Tetris Plus

"Professor, Tetris doesn't apply as a college course..."

Come on! It is Tetris, for pete’s sake! Tetris is one of the all time greatest puzzle games ever created. No, make that THE all time best puzzle game ever created in the history of video games. I have not met one person in my entire life who doesn’t know what Tetris is or a person who disliked Tetris. Very few and I mean few puzzle games are able to hit as wide a range of players as Tetris has. Tetris… aaahhh… Tetris is bliss.

Professor, watch that step, it’s a doozy!
Much to my surprise, the game has a story mode! It is called “Puzzle” mode, but it has a story. A little Professor and his assistant are traveling around the world, hunting for treasures in the deepest parts of caves, pyramids, etc. Sure, it’s not an exciting story, but it isn’t bad either.
STORY SCORE (5/10)

Drop them blocks!
If you don’t know how to play Tetris, come out from under your rock. Tetris is insanely simple, yet extremely challenging. You must drop and position different shapes of blocks in an attempt to create a horizontal line. Make the line, the blocks disappear and the blocks on top of them move down. There are different shapes of blocks, ranging from the ever-useful T shape to the extremely rare I shape. The game isn’t just classic Tetris, either. Let’s see… there is the fairly fun puzzle mode. The puzzle mode is basically the story mode. In the puzzle mode, the professor enters from a doorway and enters a room with a design of Tetris blocks. You must make a complete line of the Tetris blocks to destroy the line. Destroy a line the professor is walking on, and he falls down to the next line. Drop a block on the professor, though, and the lil’ fool climbs up on top of that block. Not a wise thing to do, as at the top of the screen is a huge saw that drops down a inch or two every 20 seconds or though. That saw has the power to destroy the blocks that it falls on, as well as our mustachioed professor. When the saw gets close to our professor, he runs back and forth very humorously. Repeat the demolition of the lines till the cute little professor drops down to the floor. He then climbs through the floor, drops down, and goes through a door leading to the next puzzle. Complete enough puzzles and the professor finds a shiny treasure. A neat option is being able to choose where in the world you send the professor. You can choose to go to Knossos, or head to Egypt, or one of many other locals. There is your standard VS mode where you can play against a friend through use of the link cable. You also got this spiffy edit mode, where you make your own puzzles and test them out. You can put blocks pretty much anywhere you want, and control where the professor enters, where the saw is, and more! Then, you save them and you play them for your own enjoyment. Make your name in the blocks, draw a smiley face, do whatever you want!
GAMEPLAY SCORE (9/10)

How much graphics do you want in Tetris?
Exactly! Don’t expect awesome looking graphics here. The blocks look okay, and the menus and text are easy to read. The little professor looks detailed, and kind of neat. I enjoyed these graphics, but some next-gen-spoiled brat will play this and go “What type of graphics are these?”
GRAPHICS SCORE (7/10)

Neato music.
Good music, if I do say so myself. The music speeds up as you get to the harder levels, and that alone makes you more tense. The opening song is surprisingly catchy, and I found myself humming it and not realizing it. When you place a block, you hear a click noise. Make a horizontal line, and you’ll hear a different ting depending on how many lines you made. The “Saw is too close to the professor” music is pretty neat, and matches the panicky mode when the professor is almost close to death.
AUDIO SCORE (9/10)

Breezy!
Controlling is a breeze. You use the D-Pad to move the blocks around and you press A or B to flip them. Navigating the menus is simple, and choosing what to do isn’t hard at all.
CONTROL SCORE: (10/10)

Tetris is freakishly fun.
This game is great. The fun factor here is off the charts. Like I said before, I haven’t met anyone who hates Tetris.
FUN FACTOR (10/10)

Replay value is off the charts.
I’ve had this game since… maybe… I would say a month or two after Gameboy Pocket came out, and I still play it and have a blast doing so. The Tetris games are games that anyone can pick up and learn to play in 3 minutes, and that’s why I think it does so well.
REPLAY VALUE (10/10)

NOTES:
Tetris is a blast. If you have never played it, play it now.
If this wins ROTW or ROTD, I’ll stop putting “If this wins ROTW or ROTD…” in my reviews.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/01, Updated 09/05/01