People have
been trying to improve upon Tetris since its debut on the original Game
Boy almost 15 years ago. Unfortunately, those who have attempted to
improve upon the original have failed to realize that one cannot improve
upon perfection. The original Tetris wanted for nothing. There was no
need for color, 3D rendering or surround sound. The game was built with
the system’s limitations in mind. The appeal of the game was universal.
I haven’t yet met a person who could put Tetris down after clearing only
a few levels. This is a game that you play until your fingers hurt. The
question is what can the current generation of consoles add to the
Tetris experience? The answer is not much. Sure there are some flashy
graphics when you hit a Tetris, and the backgrounds are moderately
interesting, but frills have never made a game better. Frills just make
a game more frilly.
I wouldn’t
have minded this game so much if it had just been a straightforward
Tetris games with a little color and flash. There was nothing about the
game that needed to be changed. Changing the rules in Tetris is akin to
allowing chess pawns more freedom of movement. It undermines the
strategy and makes a compelling and complex game seem prosaic. Tetris
Worlds has a hold box that allows you to hold a particular piece for
later placement in the game. It also gives you a silhouette of the
current falling piece at the bottom of the screen that shows you exactly
where your piece will land and how it will fit. Both the hold box and
the falling silhouette can be turned off. However, there is one addition
to the game that cannot be altered. I call it the infinite spin. As long
as you are spinning a piece it will never lock into place and you will
be allowed to move it from side to side. This one little change in the
structure of the game just makes it too easy.
The
game’s graphics are somewhat pretty, which isn’t always a good thing. In
fact, there were times during my play where the effects were so
flamboyant that they actually distracted me from my current falling
piece. A game like Tetris didn’t need anything more than the falling
blocks. There are six different worlds with animated backgrounds.
To add a
little bit of variety to the mix, Tetris includes a number of variations
of Tetris. These are mildly entertaining modes of play, but you will
always return to the original. Hot line Tetris has you clearing rows
higher and higher on the board for bonuses. There’s a cascade version of
the game that incorporates gravity into the mix when you clear a level.
Tetris also allows for up to four player simultaneous play.
I am of
the ilk that Tetris is a game that should be included with every console
or handheld system we purchase. A simple version of the game should just
be built into the system’s onboard memory for those times when we tire
of the latest first person shooter. So, I have to admit that I resent
having to buy essentially the same game again and again.
My sister
bought a little LCD Tetris game for her key chain a few years ago for
about 6 bucks. It was a simple black and white screen a little bigger
than my thumb. There was one mode of gameplay, and it was more than
enough. Tetris Worlds is the least entertaining version of Tetris that I
have played. It was less entertaining than on my PC and less
entertaining than on a game boy. I even had more fun playing Tetris on
my roommate’s graphing calculator back in college. So, if you have
another version of Tetris lying around the house, you would do well to
avoid the current incarnation.
