Tetris Attack

"Not tetris, but still addictive. IT DON'T NEED NO POKEMON TITLE, EITHER!"

It's Yoshi with a puzzler that's more addictive than the caffeine in my Red Soda, more fun that a barrel of wood lice, more fast-paced than a good deal of NASCAR, and can hold it's own against Puyos, Dr. Marios, and Tetris itself. And the best part is, there's no Pokemon involved.

Graphics: 9/10

Puzzlers don't need great graphics to get the point across. Zoop proves it, Dr. Mario proves it. Tetris Attack goes above and beyond the graphics of most puzzlers, with clean animation, detailed backgrounds, and a wide variety of character animations. While most of the game consists of keeping your blocks down and score up, no matter what the situation the graphics always pull through.

Music: 10/10

*absentmindedly humming* Uh huh. It's that good. These tunes follow in the path of other Tetrisies, with tunes that are easy on the ears and fun to listen to. Now, I have some more humming...

Play Control: 10/10

It's a puzzler that essentially uses 1 button for most of the game. But hey, it's still a great use, no matter how few the buttons! The d-pad moves the cursor, the A button your blocks, and L or R raises up your block level. Simple, but definitely effective. No complaints.

Challenge: 10/10

OW! While anyone can hack their way through the story mode, it takes a real pro to master the Puzzle levels. What? Too easy? Are you sure you're at level 6? And hey, you tell me if you can beat story mode on Xtra hard. Or get 3 minutes and a 30000 score in time trial. A challenge for masters, even.

Gameplay: 10/10

Several different colored blocks which constantly move up from the bottom of the screen until you clear all blocks below a line. You must switch blocks, one with the one to the left or right, making lines of 3 or more. You can pull off massive combos with the right stuff, and that's great fun. If you don't want to battle Bowser in story mode, try your hand at some brain busting puzzles. If you survive an overdose of Advil, maybe time trials will calm your fury. These features give incredible replay value, and make a great game.

Buy or Rent?

BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY. Renting does not allow complete enjoyment of this game. BUY.

Total score: 10/10

Marvelous. Yoshi, you did it again. Now, if only there wasn't a 64 version with a Pokemon license...ah, well. Nothing is perfect.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/19/01, Updated 08/19/01