tetris for the nes is just amazing. fitting those silly little four-blocked pieces together is so simple yet so eternally satisfying and challenging to both the mind and the hands on later levels. the three music tracks in the game are all pretty pleasant to listen to, and some of the different palettes that the blocks take on can be quite pretty to look at as well. game a and b both have their merits and frankly, everything contained in this cartridge is perfection except for the fact that high scores don’t have any way to save, but we have the ability to take pictures in this day and age so that doesn’t really matter at all.

i hate the idea of the "perfect game."

it's true tetris is, mechanically, without meaningful blemish. especially accounting for rerelease after rerelease, it has been polished to a gleaming shine. but it's an unadventurous mindset that decides something's worth on how few flaws you can find with it.

there's a rock-solid elegance to the purity of tetris' easy to learn, hard to master gameflow. but i can't deny that many iterations on it have been even more hypnotizing, if a little more lopsided.

tetris is a beautiful, pristine pearl of gaming history. but i can't help but find more value in the chipped diamond, myself.

This is going to sound blasphemous for hardcore Tetris fans, but NES Tetris isn't the best retro Tetris game in my honest opinion.

That title goes to Gameboy Tetris. It's just the perfect game to take on the go and play in short bursts.

If you are a hardcore Tetris fan I can see how the improved visuals and control given by the NES release makes it far superior, but as someone who just likes to play for 10 or 15 minutes at a time I'd rather the ease of access the Gameboy provides.

Still the best "match" puzzler on the system though so, so it still has a spot in any collection.