Tetris DS

"Wow, what's old is new again!"

When Tetris DS was announced, I knew it would be a must own game. I mean honestly, who couldn't use Tetris in their library for any system. Then I saw the screens, and thought, "Cool! New game play modes and backdrops! I need this more now". Each new screen shot brought more and more anticipation on my part, and I couldn't wait for the release date. Then it came... and boy was I right. You could read the rest of this review and find out more, but honestly, unless you HATE Tetris, just go buy this game. You're a fool not to.

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OVERVIEW

TETRIS. A puzzle masterpiece. I'm sure everyone has played, seen, or at least heard of this game, so everyone should be familiar with it. You drop different shaped blocks, called Tetriminoes with the goal of clearing lines. Clear lines, get points. It's simple. The more lines you clear the faster the blocks drop. Tetris DS has added a few new game play modes though that make this leagues above the last few versions of the old puzzle standby.

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GRAPHICS

It's Tetris, as long as you can see the blocks, graphics shouldn't have an effect on the game play. And besides, if you're good, you won't have time to notice them anyway.

The graphics look great, and I especially like the pixel-lated characters on the side of the screen. They go nicely with the "old-school" theme of the game. I guess some people may not like them because of the "old-school" theme, but since I'm a NES fanatic, I love it. My only problem with the graphics are every once in a while, I'll get to a new level, so a new picture appears, and I mess up a piece because I was looking at the picture instead of the puzzle.

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SOUND

The sound is excellent. New themes, old themes, remixes, it's all good. And it's all catchy.

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CONTROLS

The controls are excellent, but I do have a minor complaint here. Every once and a while, I get to playing so fast, that I'll drop a piece into the spot that I want it, and start pressing A or B to turn the next piece, when in fact the last piece has not finalized it's position. This results in a badly placed piece. I guess this goes back to the "endless rotation" that has been included in this version of Tetris. I'll go into more detail with this in the "GAME PLAY" section of my review.

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GAME PLAY

In case you don't know, there are 6 modes of play in Tetris DS. They are Standard, Puzzle, Mission, Push, Touch, and Catch

Standard
This is your standard Tetris mode, pieces fall you stack them, and clear lines. It's exactly what you picture when you hear Tetris. Top screen has Mario (and later Link, maybe more I haven't gotten past the Zelda stages yet) moving through stages of SMB 1 & 3 as you clear lines, while the bottom screen has the game itself.

Puzzle
Themed to Yoshi's Cookie, this mode has you taking 3 pieces and using them to clear a set number of lines. You have to clear a line with each piece placed, and you have to clear all the lines with the given pieces. This mode really makes you think. Top screen shows the puzzle, while the bottom screen has the pieces you need to use to solve it.

Mission
This is a favorite of mine. Themed to The Legend of Zelda, this mode has you completing set objectives. In the top screen, you're given an objective such as clear 3 lines, or use a straight piece to clear 2 lines, and a example of how to do it. Bottom screen shows the game itself, and a heart bar from Zelda. The hearts tick of slowly, and when you "die" the puzzle fills up a chunk of the way with garbage blocks. Complete the mission to reset the heart meter and avoid "dying". Missions are random and change every time you play.

Push
This is a cool way to play. You're playing directly against the computer, filling in blocks like normal, except every line you complete pushes the computer back down. The computer finishes a line and it pushes you up. knock the computer below -5 and you win. If the computer pushes you above +5 you loose. Simple but challenging.

Touch
This is probably my least favorite mode. Use the stylus to slide pieces around and make lines disappear. Tap to rotate blocks. Since the screen is already full of blocks, your objective isn't to avoid filling the screen, you need to clear all the blocks off. To me this is the worst mode, but not bad enough to lower the total game score, since I have 5 other great modes to play.

Catch
This is an interesting mode. You start off with a 1x1 block, and "catch" blocks as they fall towards you, eventually making a cube. You can rotate the cube to make the blocks fall where you like, since you can't adjust where the blocks fall, or rotate the falling blocks. As you scroll up, enemies from Metroid appear, and you defeat them by exploding your 4x4 or larger cube. Fun and very different for a Tetris game.

Overall, I believe there are 5 excellent modes to play, and one I could do without. Still plenty of fun to be had.

I must also address the "endless rotation" issue here. While this does help in some situations, it also has caused me some problems ( see the "CONTROLS" section), so I have mixed feelings about it. Basically, a piece isn't "set" until it has sat motionless for a few seconds. A lot of people dislike this style of play, and it seems to be quite controversial. But remember, you can avoid using it, but it still has the potential to screw your game play up if you're playing at a faster level.

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MULTIPLAYER

I have no means to connect online to the wifi gaming, so I can't say anything about that. I can say however that I am looking forward to getting a Wifi Adaptor so I can do so.

However, I have played Multiplayer wireless a few times and all I can say is it's AWESOME. Up to 10 people can play wireless with only 1 cart, and you can choose from Standard, Mission and Push. With standard you can turn on items which kind of give it a Mario Kart theme. Certain blocks will fall with a "?" on them. Clear the line the "?" is in, and you get a random item. These, much like in MK:DS, will either help you or hurt your enemy. Just watch out for that dreaded mushroom! As you clear lines, it throws garbage rows into your opponents screen, raising them closer to the top. If you fill your screen and loose, the game allows you to practice while you wait, a very nice addition, but I find that I'm usually watching what the other players have going on.

Mission mode is good multiplayer too. Everyone is given the same mission, and the first to complete it gets the points. It can get a bit confusing, especially if someone completes a mission quickly, and you miss the next mission "music and screen flash", and continue to work at the old mission. Still a lot of fun though.

I haven't played Push mode in Multiplayer, as every time I play wireless, we have more than 2 people wanting to play. But as fun as Push is against the computer, I can only imagine it being a lot better against a human opponent.

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Overall

Wow, what a game. Tetris DS has more bundled into it than 3 or 4 average puzzle games combined. I honestly believe that if you own a Nintendo DS, you MUST own a copy of this game. With only a few very minor flaws, you really can't go wrong. It's the game that keeps on giving, and I can't get enough

FINAL SCORE 9/10

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