Tetris

When it comes to immortal video games there are few that challenge "Tetris", a game almost 30 years after it was created still spawns clones, spin offs and is still as addictive as it ever was.

The game was first released in 1984 though it wasn't until the Game Boy version some 5 years later that the game become the sensation we all know and love over 20 years later.

The basis for Tetris (all the versions) is incredibly simple, you need to manipulate falling blocks (as seen in the

The game uses naive gravity
to stop lines being
automatically completed

 screen shot on the right) into complete lines across the screen by using A and B to spin them as the game slowly gets faster and the blocks fall quicker. Whilst the premise of the game is straight forward and on paper actually reads as if it should be boring the game manages to weave it's spell over you and an hour after you start playing you wonder what happened to your time. It's this addictive time consuming aspect of Tetris that helped it become an iconic game. In fact when Game And Watch was first thought of by Gunpei Yokoi it's purpose was to kill time, and that's what made Tetris such a great game for the Game Boy. The graphics were dull and monochrome (the Game Boy was only monochrome at the time), all the action was kept on a screen but yet it killed time...and then killed more time and has been killing time for years. Though away from the graphics the presentation is excellent, the music is iconic, the controls work perfectly and the tiles are all distinguishable.

Whilst Tetris has been cloned more times than anyone wants to count it's still the Game Boy one that stands out as the biggest hit. Sure the graphics are unimpressive, sure it looks a bit simple (and IS simple) but it has it's own charm as a result. The later versions of the game may have tried adding to the formula though it was never going to be easy to add anything to make the game better. In fact the additions that have been made have generally just complicated the game rather than improved it.

No one will say Tetris is the greatest game ever because lets be honest it's not, but it is almost certainly one of the most addictive, one of the most simple and yet, 22 years after it was put on the Game Boy it's still one of the must have mobile game titles. Amazingly "modern" takes on Tetris such as "Tetriss" on Android seem to a step backwards from the original, not only lacking the heart of the original but lacking everything that made the original so addictive.

If we score games on a criteria basis (such as Graphics, Sound, Lifespan) then Tetris doesn't score massively (despite brilliant music) though sometimes you need to ignore traditional criteria and just admit a great game is great...and this is great! If you want video gaming crack then this is ideal for you.

91%

Details:
Console-Game Boy
Release-1989 (Game Boy)
Developer-Bullet-Proof Software, Inc.
Composer-Hirokazu Tanaka
Genre-Puzzle
Players-1 or 2 (Link Cable Required)

Trivia:
Tetris was sold as the bundled game with the original Game Boy
The pieces are called "tetrominos"