Well, we knew it was going to come eventually, but Tetris is back on the DS, with multiplayer, Wi-Fi Connection and 6 different game modes, but is this enough to warrant a purchase even from those who have owned one of the many other Tetris Games?
Firstly, a confession, I have never even played the “classic” Tetris on the Game Boy or on any other format actually apart from short flash versions of the game and I never really saw the fascination with Tetris, but something drew me towards getting the DS version and before I wrote this review, I decided that I had better play the classic Tetris on the Game Boy. Needless to say what I experienced on the DS version is a huge improvement on any previous version that I managed to get my hands on. Nintendo has given the game a rather unique and retro look with the styling and themes of this version, full of classic Nintendo sprites and music, it really adds to the feel of the game, especially to people who are fans of Nintendo, as well as “old school gamers”. Each of the modes has a Nintendo retro theme to it and boasts characters from all sorts of Nintendo franchises, including Excitebike, Metroid, Balloon Flight and many more. Game Modes Firstly; the single player mode, there are 6 different game modes to choose from on Tetris DS, the first is Standard Mode “Marathon”. If you have never played Tetris on previous systems before (like myself) or if you don’t even know what Tetris is, then the concept is very simple, which is why it is being marketed under Nintendo’s “Touch Generations” games that boast simple and addictive gameplay for anybody, yet the gameplay can get very competitive and this is where the game can also satisfy the hardcore gamer. “Tetriminos” are made up of 4 blocks arranged in different shapes and these fall from the top of the screen. You use the D-Pad to move the Tetriminos and the A and B buttons to rotate the Tetriminos. The aim of the game is basically to fit the blocks together in the play field and when a complete line of Tetriminos fit, the line will clear and you repeat the process. You play until the play field fills up and the blocks reach the top of the screen and that’s really all there is to the Standard style of game. The marathon part of this comes from where clearing 10 lines increases the speed that the Tetriminos fall. You play through an ever increasingly hard game of Tetris and this continues until you manage (if you manage) to clear 200 lines or you reach the top of the play field which is more likely! Push mode is one of my personal favorites. This mode you play against a computer on the same map, you “push” downwards and they “push” upwards until you eventually lose. Clearing more than one line at once pushes your opponent even further in the opposite direction to you, and giving you more of the playfield. It’s excellently executed and has a “Donkey Kong” theme to it which I’m particularly fond of. Touch mode gives you blocks on the screen already and you have to move the Tetriminos with the stylus. Double tapping on a piece rotates it and you simply have to try and fit all the pieces in to clear lines and get rid of all the blocks, or at least enough to release the balloons that are on top of the Tetriminos in this Balloon Fight themed mode. It’s an interesting mode but it’s not particularly re-playable, with only 5 modes of difficulty and little variation between them.   The interesting "touch mode" Mission mode is similar to Standard mode, however it gives you a challenge, for example clear “X” amount of lines with “X” shaped Tetrimino while racing against the clock to complete the challenge before it issues you with a new mission. It can be fun to play, but like the touch mode, can be hard to find reason to replay and can be quite lonely on your own as there isn’t much competition against… well, against yourself. Catch mode involved rotating a “fuse” which is a one block core, and catching the falling blocks. Once you have created a 4x4 block, it will detonate within 10 seconds and you start again. The larger the core, the more points you get when it detonates and that’s pretty much all there is to this mode, very simple idea and it speeds up gradually as it progresses, as in nearly every other mode. This mode can be an entertaining mode but doesn’t really offer much scope for expansion and can get old quite easily. The final mode that can be found in Tetris DS is a puzzle mode. You start each puzzle with Tetriminos already on the screen with gaps in them. The bottom screen gives you possible blocks that could fit in and you use these to fill the gap. Selecting them with the stylus allows you to choose the position in which they fall and you aim to clear all the blocks on screen to “complete” the puzzle. This mode can, again, feel slow and old at times but is another interesting spin on the Tetris idea, unfortunately not offering much new and it doesn’t really help your game either. The poorer modes aside however, the single player has loads of challenges and a respectful lifespan as you constantly want to better scores and clear 200 lines on the Marathon mode, which is no easy feat, but not impossible ill tell you now. Luckily, I can guarantee you will try all of them at least a few times and find your favorites, but nearly always end up going back to standard mode which makes you wonder what the point in the other modes are. Hardware Use Tetris does little to exploit some of the features that the DS offers. It doesn’t have any of those fancy “3D graphics”, doesn’t use the microphone at all, barely uses the touch screen apart from menu selection and the Touch and Puzzle modes, which are novel ways of using the touch screen, but hardly essential to the game. However, Tetris DS does utilize the two screens on the DS very well and the wireless and online capabilities are obviously where much of the time was focused when this game was produced. Using just one copy of the game, up to 10 players can download and play Tetris DS against each other, and this is an area of the game that is really impressive. Here, mission and standard modes are available to complete against each other at. The top screen displays all your opponents’ playfields and moves where the bottom displays your own. This way, it’s easy to see how close you are to beating someone or how long you have left before you lose! Also you can see the affects that using items on your pals can have when their screens fill up with super fast falling Tetriminos, all because you used a mushroom. Also once you are “out” of the game, you can still play on while waiting for all the others to finish, which is a nice way of eliminating boredom while battling it out for the winner. Also there is obviously the fantastic Wi-Fi Mode. This works in a similar way to Mario Kart DS where it matches you up with a random opponent. However, you don’t feel like the game is cheating you by not having a “game lobby” or letting you choose your opponent/level etc because it really doesn’t matter on Tetris as it does on games such as Metriod Prime Hunters or Mario Kart DS. You choose one of three modes on Wi-Fi. Either Standard One on One, Standard 4 Player with items or Push Mode One on One. Although these modes are all probably the only suitable modes for online play, apart from perhaps mission mode, it doesn’t let you customize the game very much, so if you wanted 4 player with no items or two player with items, you can’t, which feels like the games cheating you a little or restricting your game, but not so much that you can’t enjoy it! The Wi-Fi modes are easy and quick to set up and get playing. I have never experienced any lag or slowdown either (in the same way that I have never found lag on any DS Wi-Fi Game so far) and the play is fluid and smooth constantly. A point ranking system is set up which indicated how well you play and only reveals games won, and not games lost to other which may be a relief to some…   10 Player Multiplayer and Standard Modes The game looks great. As I have already mentioned it features some great Nintendo themed levels and sprites throughout. The visuals of the game are always colourful and effective, and look even better on the DS lite. Of course, as the game has very simple visuals (2D square blocks basically) they aren’t going to suffer from problems that other games may, but for what Tetris DS needs to do, it does it and does it very well. One thing that I particularly liked was the audio in the game. Again this follows the Nintendo retro theme that the game has to it but the music changes and alters depending on how you play. For example on the Donkey Kong themed “Push” mode, if you perform well, the music becomes jollier and when you are close to winning the famous “hammer” music that can be found in Donkey Kong and in Smash Bros more recently, plays in the background. Simple things like this can really heighten the intensity of the game and is a great way on a mode like Push Mode, to let you instantly see how well you are doing, especially if you are playing against somebody either online or in the same room. Tetris DS is an essential game for any DS owner’s collection whether they are a Tetris Fan or not. The game has enough challenges and modes to keep you coming back for more, with an excellent multiplayer and Wi-Fi modes utilizing the wireless functionality of the DS and good use of the duel screens. Overall Score – 9.3/10 Review by Bigbowser2 |
