Review: Tetris Worlds (GBA)
A new piece of hardware means many things, excitement, hype, angry girlfriend, another bad official magazine from future, an unhappy bank manager and of course a new version of Tetris, this time also known as Tetris Worlds.
It goes without says that trying to improve on what many consider to be the greatest game ever is a thankless task and perhaps one that should no longer be attempted. Yet it happens every time, the essence of Tetris is its simplicity and you don't need the latest graphics card or 128bit console to enjoy it. The drug of the next generation? For those uninitiated with Tetris, shame on you for this is the ultimate puzzler and one that should really come with a government health warning.
May I take this opportunity to thank Dean for exposing me to Tetris once again, something I thought I had overcome. Even now I reach for my Tetris DX cart to remove that one score which my friend could not have achieved, he must have paid someone. Christmas is officially ruined in the pursuit of the high score. Remember kids there is nothing worse than a Tetris addict, do not disturb while they play for their wrath is greater than anything you could have imagined. I mustn't forget that this is game review and not the mad ramblings of Tetris junkie, so putting the cart aside here we go, hold on.
Trying to explain the concept of Tetris in words is only now I realise, difficult, such is its simplicity yet it contains great depth. Tetris blocks of various appearance fall down the screen, you must place these in order to achieve a line and by doing this the level will fall by one. The game is over once the level has risen to such a height that no more blocks can fall. The more lines you achieve the higher your score becomes and clear four lines at once equals Tetris or big score in English. Like the best games Tetris is easy to play but difficult to master. Tetris Worlds has many plus points and as with most things in life is let down in other areas however one cannot slate the developer for lack of effort.
The game offers a huge variety of modes, customisation options and a versus option to grind your friends into submission through your never-ending cascade of blocks. You have the classic Tetris with a few changes and complete with flash graphics as with all the following modes. Sticky Tetris has nothing to do with the sweat of a Tetris addict instead is almost Tetris in reverse. Here aim of the game is to reach the bottom of the screen and the blocks of the same colour stick together. Fusion Tetris and Hotline again are new ideas but very hard to explain without using such words as atoms, tetriminos and multiminos, whatever, both just don't work. Square Tetris is more like the old favourite but with new combos and opportunities to get bigger bonuses than Tetris. This mode was great fun and very rewarding but I'm still trying to master the original Tetris after all these years, so this is all I needed! Cascade mode is one where gravity no longer exits and therefore blocks will cascade down when a line is cleared below.
All of the aforementioned modes are available in the short Ultra or longer Marathon settings. Versus mode is a brilliant multiplayer mode, first used on the Game Boy Colour but here it is available in a four-player mode. Tetris can lead to office arguments and over inflated egos as I've witnessed, so be warned. The presentation, sound and graphics of Tetris World are fantastic but the increased power of the Game Boy Advance has created problems, which threaten the pure Tetris experience. To my horror you now have the option to be able to view the next three pieces, surely this is the ultimate cheat? Where is the skill now? Not only that but you can have a ghost piece which shows were your current block will drop if you let it; very confusing and causes split second delays while the player assess if it is a ghost or real block down there. Thankfully both of these can be switched off but you cannot change the multi-coloured blocks back to what you are used to.
The colour backgrounds are very nice to look at and include various worlds on themes of water, fire, air, forest, mountain and snow. Only when you have played the game for the first time you realise how irritating the backgrounds can be. Imagine playing Tetris and then in the background an animal wonders across the screen. How frustrating and distracting could that be? Exactly. Shame there is no option to keep the backgrounds static but that's the power and drawback of the Game Boy Advance. Tetris Worlds is an enhanced version of Tetris with plenty of options and new modes to keep new and old fans entertained.
The game reinstalled the Tetris bug in my psyche and I find the Tetris DX Game Boy Colour cart in my Game Boy Advance more often than the latest update. So if I saw both side by side I know which one I'd buy and then some critical illness cover with the change.
Rating: 7 / 10
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