Gameboy Tetris wasn’t the first Tetris I played (that was Mirrorsoft Tetris on the ZX Spectrum, with its spooky AY theme music), but it is the Tetris I always go back to.
For such an early GB game, it feels almost perfect. A compelling combination of apparent simplicity and hidden depth, it was (and still is) ideal to pick up and play for five minutes at a time. I think it is fair to say that the GB wouldn’t have done half as well without Tetris.
Sure, it lacks features that modern Tetris implementations have - like hold, or being able to rotate infinitely in place, or fancy flashing backdrops - but it seems somehow better for that. Tetris in its purest form, just one more go, for ever and ever.
What are your memories of GB Tetris? Do you still play it? Do you think it holds up? What is your go-to Tetris?
I was on a train once and was finally - FINALLY! - getting close to finishing 150 lines on Mode B. Totally in the zone, for once feeling like there was a direct connection between my brain and the game, all the pieces were landing just right…so after goodness knows how long, I finally did it. I saw the spaceship lift off for the first time, and…I had missed my stop and had to spend the next hour and a half walking to my destination.
Totally worth it.