Tetris PS3 Review: Classic Reborn or Cash In?

From the Vault — originally published January 13, 2011. Some links, videos or prices may be out of date.

Lets face it, Tetris is one of the greatest games of all time. I have lost count on how many Tetris games I have bought over the years. Gameboy, Nintendo DS, iPhone and more. Tetris is great in its simplicity. Someone unfamiliar could watch it played for less than a minute and understand it perfectly. It’s simple and addictive. A timeless classic.

This new version of Tetris currently costs $9 on the PlayStation Network store. What you get is high definition graphics, 5.1 surround support, online multiplayer, local multiplayer, new modes and extras.

Graphics

In terms of graphics the developers did a good job. It looks like Tetris, feels like Tetris. No complaints there. Everything is in widescreen for HDTV viewers and there are particle and other effects during gameplay that are subtle and nice. In battle mode for example when someone causes blocks to appear on your screen there is a particle HD effect associated with it. The graphics are colorful and certainly not boring. You can select from a few background effects as well. They are very akin to the ‘wave’ effect behind the PS3 XMB. Subtle for the most part.

Sound

The 5.1 sound support does matter. To complement the particle and other effects as you crash blocks you get some really crisp sound effects. The sounds are indeed faithful to the series. There is also custom soundtrack support and it’s great that the game doesn’t pair down the audio you select down to stereo sound as many custom soundtrack enabled games tend to do. Its very important that a game like Tetris has a good sound scape because its a game you will want to play the game over and over. In my many hours playing this Tetris game sound was never an issue. Never did I want to turn the effects down at all.

Modes

In addition to the classic ‘Marathon’ mode there are also additional modes and play variants. Most players will try a few of them and stick to a few favorites but the are all interesting to try at least once. The modes are all interesting though Battle and Marathon were my favorite. There is no shortage of content. The modes will keep you busy and helps to make this iteration of Tetris worth the money.

Included modes:

Marathon: Complete level 15 to win

Variants: Choose from 12 variations on the original game

Challenge: Play against your or your friends replays

Competitive Replays / Challenge Mode
Whenever you obtain a best score or beat a friends score a replay is saved. There is a ‘challenge’ mode that allows you to play against your friends best times. You actually play against the replays of their best scores. A very nice feature that helps you learn strategies by watching exacly how they played to get the score. The ‘Master Replay’ mode has replays of Tetris maters and you can also watch those so learn advances techniques such as T-spins.

Variants:

As you complete variants others are unlocked. There are 12 total and they are not unlocked when you first boot the game up after purchasing. These are interesting spins on the standard Tetris formula.

For example in the Treadmill variant where the stacked blocks at the bottom continuously move from left to right. There is another where wayer rises and you have to fight back the water by clearing lines.

Here is a full list of the play variants in Tetris for PSN:

Origin: clear 40 lines with the original Tetris rules.
Treadmill: Clear 40 lines in a matrix that shifts sideways.
Gravity: Clear 40 lines with the added gravity effect.
Flood: clear 40 lines while the matrix fills up from the bottom.
Ledges: Clear 40 lines by placing Tetriminos on the ledges.
Laser: Clear 40 lines while staying under the laser.
Magnetic: Clear 40 lines while blocks are attracted to each side of the matrix.
Scanner: Complete as many lines as you can and have the scanner clear 40 of them.
Split: Clear 40 lines on both sides of a split matirx.
Chill: Clear 40 lines quickly to prevent the matrix from freezing.
Flashlight: Clear 40 lines in a pitch black matirx.
Radical: Fast as hell. Hard as shit.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer has all the basic features but unfortunately is the most lacking area in the package. As a single player you can participate in all of the main online modes. You can have online marathon games with friends online you can participate in two to four player online battles as well.

What is lacking in terms of online functionality is when you want to bring an additional local player against online players. It’s hit or miss. Mostly miss. Very few modes and variants are available for online play with two local players. It would not be a big deal if some of the basic ones were actually available for online play with two local players. Its also very hard to tell the few that support two players in the same room against two others online. Not only that but the additional local players are not able to enter in their name or select a PSN account so their scores are not saved. They are shown as ‘guest’ and this is a huge miss.

In order for two local players to play random opponents online you have to go in the ‘Timed Battle Local’ multiplayer menu. There you can add up to two more random players from online. Not a very intuitive place and I had to search through over a dozen modes, some throwing me in online games as soon as I selected that menu option. With that being said for individuals wanting online competition there is no shortage of opponents of all skill levels. There is virtually no wait time to get in an online match and I have experienced no lag at all. Outside of the co-op online inadequacies the online is great.

Extras & Leaderboards

There are quite more extras than I expected. A glossary of tetris, terms, technique tutorials, statistics and a feat tracker. There are also leaderboards and your friends or your top scores (whoever has the top score) are also displayed on the screen as you play keeping it interesting and addictive.

Verdict

At $9.99 its hard not to recommend Tetris. A slick game with lots of content in addition to the classic game modes we all know and love. The added competitive friend score functionality, single player online, replay and other modes put it over the top as a good value. Its clear that some love was put into this iteration of Tetris and it does have flaws but overall its a great game and a good deal. Recommended for sure!