Tetris (NES) review "Once in a while, there comes an event that is so revolutionary that the world sits up and takes notice. The everyday lives of the simple minded plebeians that inhabit the world are enthralled by this event, and even some interstellar biorganism tree frogs from Alpha Centuri are intrigued. Tetris is not one of those events. However, it is a pretty fun Nintendo game."

Once in a while, there comes an event that is so revolutionary that the world sits up and takes notice. The everyday lives of the simple minded plebeians that inhabit the world are enthralled by this event, and even some interstellar biorganism tree frogs from Alpha Centuri are intrigued.

Tetris is not one of those events. However, it is a pretty fun Nintendo game.

In Tetris, you control rapidly falling blocks, moving them around, and flipping them. By doing so, you hope to make lines. When you make a line, the blocks disappear, and you're rewarded with some points. The process continues, with blocks falling faster after every ten lines, until your screen fills up. When this happens, it's game over.

However, single lines are not the extent of your block making abilities. You can also stack blocks up on purpose, and try for multiple line clearings. Double, triple, and even quadruple (known as tetrises, sharing the game's name) radically up the point value.

You're not really playing against an unforseen enemy in Tetris; the only ''enemy'' is yourself, as you constantly try to best your own best score, and your friend's best score. If this all seems rather simple, that's because it is rather simple. The simplicity of Tetris is what makes up part of it's charm.

The difficultly in Tetris progresses steadily. The first stage (aptly named Level Zero) features painstakingly slow blocks, that only a retarded chimp named Lucy couldn't handle. However, the speed is steadily increased each level, until at one point it becomes too much for the player.

Graphically, Tetris is kept simple. In a puzzle game, the most important thing are the pieces, and keeping things clear, and not muddled. Tetris does an excellent job of this, as blocks are clearily distinguishable from the borders of the level. There is no confusion from the graphics, which is the most important part; you don't want to be distracted by a shooting comet in the background when blocks are falling at fifty miles an hour.

Musically, Tetris features three music themes, and an option to turn the music off. Therefore, there's a little something for everyone. The music is not horribly complex though, all extremely simple midis that a first year keyboard major could duplicate. The sound effects can get on your nerves a bit and distract you, but luckily, they can also be turned off.

Overall, Tetris is an outstanding puzzle game, and the game that almost all other puzzlers aspire to be. The NES version is by far the best, as it's not on a cramped Game Boy screen. If you find it, it's a highly recommended purchase.

Community review by sgreenwell (Date unavailable) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.