Pac-Attack's gimmick and twist on the Tetris-like genre that was booming at the time is intriguing, and even fun. But something about the mechanics is more restricting and daunting than welcoming. I can't help but feel a similar implementation with Puyo Puyo-like physics instead of trying to read Pac-Man's movement behavior would offer something similar, and better.

I think I've written the first log on this game on this website, and that basically tells you how good this game is

More of a thematic cash in on Tetris Fever than a mechanical one, Gorby's Pipeline's gameplay gimmick is certainly interesting, but it's also very slow, frustrating, and unfun.

Below offers a lot of atmosphere with fantastic visuals and music, but constantly teeters the edge between engaging and frustrating.

The visuals and music are very nice in this video game. It's just not super fun and very bloated.

Mutant Year Zero offers a lot of interesting ideas and innovations in the genre that ultimately don't get space to breathe in a brutally unforgiving and unfun environment.

Super Mario Bros 3. is a more traditional successor to the original Super Mario that expands upon the mechanics and menagerie of foes tenfold. Notable for it's scale and ambition, Mario 3 tends to buckle under it's own weight and is bloated with too many short, mediocre stages.

neat tech demo that's slightly better than most will give it credit for

Ahead of it's time as an Action RPG in the Castlevania IP, Simon's Quest ultimate bites off more than it can chew despite the talented development team and applaudable ambition.

A solid if disposable tribute to classic Castlevania, Bloodstained provides some innovation and modernization while also questionably leaving out key classic Castlevania evolution.

Simultaneously, the worst, but also the best game ever concieved by humans

this tetris isnt fun because i have no idea how to play it and they dont tell you how to play it and no im not looking it up on youtube

Yet another twist on the Tetris style game from Alexy Pajitnov himself, Wordtris is my favorite of these off-shoots. The mechanics are easy to understand, and clearing a word is either satisfying, or relieving, depending on if it was intentional or not. This is sort of also the game's problem, as half the time I'm progressing on accident. The mechanics are mostly good, but I feel the screen space and time you have to plan ahead is too short and uninteresting to keep me hooked for very long.

Tetris Attack has little to nothing to do with Tetris, and plays as a sort of precursor to Bejewelled. It's great casual fun that offers a surprising amount of depth in strategy as opposed to requiring more in the way of reaction speed.

This port of the arcade hit is super basic, and comes with some bizarre presentation and music that doesn't translate super well to the Famicom. It's a testament to the original that it's so fun to play over and over again.