If you played the shite out of it or didn't, if you belong to the Game Boy generation, Tetris is probably your OG definition of puzzle games. Back then, it was packaged with the device, so everybody had it and often it was the only mandatory double available to use the link cable, good old times. Also the best marketing campaign for the best Soviet game (programmed by Alexei Paschitnow in 1984) known to me.

Tetris has a vivid history well documented, so I suggest watching a video or read up the reasons for the game's many versions of different quality. Though usually playing Tetris in other environments like Tetris 99 or Puyo Puyo Tetris today, I have lots of nostalgia for the Game Boy Version I remember to be superior to any other, especially the NES one that was available to me at a friend's place back then.

Now, you can add colour to it, pretty pictures and a story, but just like other puzzle games (Columns, that I sadly couldn't appreciate back in the day, Puyo Puyo, Dr. Mario or Panel de Pon) it's the very core game that has to be working so smoothly you'll be returning to beat a highscore for weeks, months or even years every other day.

A few simple shapes, seven different tetrominos, and the task to clear rows before you build up to the top is what get's your pulse rate rising in Tetris and it's really not more that I need to have fun for ages. Despite enjoying the game in competitive situations with other human players my classic mode is the marathon, having the opportunity to drift away into the zone on the wings of a brilliant score nicked from classical/folkloresque phrases.

Compared to especially the clones, Tetris in its Game Boy incarnation has some very precise controls only contributing to Tetrismania of its day. Heck, even my mum played it over and over, so it's probably legit calling Tetris the mother of casual games. It might at least have had the same kind of success the Wii had. After it went viral, Tetris alone sold the platform like Wii Sports and you could spot hipster managers playing on almost any train.

Please keep in mind the Game Boy was technically inferior to the Game Gear or Lynx, though its battery lifetime, measurements and gameplay lead to its success as one of the most sold consoles. Yet, when you look at the games, there's just few having the same flawless quality that Tetris has. That's what I call impact.

Reviewed on Dec 06, 2021


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