The original version of Tetris was created by Alexey Pajitnov for the Elektronika-60 computer. It was never released commercially. It was also playable on the successor DVK-1 and DVK-2 computers, although it is unknown whether that is a different version, or simply the same code running on a different computer. Minor visual differences are present, but the gameplay is the exact same.
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The first perfect video game. Alexey Pajitnov created a masterpiece with Tetris by harnessing the power of the video game format to create an endless puzzle loop that is simple for anyone to pickup but keeps you coming back for that sweet sweet dopamine hit when your clear a line. It's just brilliant and deserves to sit in the pantheon of humanity's greatest games with the likes of Chess and Go.
Had no clue you could hard drop till i looked in the options menu. would've been nice to know
add sex
This version is now playable on this website thanks to the pretty good movie released this year.
https://tetris.com/tetris-e60/
One of the most important games ever made.
https://tetris.com/tetris-e60/
One of the most important games ever made.
Y'know, I'm not quite sure how I should rate and review this game. If I compare this to the many other versions of Tetris out there, it is quite obvious that this is one of the worst ones. From the horrible, ear-piercing beeps after every input you make on the keyboard, to the oh so slow updating of the pieces, to the pitiful amount of inputs the computer recognizes per second, it is not good by todays standards. I mean, to put in perspective, I played one game of Tetris for 37 minutes straight, and I only got to 150 lines. It's really slow.
However. This is in no way a fault of Alexey Pajitnov, but rather the computer that he programmed this on, that being the Electronika 60. Because of this, I won't dock any stars by those admitted negatives I have listed, because quite frankly, they were simply outside of his control. We have to remember the constraints in which he was set in while programming Tetris, and make an effort not to negatively rate this first version due to these constraints.
That being said, for the first version of Tetris, it's pretty much already all here. You have the same matrix dimensions that we still have today, the same tetriminoes, the speed increasing after 10 lines, the next box, all of it. The only things really missing are the fact the next box only shows one piece, there's only one rotation button, and technically the 7-bag next piece system. I won't count that last one however, because quite frankly, while 7-bag is nice, it's definitely not as sorely needed as the other two.
Everything fundamentally works almost identically to the uber-popular NES and GameBoy versions of Tetris (besides the GameBoy versions broken RNG of course) besides the scoring system and less speed levels, and that really is a testament to just how simple but elegant this game is. The only possible complaint I could have besides things that are due to the computer itself, not the program, is that there weren't enough speed levels, and I felt like it capped at too slow of a speed, and that I could really play infinitely long if I wished to.
That gradual increase of speed levels up to the point it's near impossible to play really is basically a staple of Tetris in my opinion, and it's pretty much at it's best in the NES version. Once you reach level 29, the game has what's been dubbed a "kill-screen", in which the blocks move so fast, that the usual method of play is literally impossible once you get to this point. Now, in the over 30 years since the game has released, there have been methods discovered by the NES Tetris community to actually tap fast enough to competently play in the kill-screen, but that's something to be further discussed a different time. The point is, that cap where the game really forces you to stop, is a truly great feature of NES Tetris, and most other Tetris games.
Granted, however, the main reason this kill-screen is actually a driving factor to just keep playing and getting better, and by extension the reason one is driven to actually try and complete Tetrises instead of many, many singles and doubles, is the scoring system, which is seemingly absent in this version of the game.
I previously had a full two paragraphs talking about the importance of the scoring system, and how it is fundamentally required in order to give Tetris any sort of replayability. I then realized that once you top out, the Russian that's added to the screen afterward is actually asking me to put my name, and then it will show you your full score. I did not know this until after I had already closed my window of 150 lines, so I guess we'll never know what score I got.
I also said in the now-deleted two paragraphs how because the speed feels so slow as a cap, and how the score is absent, I cannot put this as a perfect rating. I took a half-star off for both of those features. Now that I know of the score's non-absence, I feel okay with adding a half-star, bringing this up to 4.5.
I would also like to mention how when speaking of how slow this game is, I would learn that at least part of it was simply due to the simulator I was using, and not totally to the fault of the computer itself, when playing on original hardware. I do still believe though, that the speed is a bit slow on original hardware, and I do think I'll stand by those statements, just not to the same exaggerated tone I may or may not have portrayed earlier in this review.
I don't think it's perfect, but I should say as a disclaimer that it's not like it was meant to be. After all, this version was never put out to the public, and was merely created purely for Alexey's own enjoyment. I don't think he could've known the influence that Tetris would have on the video game market when he was first programming it, and I definitely don't think he was aiming to make the perfect video game while making it. That being said, the fact this game is still so incredibly popular, addicting, and true-to-form so many years later, cannot be understated.
However. This is in no way a fault of Alexey Pajitnov, but rather the computer that he programmed this on, that being the Electronika 60. Because of this, I won't dock any stars by those admitted negatives I have listed, because quite frankly, they were simply outside of his control. We have to remember the constraints in which he was set in while programming Tetris, and make an effort not to negatively rate this first version due to these constraints.
That being said, for the first version of Tetris, it's pretty much already all here. You have the same matrix dimensions that we still have today, the same tetriminoes, the speed increasing after 10 lines, the next box, all of it. The only things really missing are the fact the next box only shows one piece, there's only one rotation button, and technically the 7-bag next piece system. I won't count that last one however, because quite frankly, while 7-bag is nice, it's definitely not as sorely needed as the other two.
Everything fundamentally works almost identically to the uber-popular NES and GameBoy versions of Tetris (besides the GameBoy versions broken RNG of course) besides the scoring system and less speed levels, and that really is a testament to just how simple but elegant this game is. The only possible complaint I could have besides things that are due to the computer itself, not the program, is that there weren't enough speed levels, and I felt like it capped at too slow of a speed, and that I could really play infinitely long if I wished to.
That gradual increase of speed levels up to the point it's near impossible to play really is basically a staple of Tetris in my opinion, and it's pretty much at it's best in the NES version. Once you reach level 29, the game has what's been dubbed a "kill-screen", in which the blocks move so fast, that the usual method of play is literally impossible once you get to this point. Now, in the over 30 years since the game has released, there have been methods discovered by the NES Tetris community to actually tap fast enough to competently play in the kill-screen, but that's something to be further discussed a different time. The point is, that cap where the game really forces you to stop, is a truly great feature of NES Tetris, and most other Tetris games.
Granted, however, the main reason this kill-screen is actually a driving factor to just keep playing and getting better, and by extension the reason one is driven to actually try and complete Tetrises instead of many, many singles and doubles, is the scoring system, which is seemingly absent in this version of the game.
I previously had a full two paragraphs talking about the importance of the scoring system, and how it is fundamentally required in order to give Tetris any sort of replayability. I then realized that once you top out, the Russian that's added to the screen afterward is actually asking me to put my name, and then it will show you your full score. I did not know this until after I had already closed my window of 150 lines, so I guess we'll never know what score I got.
I also said in the now-deleted two paragraphs how because the speed feels so slow as a cap, and how the score is absent, I cannot put this as a perfect rating. I took a half-star off for both of those features. Now that I know of the score's non-absence, I feel okay with adding a half-star, bringing this up to 4.5.
I would also like to mention how when speaking of how slow this game is, I would learn that at least part of it was simply due to the simulator I was using, and not totally to the fault of the computer itself, when playing on original hardware. I do still believe though, that the speed is a bit slow on original hardware, and I do think I'll stand by those statements, just not to the same exaggerated tone I may or may not have portrayed earlier in this review.
I don't think it's perfect, but I should say as a disclaimer that it's not like it was meant to be. After all, this version was never put out to the public, and was merely created purely for Alexey's own enjoyment. I don't think he could've known the influence that Tetris would have on the video game market when he was first programming it, and I definitely don't think he was aiming to make the perfect video game while making it. That being said, the fact this game is still so incredibly popular, addicting, and true-to-form so many years later, cannot be understated.
You know this game is good when Miyamoto himself requested it as the launch title for the Game Boy instead of Super Mario Land.