you know I would love to be banal and claim that the original tetris is the purest video game ever crafted (nay, "discovered" according to Mark Brown) and give it an instant 5 stars - and I agree that guideline and classic are different games entirely and serve separate niches but this isn't even the best tetris game on the game boy. DX gave it wallkicks, more modes, a save feature and goddamn color. If it weren't for the retroactive color palettes given to game boy games played on GBC handhelds it would be significantly inferior because its not controversial to say that human optical periphery parses color better than 2-bit patterns.
it's not even the quintissential classic tetris title because the competitive scene prefers NES tetris for its faster levels speeds beyond 20. (level 29 there, the "killscreen", is 4 times faster than level 19 in game boy tetris. yeah. it's equivalent is level fifteen. even lowly DAS players with their level 18 starts begin games at this version's fastest speed. wild.)
still, its the version bundled with tens of millions of DMGs and the first truly pop culture penetrating tetris title of its kind. its also still fundamentally classic tetris: punishingly hard piece drops, iconic themes, no 7-bag, no saved pieces, no ghost, no hard drop - ugh... yes it's "pure". and yes of course it entranced me for 40 hours to clear 9-5 B-type and get 280,000 A-type on a level 9 start to feel like a god: then I used a cheat code to get NES-equivalent level 15 speeds to humble myself down to a neanderthal and reacknowledge how superhuman pro classic tetris players are.
to reiterate: guideline (think tetris effect, tetris 99, probably every tetris you've played) is a completely different beast and you owe it to yourself to give the original a try. its unlike anything else. with little margin for error your tucks, spins and ballsy stacking during a line drought feel like out-of-body experiences. your fingers acts independently on your mind which is just spectating your subconscious progressively get elite and jamming virtual blocks together in a way that is so, so special.
I mean, duh.
it's not even the quintissential classic tetris title because the competitive scene prefers NES tetris for its faster levels speeds beyond 20. (level 29 there, the "killscreen", is 4 times faster than level 19 in game boy tetris. yeah. it's equivalent is level fifteen. even lowly DAS players with their level 18 starts begin games at this version's fastest speed. wild.)
still, its the version bundled with tens of millions of DMGs and the first truly pop culture penetrating tetris title of its kind. its also still fundamentally classic tetris: punishingly hard piece drops, iconic themes, no 7-bag, no saved pieces, no ghost, no hard drop - ugh... yes it's "pure". and yes of course it entranced me for 40 hours to clear 9-5 B-type and get 280,000 A-type on a level 9 start to feel like a god: then I used a cheat code to get NES-equivalent level 15 speeds to humble myself down to a neanderthal and reacknowledge how superhuman pro classic tetris players are.
to reiterate: guideline (think tetris effect, tetris 99, probably every tetris you've played) is a completely different beast and you owe it to yourself to give the original a try. its unlike anything else. with little margin for error your tucks, spins and ballsy stacking during a line drought feel like out-of-body experiences. your fingers acts independently on your mind which is just spectating your subconscious progressively get elite and jamming virtual blocks together in a way that is so, so special.
I mean, duh.