Tetris DS is one of those games that seems to encompass everything Nintendo wants to accomplish with its dual-screened system. Here you have a classic game with absolutely universal appeal, recalibrated to make use of the unique features offered by the DS, bundled in a comforting blanket of Nintendo nostalgia. It hits the casual gamer, the hardcore gamer and the N-fanboy with equal force. That's a potent combination.
It's also particularly notable for being the first interesting thing to have happened to the Tetris brand in a long, long time. At long last, the sins of Tetris World have been absolved! While there's no shortage of new ideas here, the essential feel of classic Tetris has been preserved.
Tetris DS offers six different modes, each of which take a wildly different approach to the basic game. Some of these variations are standard fare, while others twist the Tetris concept in new, and very original, directions.
Fanservice is a top priority here; each mode has its own gimmick that ties it to a classic NES game. The visuals are a clever mix of 8-bit NES graphics and contemporary design aesthetics, leaving the action clear and uncluttered while tarting-up the minimalist design to keep things from getting too dull. The Tchaikovsky tunes have been abandoned in favor of other public-domain standards and, much more satisfyingly, remixes of NES themes that accompany the current visual theme. Mastering different gameplay objectives unlocks the tunes in a sound test mode.
Standard Mode:
Purists will be happy to know that the essential, no-frills Tetris is included as the basic game mode. The standard game plays most like the licensed NES version of the game rather than the Game Boy or Tengen variants.
Standard features an unmistakable Super Mario Bros. motif: as you play on the bottom screen to the familiar SMB tune (with traditional SMB sound effects accompanying your actions), Mario hops around on the upper screen in what appears to be a stage from the game. For every line you clear away, the stage scrolls forward a bit, and once you've hit a certain target Mario reaches the flagpole and heads into the underground; then it's into a Super Mario Bros. 3 grasslands level, and then onto a final showdown with Bowser. Clear your hundredth line and Mario defeats Bowser and the scene shifts to The Legend of Zelda.
Standard comes in three variants: endless Marathon, goal-oriented Line Clear and competitive Vs. CPU.
Puzzle Mode:
Puzzle mode is limited in design -- a set of 200 brain teasers in which players are given a pile of blocks and a menu offering a limited number of Tetrominoes to drop onto the stack. The order in which you choose the bricks, and the orientation you select for them, is crucial to solving the puzzle. Hardly difficult, but a fun diversion. Weirdly, the NES game motif for Puzzle mode is Yoshi's Cookie, which means it's a legitimate Tetris variant dressed up as a questionable Tetris clone.
Push Mode:
Unlike the standard Vs. CPU game, Push is more tug-of-war than your typical puzzle game -- somewhat like the competitive mode in Lumines turned on its side. Instead of sending garbage blocks to your opponent's area of the screen, both players share a single space that spans both screens. Player 1's blocks fall from above while the second player's blocks rise from below.
A falling (or rising) Tetromino must land on an existing block; otherwise it simply falls off the other side of the screen, wasting precious time. The playing field is marked with lines, with a boundary mark at the very top and bottom; the game ends when one player's stack of blocks passes his boundary line. Clearing lines pushes the blocks toward the other player's line, making quick responses and efficient stacking a key to victory. Since both players are working on opposite ends of the same piles of blocks, there's plenty of opportunity to fake one another out -- a direct yet subtle approach to competitive play.
Mission Mode:
A series of specific challenges presented in rapid-fire succession. For instance, one level may require you to clear two rows at once with a 2x2 Tetromino, then clear three different lines using only L-shaped bricks. Mission is Zelda-themed, and your timer is represented by a set of heart meters which slowly drain to white; complete a challenge and your hearts are refilled. Every five levels is a stage with faster blocks and a shorter time limit, making for an extremely challenging mode.
Touch Mode:
A Ballon Fight-themed game, this is the obligatory DS stylus-driven variant. Here players are presented with a towering stack of double-sized Tetrominoes with the ultimate goal of bringing a cage of balllons at the top of the stack to ground level. Unlike other versions of the game, the Touch mode features actual gravity -- drag a brick to the side and it will drop to the lowest possible level. Partially-cleared pieces break into smaller blocks, which can fill gaps.
Touch mode is more puzzle-like in nature than the usual Tetris -- nothing is dropped into the playing field, there's no time limit, and it's even possible to create chain combos. The stylus control isn't perfect (it's hard to know which way a block will turn when you tap it) but it's a more leisurely approach the game. In addition to the regular version, Touch mode also offers a fifty-level challenge course.
Catch Mode:
The final game mode is also the strangest. Blocks drop from above as usual -- but instead of moving and rotating them, you instead control a single square surrounded by concentric bounding boxes. Descending blocks will stick to the square, creating a huge and increasingly unwieldy mass of Tetrominioes that must be rotated to catch the falling pieces.
Catch is Metroid-themed, and blocks fall as the screens slowly pan up one of Brinstar's endless vertical shafts. A life meter at the bottom of the screen indicates the player's "health" -- allow a block to pass without catching it, or cause the conglomeration to grow beyond the acceptable bounding boxes, and the life meter decreases. Occasionally an actual metroid will drift downward as well; touching one of these deals tremendous damage.
On the other hand, destroying a metroid is worth tons of points. Create a solid 4x4-square mass of blocks and the combined blocks will begin flashing; after 10 seconds (or when you press the X button), the flashing blocks will detonate, clearing a swath in all directions. All blocks and metroids in the path of the explosion will be cleared away.
For that extra touch of must-have compulsion, Tetris DS is both multiplayer and wi-fi-friendly. While we weren't able to test the online version of the game, the local supports single-cart sharing for up to ten (!) players. The multiplayer-enabled modes are Standard, Mission and Push -- which isn't too shabby, since the other modes really don't lend themselves to competitive play.
Surprisingly, Tetris DS will be in stores in slightly more than a month, meaning a pleasantly-short wait for this potential addiction. Sure, you've played Tetris before, but the DS iteration has an excellent chance at be the most playable and engaging version of the classic to date. Unless, of course, you just hate Nintendo characters.
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