Tetris

Name: Tetris
Year: 1989
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Abstract Puzzler
Hours Played: Countless
Beaten: N/A

Tetris for the Nintendo Entertainment System.  This has been a difficult review to write, because how do you approach it?  Do you approach it from the angle of how this was the definitive version of Tetris for many years and the version still used in professional Tetris competitions to this day?  Or do you approach it from the angle of how it doesn't hold up well compared to modern versions of Tetris, lacking both multiplayer and the ability to "hold" pieces (save them for when you need them)?

Fortunately, the rules of this blog make the answer easy: you ignore the legacy and the versions that came before and after, and focus solely on how it stands up as an NES title.  And the answer is: it holds up very well.  When Tetris was released for the Nintendo, their was nothing else like it, and none of the endless wave of imitators that followed could ever hold a candle to the original.

Moreso then even Super Mario Bros, I have trouble believing their is anyone who would come across this review who's never played a round of Tetris, so I'll keep the synopsis brief: tetrominos fall from the top of the screen, and you arrange them to fill up the well with as few empty spaces as possible.  When a horizontal line is full, it dissapears; if the pieces reach the top, the game ends.  The Nintendo version has two modes: Mode A, which is classic Tetris, and Mode B, in which reaching a certain score ends the game (and plays a little cutscene).

Tetris' biggest selling point is it's accessibility.  It's the one game that attracted sisters and mom who didn't play video games, and is the grandfather of the non-gamer games on mobile devices everywhere today.  It has an important place in gaming history, and the Nintendo version has an important place in Tetris history.

Graphics & Animation: 2 (Average)
The graphics in Tetris do the job, although they aren't anything spectacular.  The palette changes every time you clear a level, which is a nice effect.

Music & Sounds: 1 (Bad)
The Game Boy version of Tetris, released the same year as this one, was the first Tetris to use Korobeiniki, a Russian folk song more famously known in America as "the Tetris theme song".  For the NES version, Nintendo uses as the main theme The Dance of the Sugar-Plumb Fairy, which is a song most Americans associate with Christmastime.  Not only is the lack of the classic iconic Tetris tune dissapointing, but using Christmas music as the theme is... baffling?

Controls & Level Design: 4 (Excellent)
Nintendo is known for games with great control, and they put out (for the time) the definitive version of the game.  Being able to slide over after it's already touched ground has become an integral part of  any serious Tetris player's strategy.

Story & Presentation: 3 (Good)
NES Tetris has a very nice presentation.  The background is made of Tetris pieces, and (as was common in early versions of the game) there is a strong Russian theme present.  Little cutscenes play out when you get to a certain score, which is a nice little extra.

Length & Replayabilitiy: 4 (Excellent)
With so many puzzle and board games on the NES, it's easy to feel ripped off that you're only doing one thing over and over, as opposed to the variety found in games like Super Mario Bros.  And I've certainly complained about high score-centric games on a system that can't save your high score.  But something about the addictive nature of Tetris keeps people coming back and back again, and the NES version has just the right slow steady pace of speeding up to always make you feel like you could have done just a little bit better...

Total: 14 (Good)