Tetris (Game Boy video game)


Tetris is a puzzle video game for the Game Boy released in 1989. It is a portable version of Alexey Pajitnov's original Tetris and it was bundled in the North American and European releases of the Game Boy itself. It is the first game to have been compatible with the Game Link Cable, a pack-in accessory that allows two Game Boys to link together for multiplayer purposes. A colorized remake of the game was released on the Game Boy Color entitled Tetris DX. A Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console version of Tetris was released in December 2011 and it lacked the multiplayer functionality. It was delisted from the Nintendo eShop after December 31, 2014.

Gameplay

The Game Boy version of Tetris plays identically to versions on other platforms. A pseudorandom sequence of "tetrominoes" – shapes composed of four square blocks each – fall down the playing field, which is 10 blocks wide by 18 blocks high in the Game Boy version. The objective of the game is to manipulate these tetrads, by moving each one sideways and rotating it by 90-degree units, with the aim of creating a horizontal line of blocks without gaps. When one or more such lines are created, they disappear, and the blocks above move down by the number of lines cleared. As in most standard versions of Tetris, blocks do not automatically fall into open gaps when lines are cleared.
As the game progresses, the tetrominoes fall faster. The game ends when at least part of a tetromino extends beyond the top of the playfield when setting in place. The player can normally see which block will appear next in a window off to the side of the playing field, but this feature can be toggled during the game. Points are awarded based on the current level and number of lines cleared. The level increases each time the player clears ten lines, as does the speed of falling tetrominoes. The player may adjust the difficulty before beginning a game by selecting a starting level or choosing to pre-fill the play area with a given number of lines of randomly placed blocks. After completing a particular height, the player is treated to a cutscene of a rocket of various types being launched, eventually capping off with Russians dancing and the Buran shuttle being launched.
This version of Tetris includes a two-player mode, in which each player's objective is to remain in play for longer than his or her opponent. Each player plays on a unique Game Boy and Tetris Game Pak, with the two consoles connected via the Game Link Cable. During gameplay, when a player scores a Double, Triple, or Tetris, one or more incomplete rows of blocks are added to the bottom of their opponent's stack, causing it to rise.

Development

In 1984, Soviet Academy of Sciences researchers Alexey Pajitnov, Dmitry Pavlovsky, and Vadim Gerasimov created Tetris out of a desire to create a two-player puzzle game, and the game spread commercially among computers. In 1988, computer game publisher Henk Rogers noticed the game at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in a Spectrum HoloByte booth. Finding himself hooked to the game, he pursued the rights and knowing Nintendo was planning to release the Game Boy, approached Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa with the suggestion that Tetris was the perfect game to be packaged with the handheld. Arakawa questioned the idea, noting they planned to package Super Mario Land with it instead, but Rogers countered by stating that while a Mario game would sell the Game Boy to young boys, Tetris would sell it to everyone. Rogers was told to pursue the rights, and secured them from both Spectrum HoloByte and Atari-spinoff company Tengen, who had also secured a license at the time, to license Tetris in Japan. He additionally approached Robert Stein, who had secured permission for both companies to distribute Tetris through the company Mirrorsoft, to seek rights for it to be distributed with the Game Boy.
However, after several months passed, Stein had not produced the rights for the Game Boy, and Rogers learned that another person had approached Nintendo with the idea of a Game Boy Tetris. Requesting more time from Arakawa, he traveled to Moscow to speak with the USSR's Ministry of Software and Hardware Export and Pajitnov. During this time, Nintendo approached Spectrum HoloByte on the prospect of a Game Boy Tetris, causing Mirrorsoft to send a representative, Kevin Maxwell, to Moscow to secure rights for the Game Boy version. Meanwhile, Rogers negotiated for the rights for Tetris on the Game Boy, noting in a later interview that the government officials did not understand the concept of intellectual property, and were looking for greater payment than Rogers or Nintendo could afford. However, it was revealed that the Tetris property had not actually been licensed to anyone because Stein had secured the rights from Pajitnov directly and not from the Russian authority. Russia sent a fax to Maxwell in England with 48 hours to respond, but due to being in Russia at the time Maxwell did not receive the fax, and the rights were given to Rogers. Nintendo granted Rogers publishing rights to Tetris and sued Tengen, and in March 1989, Rogers, Arakawa, and Nintendo vice president Howard Lincoln signed a contract securing rights for console and handheld distribution of Tetris. However, Tetriss production was delayed due to the ongoing legal battle with Tengen, and the game was released in Japan two months after the Game Boy's release there. Bullet-Proof Software is mentioned as a copyright holder and the sub-licensor of the Tetris handheld rights to Nintendo on the game's startup screen.

Music

The main soundtrack for Tetris was created by Nintendo's accomplished composer Hirokazu Tanaka. The player can select one of three types of background music during the game or play with sound effects only. Two of the songs are arrangements of works from other composers: "Type A" is based on the Russian folk song "Korobeiniki", and "Type C" is an arranged version of "French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814: Menuet" by Johann Sebastian Bach.
On version 1.0, that was only released in Japan and is estimated to have around 25,000 copies sold, the "Type A" song is "Minuet".
The compositions "Type A" and "Type B" can be unlocked for use on the Luigi's Mansion themed stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. The compositions can once again be unlocked for use in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. "Type A" can be unlocked for the Smash Run mode in the Nintendo 3DS version and for use on the Luigi's Mansion stage in the Wii U version, while "Type B" can be unlocked for use on the Wuhu Island stage in the Wii U version only. It also appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as starter songs and can be played on the stages "Summit" from Ice Climber, "Hanenbow" from Electroplankton, Balloon Fight, "Living Room" from Nintendogs, Find Mii, Tomodachi Life, PictoChat 2, Duck Hunt, Wrecking Crew, Pilotwings, Wuhu Island, and custom stages..
The victory fanfares played after completing levels are different arrangements of "Trepak", from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's famous ballet The Nutcracker.

Re-release

''Tetris DX''

Tetris DX is a Game Boy Color game that is backward compatible with the original Game Boy. It was developed by Nintendo and released in Japan on October 21, 1998, in North America on November 18, 1998, and in Europe and Australia in 1999. Tetris DX features battery-saved high scores and three player profiles. It has a new single-player mode against the CPU and also features two new modes of play. In "Ultra Mode", players must accumulate as many points as possible within a three-minute time period. In "40 Lines", players are timed on how quickly they can clear 40 lines of play. New music themes were added.

Virtual Console

The Game Boy version of Tetris was released in North America and Europe as a Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console game on December 22, 2011 and on December 28 in Japan. In contrast to the original version, it is not possible to play multiplayer in the Virtual Console version. The Virtual Console version of Tetris was delisted in Europe from the Nintendo eShop after December 31, 2014 and in North America.

Reception

Tetris has been credited as the Game Boy's killer app. As of June 2009, it has more than 35 million copies sold. Official Nintendo Magazine ranked Tetris fifth on its list of the "100 Best Nintendo Games". Game Informers Ben Reeves called it the best Game Boy game and a "legendary puzzle game".
In August 2008, Nintendo Power listed Tetris DX as the best Game Boy/Game Boy Color video game, stating that it meant more to handheld gaming than any other video game. They also described it as the best version of Tetris until Tetris DS was released. Alexey Pajitnov called the Game Boy version of Tetris his favorite and very close to his original version. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 26 out of 40.