Tetris DS

"Basically A Nintendo Advert... And You Have To Pay For The Privilage"

Tetris could perhaps be the most well known game of all time, it's a game that epitomises “retro” and “nostalgia” as far as gaming is concerned. Nintendo as of late have been seriously cashing in on anything and everything to do with nostalgia, as have some other companies (Capcom, Namco, etc.). Did Nintendo do Tetris justice? Unfortunately not, at least in my opinion, if you're interested, you can read why below;

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Storyline (4/10)
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Story really isn't applicable for Tetris, it never had one, and never needed one, so why has it received a score in the first place, let alone a low one? Simply because the infusion of Nintendo characters into the game is a cheap way of trying to say that it's an updated version of Tetris, even if it does use retro Nintendo graphics, and also because it's nothing more than an attempt to keep Nintendo characters in the spotlight while they wait for their next individual games to be released. The game doesn't need to be plastered with images of retro Mario and Link all over the place, and would have been a lot more enjoyable to play if there wasn't. They also don't even try to provide a reason as to the invasion of the much loved Tetris by Nintendo goons. My opinion is, if you're going to do something like this, give a reason for it, because the fact is that Tetris doesn't need Nintendo markings all over it to sell, it would do that regardless. Just because Nintendo got the development rights to it doesn't give them the excuse to do it to a game, if they bought the rights to the Final Fantasy series then shoved Mario into every screen there would be uproar, at least amongst the fans.

My point is, I did not buy this game to be presented with an advertisement for Nintendo, especially to the extent that it gets in the way of the game, which will be highlighted in the next section.

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Gameplay (5/10)
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They added some more game modes to excuse the fact that you're paying for a game that is nearly 20 years old, but the fact is, most of their additions have already existed in some form on many of the countless Tetris games that have been made over the years. Considering this was made by Nintendo, I don't think it's unfair to criticise them for the lack of touch screen use, since it's only really use in one of the variations, and the dual screen use is absolute rubbish. While you're playing in the bottom screen, you get a useless little running movie in the top screen of random retro Nintendo games, such as scenes from Mario, Link, Metroid, etc. which are completely pointless. In fact, they're detrimental to the game, because to even watch them you have to look up, which means you're not looking at the screen, which at the later levels means misplacing something. In fact having moving images at the top causes you instinctively to look up to see what's going on, which is my problem with it, by all means have still images of random Nintendo characters like you do all over the rest of the game, but what they've done for the actual Tetris game almost ruins the experience.

The other modes aren't bad, but they're nothing special; there's a puzzle mode, which is basically, you're presented with a wall of already placed blocks with some holes, and you have a few blocks that you have to insert in a way that will leave no blocks left. Fun for a while, but 200 puzzles is just overkill, by about puzzle 25 I'd lost interest, especially since for many there's no obvious solution so it becomes a case of trial and error. Mission mode is alright, but it's very limited, in that there's only a small selection of different tasks, such as “finish 4 lines” or “get a line only using Ls”. For the most part, it's also not very difficult, and thus not challenging, ergo a waste of time. Push mode is crap, pure and simply, it was an alright idea, but it's execution is terrible, as for the most part you just spend the game in a stalemate. You and the AI will both be building up your sides in readiness to send a Tetris to them, then you'll do it pretty much at the same time, you'll clear up in pretty much the same time and be ready to start the process all over again. Touch isn't that bad, in the way that out of all the new variations they've included it's the only one that actually feels puzzling but at the same time achievable. It uses the touch screen well, and isn't plastered with Nintendo characters getting in the way. It requires a decent amount of foresight and strategy to complete, and when you get to the end realise you can't do it and have to start again, it's a bit frustrating but doesn't make you hate the game, which is where the others fail. The last addition is catch, which is dull simply because it goes too slow, it takes ages for things to start building momentum, and then when they do, it's fun for all of five minutes because it took so long to get there. As an addition it's alright but really doesn't seem to have been playtested very well and isn't something that should encourage you to buy the game.

To put it simply, the additions that Nintendo shoved in there, aren't very good, and the problem is, I've played games that used very similar mechanics to their additions, which played a lot better, so improvements are obviously possible. But it seems that they're only there purely to put people off thinking this is just the same game I played 20 years ago. Unfortunately, that's the only part of it that's any good, which in all honesty Nintendo should be embarrassed about, or maybe that's a testament to Tetris, that it's still able to survive in the modern times, even amongst all the Nintendo rubbish that was packaged onto it.

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Graphics (6/10)
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They're bright and colourful enough, and using the retro graphics does give a sense of nostalgia. But unfortunately, Nintendo seems to have taken the stance that their heritage and “icons” should come before the game that they're releasing. The game would be just as good if not better without them, simply because then they wouldn't have to be so sickeningly light and fluffy.

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Sounds (6/10)
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They have the original Tetris theme, which I guess is all you really need from a Tetris game. There's also a few retro themes included from various Nintendo games, some of which are nice to listen to and are still pretty catchy, whereas others are just simply irritating. It's hard to work out whether they would have been included in this game if it wasn't for the fact they're from retro Nintendo titles. The sounds effects are alright, but hearing the “1-up mushroom” sound from Mario really irritated the hell out of me, since it drives the point home that their emphasis wasn't on updating Tetris for the modern market, but instead creating an advertising platform, I wouldn't be surprised if the games featured in this game were available on the Wii's download.

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Lifespan (3/10)
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Tetris is fine, it always will be, but the fact is, I've played it on numerous consoles throughout my life, but it's reached a point where I don't want to play it any more. The additions that were stuck on are ok as a whole, but nothing to justify or change the fact that this is an old game. You can pass a short amount of time playing this, but on the whole, it nothing that you haven't seen before, unless you're completely new to Tetris.

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Summary (5/10)
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Why this is on the DS and costing so much is beyond me, it quite simply could have been on the GBA with a price tag of £5. I love Tetris and will always consider it to be one of the landmark games but this rendition of it is a soulless Nintendo advert. The last thing I want to say is this game has received 5/10 simply because as a game Tetris is great and can't really be anything else but what Nintendo did with this game spoils the experience. People will buy this because people love nostalgia, but this game isn't about that, and while you can look past the graphics and sounds for a while, they're so immersed into the game that it's hard to completely ignore them, hence why it's a lot more fun to just go to a random flash games site and play it on there.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/07