Tetris Attack

"Fun albeit rare action puzzler"

Tetris Attack is a fun old gameboy game that is a spin off of Tetris (obviously). I don’t even remember where I first got it, but I’m glad I have it.

Gameplay: This is a fun and action packed puzzler that requires quick thinking and quick fingers. Basic gameplay consists of you trying to line up pieces horizontally or vertically in lines of three or more. You do this with a cursor that allows you to switch two side by side blocks with each other. When you do line some blocks up, they disappear, you get points and the blocks above those fall down. Generally you are trying to keep the stack from reaching the top of the screen while acquiring points. There are many different gameplay modes in this game, and all are fun to play. They include Timeless, where you get to play with no time limit, Time Attack, a game with a time limit, a story mode, a vs. com mode, and a puzzle mode. All of the saving is password based, which stinks but is bearable.

Graphics: The graphics in this game is good for a gameboy. On a regular or pocket gameboy, all of the things in the game are crisp, clean, and easy to see. On a color or GBA, this game's graphics are substantially improved. How the color gameboys know to make Yoshi green, the hearts red and the stars blue are beyond me, but it makes the game look even better.

Sound: Good, clean, and crisp. The music for the differently themed levels are good and actually fun to listen to at times. Many of the levels include custom sounds also! When you get a combo reaching x3 or x4, you will love the sounds as it celebrates the combo with a crescendo of increasingly higher pitched sounds.

Story: Interesting and questionable, but puzzle games aren't supposed to have good stories anyways. In this game, you are Yoshi and you want to free your friends from Bowser's spell. To do this you, guess what, play Tetris Attack with them until you crush them with your superior skills. Then suddenly they become your allies. While this is odd, it's probably the only workable story about this type of puzzle game, and I commend Nintendo's efforts to make Yoshi a hero this time, even though that probably limited the mass appeal of this game.

Replay Value: High. This game is fun to play on long car trips because of the puzzle mode and the story modes.

Pros:
- Vibrant nice graphics
- Crisp clear sounds
- Fun gameplay

Cons:
- Password save
- Rare

If you can find this game, I would suggest you buy it if this sounds like your cup of tea. It's a great game for people who like action puzzlers, like Tetris, Chu Chu Rocket, etc...

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/02, Updated 08/30/02