Seems like a pretty standard version of tetris at first, but it's actually quite interesting! Weird how it's exclusive to Japan tho, i guess it's probably a bit too 2D and flat for what the virtual boy was trying to go for in the west. There's your typical A and B modes that do the exact same things you'd expect with A mode being the endless basic mode and B mode being clear 25 lines with piling amounts of garbage blocks. There's a variety of backgrounds with fun 3D parallax effects to pick from, some music selections (that are mostly a bit too screechy for my tastes, the OST ain't really my jam here), and the block clears pop out towards you as a neat effect. Theres no hold button, a generous amount of lock delay, and the highest speed doesn't go too fast so it's a basic if not a bit easy form of tetris.

The most interesting part comes from the new C mode where there's basically a double-length tetris field that wraps around itself. In this mode, getting any line clear triggers any other fully completed line on the board to also get cleared, so clever manipulation of the rotating board can make it so you can build up a massive screen-clearing super-tetris. This mode basically flips the game on its head as getting those huge clears relies on intentionally finding ways to fill the whole board without actually clearing any lines on their own, leaving intentional holes to be used as potential anchor points to build off of. It's super fresh and satisfying, and it alone makes this version of tetris definitely worth checking out. Not sure why they didnt bring this mode to other tetris games as it's pretty fun and really doesnt even make that much use of the 3D depth, like even pokemon puzzle league on N64 did the whole cylindrical 3D playfield with a stronger sense of 3D depth than here.

It's tetris! In red! With a cool exclusive gamemode! No reason not to give it a go really, just maybe make sure the volume is a bit low beforehand.

Reviewed on Feb 27, 2024


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