Tetris Forever

Written by Joseph Moorer on 11/18/2024 for PC  

If you say the word "Tetris" to anyone, they would know what it is. They would know what system they used to play it on. Most people would know the catchy music that accompanied the Gameboy version, and the one released for the NES in 1989. There isn't a person on this planet that doesn't know what Tetris is. You can divide the infinite number in half, if you wanted to count the people who know who was the person originally behind Tetris. Then take about an eighth of that number, and you'll have the people who know the full fledged story of Tetris, without looking at a Wiki page. Now, I don't know what number that comes out to (it's still a LOT), but if you're one of those other people, this collection is for you. Tetris Forever, however, is Tetris 101. The Tetris-devoted need not apply.

 

Let me explain. Once again, the wizards at Digital Eclipse have put together a compilation together, based on a game that has variations of it everywhere. I dare say Tetris has probably come out for every system ever made since the game's initial arrival. The third entry in the gold series (Llamasoft, Karateka) takes us to the background and rich history of Tetris. How it all came about. How one man who was obsessed with mathematics and computer programming made a game that could probably be played forever. Alexey Pajitnov has had his name on every single game. He is the reason why we play it today. All of his history is here, from him, told by him, and it's pretty cool to navigate through. 

I don't want to ruin the story here, because I think you should definitely see it for yourself, but you have five whole chapters to navigate through. The first one starts with Pajitnov discovering the Electronika 60, an old computer he first put Tetris on, which was originally used for text only. It teaches you what Polyminoes are. It shows you how he came up with the name Tetris, which is hilarious. It also shows you that people wanted to immediately take his idea, and run with is. Those stories are worth the price of admission alone, especially when you get to the Nintendo and Tengen story. Holy Tetrominos. 

Now, if this is your first Digital Eclipse Gold Series experience, let me let you in on a little secret. As you make your way through the digital museum, sometimes, you can go straight to the game or version of Tetris they are currently referencing. This was first seen in the Atari 50 years collection, which should just be retconned into a Gold Series entry. This is so cool, because you can get your mind around the idea of what these games looked and felt like to play. I was sent the Steam version, so the keyboard mechanics actually work, like picking your level, or even hard drop, as soft drop wasn't available yet. You can even type your name in the high score, instead of finding letters like a person in 1985. The presentation here shines the brightest. 

Of course, if you want to go straight to the games, you can. With a touch of a button, you gain immediate access to eighteen games. The first two are Tetris for the Electronika 60 and Tetris for MS-DOS. These games are where Tetris started, and as you can start the game at any level, you can also control the speed of the pieces during the game. Hard drop is in these, but again, soft drop is not. In modern Tetris, if you hold the left or right buttons, your piece will slide to the direction you're pushing. In these first games, they do not. You physically have to put the piece where you want it. It's cool to see, but I don't think you'll stay here for a long time. 

In between those and the Spectrum Holobyte versions, is the Famicom version of GO, or Igo. This is the game that started Bullet Proof Software's foray into console gaming. This game is in full Japanese. But this, like any other game here that was only released in Japan, has a fully translated manual within the menu. It also translates the in-game menus for you, via screen shots, so if you even get stuck, or you think you have to break out a phone camera translator, save your battery life. This won't necessarily help you play better, but it's good to know these options are out there. The next game after that is the Famicom version of Tetris, not to be confused with the one more familiar. This Tetris was the first to come out for the family computer in Japan, before the Game Boy version hit in 1989. 

The next few games are where I start questioning what I'm looking at here. Hatris, is here, with three versions. Hatris is nothing like Tetris, which I thought was the point, but according to the game, it's what they thought would be a good sequel. It's literally just matching hats. On the NES version, if you match a hat on a guys head, he walks out, and another guy walks in. The Gameboy and Famicom versions don't even have the heads, it's just the hats. The hats come out in twos, and once you match five, they disappear. If one stack of hats is taller than the other, you can move the other hat to the pile of your choice, if you can get it over the stack. It's a weird game. I don't know why there are three versions of it. Welltris would've been better here.

The questions don't stop there. Tetris 2 + Bombliss is now the game that's next up, and Bombliss takes up practically the rest of the collection. Bombliss is Tetris, with different pieces and mechanics. The tetrominos have bombs in each piece, and instead of disappearing lines, the bombs explode, and take out any nearby bombs with the explosions. Every four square you make with the bomb pieces, turn into a bigger bomb with a bigger blast range. There are different, and more challenging versions of Tetris within these games, but you have Bombliss now. Bombliss is represented in FIVE different games, including SUPER Bombliss. Fun Fact, Bombliss is also known as Tetris Blast. So there are five versions of Tetris Blast. There are two versions of Super Tetris 2 + Bombliss, and the only difference is, "The puzzles in Bombliss Mode are different." Can I at least get the cancelled Mega Drive version? I digress.

The other two titles that have nothing to do with each other are Tetris Battle Gaiden, and Super Tetris 3. Tetris Battle Gaiden is a game where you choose a character, and go head to head with a computer controlled opponent or a local opponent. Some of the pieces have crystals in them, and once you clear a line with a crystal, you get the crystal. At any time, you can push the up button, and use the powers of your crystal. They could be powers to make it harder on your opponent, or easier on yourself. That's pretty much it. A variation you can try out. Not something you will fall in love with. Tetris Attack (not here) is better. And yes, I know it's Panel De Pon.

Super Tetris 3 comes with 4 different modes. Tetris, of course, Magicliss, Sparkliss, and Familiss. Magicaliss is a version of Tetris, that if you match all the same color in a line, all of that color disappears. The Tetrominos here only change color on every fourth rotation, and sometimes they come out in a silver color, which means you get nothing but a line clear. Familiss is 4 player Tetris battle mode, again, local co-op. So local, in fact, that if you try to play against computer players, the game tells you to "Please Call Your Family". Finally, Sparkliss is just Bombliss with lightning, so let's just skip it. 

Now Digital Eclipse has been doing great things, and this new version of Tetris that they snuck in is pretty fun. Tetris Time Warp is a brand new original version of the game. This is your standard Tetris, with all the modern controls. You can hold pieces, slow or fast drop, and get extra points for the four line clears. This one comes with pieces that change into different colors, or eras, as they fall. Once they hit, and you clear a line, you go into that era, via a time warp. You may be warped into the Electronika version, or the "1989" version, or, god forbid, Bombtriss. It has up to four player competitive play too, and when you match these pieces, they send your opponent(s) into the timewarp. You can also send garbage by completing lines, as competitive Tetris goes. 

Options are a plenty with a click of the right stick on these games. A whole "how to play" section is present in every game. You can switch up your controls, and even change the screen mode. Filters are here also, sometimes, coming in a full solid color for the earlier games, or even and LCD filter on the later games. The borders vary, as sometimes, they're just a TV screen, and sometimes, they're a "not gameboy" border. I might know why, but I don't want to speculate. I mean, most of the games here are from the Famicom, Super Famicom, or Gameboy, albeit, some glaring omissions. 

There is no Gameboy, or the traditional version of the NES Tetris. There is no Welltris. Not even Facetris is here. PlayStation has a game called "The Next Tetris", and it's not here. Other games in the history of Tetris are referenced, like Tetris 99, and Tetris Effect: Connected, but of course they're not here. I know we're getting the NES version of Tetris on Nintendo Switch online, and I know we have the gameboy version, but I just wish there were more to choose from. I don't know why, but to have that many versions of Bombtriss seems like overkill. Once I'm done learning all the things I need to know about Tetris, I go play...Bombtriss? Again? I'll pay cold hard cash for DLC, because this selection makes me want to stack up my Tetrominos all the way to the top, and maybe later let my kid play this. Maybe.