10 lines broken.

To make the gameplay (in either type) trickier, hit the “select” button, and it toggles the visibility of the next piece. All the stats for each piece is on the left side of the board, regardless.

B-type:

In this one, you sorta play in reverse of “A-Type.” You still have your original 10 levels (you cannot go past level 9 at all), but this time, you also have six height choices labeled 0-5. A “0” height means there are no previously stacked blocks, and a “5” height means that you’re stacked all the way up to the ceiling.

The objective in this version is to break 25 lines. If you make it with “success,” you get a parade of creatures going past the Kremlin, according to the level you play. This is found in levels 0-0 through 8-5, and the number of creatures increases with each height. Level 9 has a really fun ending with each height you conquer. These levels can be played in any order.

For each type, there is a “leaderboard” of three slots. This is not saved when re-loaded. I have found that if I am tactful enough, I can make the leaderboard say things like “JESSIE WAS HERE.”

Lol, I need a life.

I would very much recommend playing this game, especially this version. I just find it very whimsical and nostalgic.

And now, I leave you with Smooth McGroove’s version of my favorite music on this game:

Ta-ta!

What’s your favorite version of Tetris? What’s your favorite song or musical piece sung a capella?

WAIT, lemme answer that last part and add it to your answers, it sounds fun: Flight of the Bumblebee.