Web site:
Category: Games
Sub-Category: Puzzle
Platform: Nintendo 64
License: Proprietary
Interface: GUI
Wikipedia: The New Tetris
First release: July 31, 1999
The New Tetris – a puzzle video game for the Nintendo 64, a home video game console, developed by H2O Entertainment.
The New Tetris for Nintendo64 gives purpose to meaningless block building. Every line gets you that much closer to completing the wonders of the world. You may then look at your wonder, get a new backdrop to play on, and start work on the next.
The “new” in The New Tetris, however, means there are some small, but great, changes.
For instance, now you can hold a piece. There’s a randomly selected piece in a top-left corner box when you start. Pressing the L button will switch the held piece with the one currently coming down the screen. It’s a great feature. Another new addition is the spin move. Have you ever had a piece you wanted to fit in a gap when it was blocked by another piece? Now you can do that by rotating the piece into the gap before it settles into place. Additionally, multi-squares and mono-squares can be formed. A silver multi-square, which nets five lines for every line you clear, is a 4×4 square composed of different shapes. A gold mono-square, which nets 10 lines for every line you clear, is a 4×4 square formed with four like pieces. Finally, the best is saved for last: The New Tetris comes equipped with a four-player mode.
Four choices are available at the title screen: One Player, Multi Player, Wonders and Options. The One Player game mode lets you choose among Marathon, Sprint and Ultra. There’s also a choice between playing against a computer opponent or not. The goal in Marathon is to get as many lines as you can and to play as long as possible. In Sprint you have three minutes to collect as many lines as possible. With Ultra, you see how quickly you can get 150 lines.