Tetris DS

"Finally, a decent Tetris game is here!"

I'm a fan of puzzle games. I've played my fair share of the old classics, such as Puyo Pop and Dr. Mario. I've also dabbled into some of the new games out there, like Pokemon Trozei and Meteos. But no one has managed to topple the king of puzzle games: Tetris. This game has managed to keep its popularity over the years because of its simple premise and addicting challenge.

But I haven't really seen any decent official Tetris games within the past years. The last one I played that I thought was good was The New Tetris. When I heard of a Tetris game coming to the DS, I was hoping it was not going to remain in the mediocre-to-the-point-of-disappointing level of Tetris Worlds. And I'm happy to say that Tetris DS did not disappoint.

Tetris DS is themed after Nintendo's classic NES game library, with proper graphics, music, and sounds that fit the theme. The main game offers six different modes of play for the solo player, each with a representative game theme, and all six are unique in their own special way.

Standard mode is the classic Tetris gameplay, where you're trying to get as high a score and as many lines as possible without filling up the screen. They offer a Marathon mode and Line Clear mode, the equivalents of the Game Boy's A-Type and B-Type modes. It also offers a Vs. Mode, which offers 5 difficulty levels for the competitive puzzler in us all. Level 1 is the easiest, while Level 5 is insanely hard Not unbeatable, of course. The Standard mode mainly focuses on the Super Mario Bros. games, but things begin to change a lot as you clear more and more lines. And while Marathon mode does require you to clear only 200 lines, you shouldn't have to worry about the lack of an endless Tetris marathon.

Mission mode puts your Tetris skills to the test by giving you a number of missions to complete. This mode offers its own Marathon, where you must try to keep completing missions within the time limits displayed as a health bar. Missions can range from easy ("use this piece to clear one line" or clear two lines at once") to hard ("clear 4 lines twice in a row" or "clear two lines, skipping two"). If you clear the mission, the stack is lowered a few lines, and you advance to the next mission. If your time runs out, the stack rises up and you're forced to do a new mission. There's also a time trial, where you choose a difficulty level and clear 10 missions as fast as possible. You don't have to worry about automatic stack-rising, but you also don't have the luxury of the stack lowering when you finish it. Mission mode is themed after Legend of Zelda.

Touch mode is the mode that exclusively uses the touch screen. The pieces you use aren't falling from the sky; rather, they're all stacked up on top of each other. You use the stylus to move the pieces around, and sometimes to rotate them too. The Touch mode has a "cascade" rule applied to it, so that any bits of pieces left from a cleared line can continue to fall until it hits something...and this can allow you to create chains of line clears, which you definitely want for high scores. There is a Tower mode where you are given a huge tower of Tetris pieces with a balloon box near the top. You must continue to clear lines until the balloon box hits the floor. You don't have to worry about moving fast and furious to stay alive; this focuses more on thought and strategy. There are five difficulty levels in this mode, and the two more difficult ones disable rotating the pieces. There's also a Touch Puzzle mode, where you are given 50 puzzles to solve, each with specific objections to clear. These of course start easy, but become VERY hard. Touch mode has a Balloon Fight theme.

Push mode is a new type of competitive Tetris that uses both screens. You and an opponent share a single long matrix. Your pieces fall from above, while the opponent's appear to rise from below. You continue to clear lines to avoid crossing the red height marker on the top. To gain the upper hand, you can clear two lines to more to push the mass towards the bottom, in order to cross the opponent's boundary line. But the opponent can push as well, so you have to think defensively and offensively to win. There is a Vs. Com mode which features five difficulty levels, just like Standard mode's version. Push mode is themed after Donkey Kong.

Puzzle mode is a unique mode that makes you worry less about frantic action and more about strategy. Your job is to clear the board on the top screen using the pieces available on the bottom screen. All you do is select the pieces in the order they should be dropped, as well as their proper rotation, and the game does the rest. You don't directly control these pieces. The main rule to make a working move is that it clears at least one line. Again, you have to clear ALL the lines in a puzzle to complete it, and if you are unsuccessful, you can just tell it to retry. They start simple with two pieces, but eventually get tricky, requiring choosing amongst four or five. There are 200 puzzles to solve. The Puzzle mode is themed after Yoshi's Cookie.

Catch mode is perhaps the most bizarre spin on Tetris of all the modes. Rather than controlling the falling pieces, you control the stack they fall upon. You can move and rotate the mass, and you move it into the falling pieces to make them stick. You score points by creating 4x4 squares or bigger in your mass, and then detonate it so the mass becomes smaller. You can detonate it yourself and destroy any bothersome pieces or Metroids that are in range, or you can keep building the mass for more points before the detonation automatically happens. There is an energy bar at the bottom showing how well you're surviving in the game. You lose energy when you hit a Metroid, allow pieces to fall down below, or smash a piece while rotating your mass. If you run out of energy, the game is over. Obviously because Metroids are involved, Catch mode is themed after the game Metroid.

Standard, Mission, and Push all share the same control schemes and features. You can soft-drop with the down button and hard-drop with the up-button. The three all feature six windows for the "Next" Queue, as well as a "Hold" queue that lets you save a piece by pressing a shoulder button. A ghost piece shows where the piece in play will land, and an "infinite rotation" rule is set where while rotating, the piece doesn't stick. Only the hard-drop and ghost piece are able to be toggled through the Options; all else will always be there.

Here are my thoughts on each mode:

Standard: Lovers of the classic game will definitely love this. It's got all the rules you're familiar with, and a few added maneuvers to help ensure your success. And believe me, when you get to the later levels of Marathon mode, you're gonna be happy that infinite rotation is available; otherwise success would be impossible. Seriously.

Mission: A nice way to hone your skills. You may play this a few times to see how fast you can clear the missions, or how long you can last in Marathon trying to clear their tasks.

Touch: The Tower is a nice distraction, and making chains os kind of fun. You may not play this as often as others, but it's still pretty neat. The puzzles can be devilishly challenging if you don't have the cunning to figure them out...

Push: This version of two-player Tetris is actually quite fun! Some folks may prefer the standard Tetris competition, but I'm sure they must admit this new type of competitive Tetris is pretty challenging too. Having to depend on the opposition for their success almost seems ironic.

Puzzle: This can be pretty tricky, but interesting too. Though I'm not sure if the appeal for this mode will last once all the puzzles are solved...

Catch: It's nice to play for a little while, but I personally find that it gets a little too repetitive over time. Not even any changes in graphics or sound to keep your interest strong. It's a great idea in theory, but I still think there could've been things to keep the experience fresh.

Tetris DS also features multiplayer options for local wireless and worldwide Wi-Fi. There appear to be more options in the local wireless, which offers multiplayer Standard, Push, and Mission. In Standard, up to ten people can play against each other, individually or in teams, items or no items, and with adjustable handicaps. Mission lets ten people compete to clear missions and earn mission points, and the one with the most mission points after all the missions are cleared is the winner. And Push is very much like the single-player version, except your opponent is an actual human.

Wi-Fi has a few less options. You can play against random opponents also online to earn (or lose) Wi-Fi Points to show off your skill, or you can invite friends to play you or join one of their games just for fun, without worry of the Wi-Fi Points. Like other DS Wi-Fi games, you use Friend Codes to establish who you want to contact for friend matches. But whether it's friends or strangers you compete against, the options are the same: 2-Player Standard without Items, 4-Player Standard with Items, and Push. No options are adjustable in any of these modes, unless you're playing against friends.

Personally overall, I think the whole package is pretty strong. There could've been more options for both single-player and Wi-Fi versions of some of the modes, and some of the game modes (Catch, specifically) could've added something to make them more interesting...something to keep you coming back for more and more. But I think the game is very good, and perhaps the best Tetris I've seen in a long time. Multiplayer locally was a definite must, and the Wi-Fi multiplayer is a very nice addition, making this game even more worthy of purchase. It's suitable for everyone and anyone, and there's bound to be something in it for you to enjoy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/27/06