Tetris Plus

"A great addition to the Tetris family."

Tetris. A word that's likely known the world over among gamers. It's a simple concept; you maneuver a constant stream of falling blocks into lines. When a line is filled, it is cleared and your stack of blocks lowers. As you play longer, the blocks fall faster until they hit the top of the screen and end your game. While simple, it is one of THE most successful concepts ever developed, spawning tons of sequels and clones on almost every system imaginable.

Tetris Plus, released in 1996, is for the Game Boy. While you may be tempted to think, ''Oh, goody. More Tetris...'', you had better think again. This game is more than just the classic Tetris you know and love, as you will see.

Gameplay (30/30): The things you can do in this little pak is incredible! For starters, you have Classic mode. This is just your standard Tetris game. You can pick a level to start at, and then you'll face the endless stream of falling Tetrads. You can try and shoot for a score, as the three highest scores are saved in the game.

Once you've had enough of Classic, you can try your hand at puzzle. In this mode, you must get the Professor to the door at the bottom of the screen by clearing blocks away to form an escape route. Why an escape route? Because a ceiling of spikes is continuously lowering. If the spikes hit the professor, game over. Puzzle mode contains TONS of puzzles, so it will take you a long time to finish. And if you grow tired of the puzzles in Puzzle Mode, then you can go make your own in Edit Mode.

Edit Mode is a tool you can use to create your own puzzles from scratch. You can place your own blocks, set a speed, choose where the Professor starts, and more. When you're done, you can save the puzzle for later use. You can create up to ten custom levels and string them together to form a mini-level.

Finally, there's Vs. mode. In this mode, you compete with a friend to see who can get the Professor out the door at the bottom the quickest (Puzzle mode). I would've liked to see more options, but it's not a huge deal, as not many people you know might actually have the game.

Graphics (19/25): The graphics are not incredibly spectacular or detailed, but they don't need to be. They manage to get their job done quite well. You can always tell where the piece that's falling is going to land, and everything is clean and easy to recognize. The professor's animation is not the best, mostly he scampers around the screen climbing blocks.

Sound/Music (8/20): The audio department is one of the most lacking features of the game. The music is generic at best, and it repeats often and will get on your nerves quickly. It's better to just turn down the sound and listen to a CD if you can.

The sound effects aren't much better, either. You hear a little thump when a block settles into place or your standard dings when you clear a line. They aren't very good, but like the music, they're not intrusive either.

Fun Factor/Replayability (22/25): There are plenty of things in this game that will keep you busy. The classic mode is a great game in itself. You can keep trying to get to higher levels and achieve better scores.

Puzzle Mode, and especially Edit Mode, is what will keep you playing the longest. With a huge number of increasingly challenging puzzles and 4 difficulty levels, plus the ability to create your own puzzles from scratch, give this game the spark it needs to keep you coming back.

Vs. Mode chops off a few points here, as it is limited, but it's not that big of a deal. The real fun is in the single player modes.

Overall:

Gameplay : 30/30 - Just plain fun.
Graphics: 19/25 - Simple, yet effective.
Sound: 8/20 - Below average, at best.
Fun Factor/Replayability: 22/25 - Will keep you coming back for more.

Total score: 79/100
Score out of 10: 7.9/10
Rounded score: 8/10

This is definitely a game you should pick up if you can find it. It's got a little bit of everything, from Classic to Puzzle and everything in between. This is one game you should not miss playing.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/03/01, Updated 09/03/01