Tetris DX is very nostalgic and special to me as I actually owned a physical cartridge of this game back in my youngling days. I have a lot of memories playing this on my old GBA that for the most part I can’t seem to remember because I usually only tend to remember the stupid moments instead of the fun ones. I kinda recall getting the Space Shuttle cutscene at least once, I mean that probably could have been a false memory but I’d like to believe I was that cool back then.
if you played the Game Boy Tetris then Tetris DX is pretty much identical but there’s a few different things going on. DX’s Marathon goes out to Level 30 rather than Level 20 but rather than having the same difficulty curve, DX’s speed increases at a slower rate which means you have more time to ease into the increase of difficulty. you can also save your score in this version so you don’t have to worry about that disappearing whenever you turn the game off. DX also has an improved DAS (Delayed Auto Shift) and if you don’t know what that means, well me neither I just learned the term as I was typing this, but basically the pieces are less annoying to move around. lastly there’s a VS mode where you can compete against a CPU, though it’s pretty primitive as you don’t actually get to see how your opponent performs, your only indicator is a vertical bar to the side of your gameplay that slowly ascends and descends red. if the red reaches top then you’ve defeated them but if it drops down and you hear a warning sound, they’ve sent garbage to your screen that you’ll need to clear out. overall you’ll probably just stick to the default mode, though I’m glad these other modes are here as well.
Tetris DX introduces something special to the game: COLOR!!! okay to be fair NES Tetris has color, the DOS version has color, all the later releases have color, but hey nothing wrong with some easier visualibility. it’s not just color though, there’s a cool new checkerboard background during your gameplay that moves around the whole time, and when you get a Tetris it briefly scrolls faster and changes into a hot pink! it's very satisfying to pull off a Tetris in this game and see that background zoom with the new Tetris jingle going "DELELE WHOOP"! the ending cutscenes that you get when you finish a game have also been changed up a bit. in the original they kept things simple by having a rocket launch with its size depending on how high your score was, but here they decided to have a bit of fun. the general idea is still the same, but now they’re launching out goofier things like a tiny toothpick rocket that chases after a bird, a regular sized rocket that transforms into a parachute, a giant champagne bottle that erupts and fizzles out, they even launch the Statue of Liberty while a brief snippet of “Korobeiniki” plays. even the original space shuttle from the Game Boy game appears but they fail to launch it and have to take it back for repair. if your score’s really good though, they successfully launch the shuttle into space as it drop out items back down to Earth, making the grandiose reveal that all those Tetrominoes that you control during your gameplay are being sent from that very shuttle, thus giving the game a proper backstory, this is the Tetris lore that we needed.
there’s also this neat Fireworks scene after completing the 40 Lines mode that means a bit to me personally. it’s nothing too amazing nowadays, but back when I first saw that cutscene during a late night at the park, I felt as if I won the lottery and earned myself a kajillion dollars, it really was a special occasion. lastly there’s these cool demos that showcase the GBC’s capabilities in-between the regular Tetris gameplay demos. there’s a couple of fish swimming underwater with some neat seaweed moving in the background, a screensaver reminiscent of the DVD logo with a bunch of rainbow triangles while the Nintendo logo briefly glimmers every once in a while, and lastly a chalkboard where a piece of chalk writes out “Nintendo GAMEBOY COLOR” in various colors, all while this track is playing at the back of them all. this is easily the best track in the game and it’s what childhoods are made out of. if you disagree with my statement, well of course I respect your opinion but you heard what I said.
the music is an interesting topic and quite a controversial one as all of the gameplay tracks from GB Tetris are not in this one and have been replaced with generic 8-bit music. I gotta say, that's really disappointing, and this is coming from the guy who grew up listening to the DX tracks. they're not bad tracks they're pretty alright as a matter of fact, they just don't scream out "Tetris" like Korobeiniki or the original B and C themes do. you just gotta have that Russian influence somewhere you know? A-Type sounds a bit underwhelming when it first starts but becomes more catchy the further it goes, B-Type has a bit of a more calming and upbeat melody to it, and C-Type has a bit of a groove going on, it kinda sounds like something I'd hear in a Donkey Kong Land game (yes C-Type is the best one). interesting to note is that the music of what Type you choose is replaced with more frantic versions the higher that your stack rises, so if you ever wanted an added sense of anxiety to Tetris, they got you covered. the rest of the tracks that are in the game are pretty neat too. the File theme is actually a slower remix of the Game Boy's High Score theme except without the second half. the Menu theme is only about 10 seconds long before it loops but it does a great job during those 10 seconds. the Game Over theme pretty much goes "OOPS you messed up, but there's always a next time!", it's goofy and not too discouraging. the Name Entry has a similar vibe to the File theme and shares almost an equal amount of nostalgia to me as the Intro theme. finally the last Ending theme where the shuttle successfully launches has a snippet of the intro before playing its own peaceful and soothing theme, that combined with the cutscene goes together to create the perfect ending for this game.
both Game Boy Tetris' mean a lot to me but DX has much more memories to me in particular. while I never properly owned the original and had to rely on a defunct website to get to try it, with DX I had an actual physical cartridge that I played on all the time before I inevitably lost it. it took me a good while to recover from this tragedy but eventually I would move on, especially after learning there's other and easier ways to play this game again. as for anyone who has yet to try this version in particular, I'd definitely recommend you check it out, especially if the Game Boy version is one of your favorites. if you're feeling discouraged about not being able to listen to the iconic theme, there's a hack that reimplements the full unused track back into the game (sorry to the B and C-Type bros there's no hack for those ones). of course you could always wait for it to get added to the Switch Online service, but I wouldn't count on it. I do hope we see Tetris DX get included in an update for the Game Boy NSO as there's enough differences from GB Tetris to justify it being included, also the more Tetris the better.
take a shot every time I've said GB or Game Boy in this review
if you played the Game Boy Tetris then Tetris DX is pretty much identical but there’s a few different things going on. DX’s Marathon goes out to Level 30 rather than Level 20 but rather than having the same difficulty curve, DX’s speed increases at a slower rate which means you have more time to ease into the increase of difficulty. you can also save your score in this version so you don’t have to worry about that disappearing whenever you turn the game off. DX also has an improved DAS (Delayed Auto Shift) and if you don’t know what that means, well me neither I just learned the term as I was typing this, but basically the pieces are less annoying to move around. lastly there’s a VS mode where you can compete against a CPU, though it’s pretty primitive as you don’t actually get to see how your opponent performs, your only indicator is a vertical bar to the side of your gameplay that slowly ascends and descends red. if the red reaches top then you’ve defeated them but if it drops down and you hear a warning sound, they’ve sent garbage to your screen that you’ll need to clear out. overall you’ll probably just stick to the default mode, though I’m glad these other modes are here as well.
Tetris DX introduces something special to the game: COLOR!!! okay to be fair NES Tetris has color, the DOS version has color, all the later releases have color, but hey nothing wrong with some easier visualibility. it’s not just color though, there’s a cool new checkerboard background during your gameplay that moves around the whole time, and when you get a Tetris it briefly scrolls faster and changes into a hot pink! it's very satisfying to pull off a Tetris in this game and see that background zoom with the new Tetris jingle going "DELELE WHOOP"! the ending cutscenes that you get when you finish a game have also been changed up a bit. in the original they kept things simple by having a rocket launch with its size depending on how high your score was, but here they decided to have a bit of fun. the general idea is still the same, but now they’re launching out goofier things like a tiny toothpick rocket that chases after a bird, a regular sized rocket that transforms into a parachute, a giant champagne bottle that erupts and fizzles out, they even launch the Statue of Liberty while a brief snippet of “Korobeiniki” plays. even the original space shuttle from the Game Boy game appears but they fail to launch it and have to take it back for repair. if your score’s really good though, they successfully launch the shuttle into space as it drop out items back down to Earth, making the grandiose reveal that all those Tetrominoes that you control during your gameplay are being sent from that very shuttle, thus giving the game a proper backstory, this is the Tetris lore that we needed.
there’s also this neat Fireworks scene after completing the 40 Lines mode that means a bit to me personally. it’s nothing too amazing nowadays, but back when I first saw that cutscene during a late night at the park, I felt as if I won the lottery and earned myself a kajillion dollars, it really was a special occasion. lastly there’s these cool demos that showcase the GBC’s capabilities in-between the regular Tetris gameplay demos. there’s a couple of fish swimming underwater with some neat seaweed moving in the background, a screensaver reminiscent of the DVD logo with a bunch of rainbow triangles while the Nintendo logo briefly glimmers every once in a while, and lastly a chalkboard where a piece of chalk writes out “Nintendo GAMEBOY COLOR” in various colors, all while this track is playing at the back of them all. this is easily the best track in the game and it’s what childhoods are made out of. if you disagree with my statement, well of course I respect your opinion but you heard what I said.
the music is an interesting topic and quite a controversial one as all of the gameplay tracks from GB Tetris are not in this one and have been replaced with generic 8-bit music. I gotta say, that's really disappointing, and this is coming from the guy who grew up listening to the DX tracks. they're not bad tracks they're pretty alright as a matter of fact, they just don't scream out "Tetris" like Korobeiniki or the original B and C themes do. you just gotta have that Russian influence somewhere you know? A-Type sounds a bit underwhelming when it first starts but becomes more catchy the further it goes, B-Type has a bit of a more calming and upbeat melody to it, and C-Type has a bit of a groove going on, it kinda sounds like something I'd hear in a Donkey Kong Land game (yes C-Type is the best one). interesting to note is that the music of what Type you choose is replaced with more frantic versions the higher that your stack rises, so if you ever wanted an added sense of anxiety to Tetris, they got you covered. the rest of the tracks that are in the game are pretty neat too. the File theme is actually a slower remix of the Game Boy's High Score theme except without the second half. the Menu theme is only about 10 seconds long before it loops but it does a great job during those 10 seconds. the Game Over theme pretty much goes "OOPS you messed up, but there's always a next time!", it's goofy and not too discouraging. the Name Entry has a similar vibe to the File theme and shares almost an equal amount of nostalgia to me as the Intro theme. finally the last Ending theme where the shuttle successfully launches has a snippet of the intro before playing its own peaceful and soothing theme, that combined with the cutscene goes together to create the perfect ending for this game.
both Game Boy Tetris' mean a lot to me but DX has much more memories to me in particular. while I never properly owned the original and had to rely on a defunct website to get to try it, with DX I had an actual physical cartridge that I played on all the time before I inevitably lost it. it took me a good while to recover from this tragedy but eventually I would move on, especially after learning there's other and easier ways to play this game again. as for anyone who has yet to try this version in particular, I'd definitely recommend you check it out, especially if the Game Boy version is one of your favorites. if you're feeling discouraged about not being able to listen to the iconic theme, there's a hack that reimplements the full unused track back into the game (sorry to the B and C-Type bros there's no hack for those ones). of course you could always wait for it to get added to the Switch Online service, but I wouldn't count on it. I do hope we see Tetris DX get included in an update for the Game Boy NSO as there's enough differences from GB Tetris to justify it being included, also the more Tetris the better.
take a shot every time I've said GB or Game Boy in this review
Reviewed on May 25, 2023
2 Comments
yeah your guess is as good as mine, it seems odd they'd have the entire track in the game and just not use it, at the very least they could have had it as an unlockable for getting a great high score in Marathon or other mode, strange stuff
eliasco
10 months ago