Tetris DS
- March 20, 2006 14:22 PM PST
- Email this!
Tetris is back and is better than ever.
- GamePro Score
- User Score
- Write your review!
A Proper Pair
The DS is the perfect medium for Tetris to make its comeback. Most of the game modes utilize the top screen to extend the falling distance of the puzzle pieces, and a touchscreen mode makes use of the stylus to slide and rotate pieces. Puzzle junkies rejoice; Tetris DS is dynamite.
Each of the six single-player modes are surprisingly unique, each providing a completely different style of play. Standard mode is the basic, line-clearing Tetris style of play, with difficulty increasing every 10 lines cleared. Or you can attempt to clear 200 lines within Standard mode, called Marathon, or play directly against the CPU. Standard offers the most straightforward style of play, as the other five modes are a bit more quirky.
Push mode, a two-player game, makes essential use of both screens. The object is to push your opponent's pieces down toward the bottom of the screen. You always control the top screen, and you'll have to clear two or more lines to shift the block of puzzle pieces down toward your opponent. Push them all the way to the bottom and win, or vice versa. Clearing three or four lines at once is the best way to drastically shift the puzzle plane downward. But, you'll also need to keep your pieces low, or run the risk of your opponent pushing your pieces frantically to the top.
Touching is Good
Touch mode is the only game mode that integrates touching of the actual puzzle pieces into gameplay, and it comes in two forms. The first, Tower mode, stacks a hefty amount of disorganized puzzle pieces into a looming tower, kind of like a spastic game of Jenga. But here, the object is to clear all the pieces to get the box of balloons at the top, all the way to the bottom. To accomplish this, you can slide the Tetris pieces from left to right with the stylus, or double tap them to rotate in a desired direction. There are five difficulty levels, and on levels four and five, rotation is restricted. It's definitely intimidating at first, but once you're in the zone, things will start falling in the right places. Touch Puzzle mode is a different story; it contains 50 small puzzles that range from easy to painstakingly tough. Each puzzle has a set goal (clear four lines at once; get a four-line chain) that must be accomplished by sliding the pieces with the stylus; no rotation allowed here either.
Possibly the most addictive part of Tetris DS is Puzzle mode, a whopping 200 different puzzles that range from three to five piece maneuvers. The idea is to select the correct combination of pieces, with the right rotation, to clear all the blocks on-screen. The top screen displays the puzzle board and the blocks you'll need to clear, while the bottom screen displays the selection of puzzle pieces to use, which you'll select with the stylus. You have to use all the pieces on the bottom screen, and must select them in the right order -- the higher the number, the harder the puzzle.
Mission mode is probably the closest thing to the normal Tetris style of play, with a couple distinct twists. First, there are changing goals that appear in the upper right-hand corner of the top screen, and at times, only specific types of pieces may fall depending on the goal. Also, there's a hold box that allows you to hang onto one piece at a time for later use. This comes in handy for anticipating pieces to come.
The last single-player mode, Catch, is definitely a far reach from standard Tetris. You control a rotating block of pieces that you'll catch falling Tetris pieces on. Once you create a 4x4 block, the core will detonate, racking up a bunch of points. If you let enough blocks plummet to the bottom, your energy will eventually deplete.
More Multiplayer Magic
Single-player is packed with hours of gameplay, but Tetris DS multiplayer via DS Download Play is frighteningly captivating. There are three modes of play, two of which, Mission and Push, are exactly the same as in single-player, but Standard mode includes Mario Kart-inspired item boxes that create wacky results. For example, banana peels rearrange your opponent's pieces, red shells clear a couple lines from the bottom of your stack, and mushrooms make your rival's pieces fall at hasty speeds. Office multiplayer sessions were insanely competitive, with plenty of childish name-calling.
Aside from an unresponsive touchscreen issue every now and then, Tetris DS is an amazing puzzle package, and is easily one of the best DS games to date - a perfect partner for the upcoming DS Lite.
