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Not as Good as the Old Tetris

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 13 / 15
Date: February 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This latest version of Tetris has a couple of interesting features -- but you won't find the old, familiar Tetris game here.

The most annoying feature is the different "worlds" you can play the game in. The multi-colored backgrounds of these settings make it difficult to see the Tetris shapes dropping down.

Also annoying for people used to the older version: No scoring. To win, you work your way through the 15 levels. If you come up short, you lose.

Not the best Tetris game ever, but still a good one

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: January 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I've seen so many negative reviews of Tetris Worlds for the GBA, and it is unfortunate that a lot of people have been unhappy with the game. However, I think that much of the unhappiness stems from the fact that so many Tetris fans hold the game in such high regard that even tampering with it for the better seems to offend them. I am not a hardcore Tetris fan, and indeed up until a few years ago I did not enjoy the game at all. I think I can offer a bit of middle ground perspective on Tetris Worlds, and hopefully this will prove useful to people.

First, the good. I really enjoy three of the new game modes, namely Cascade, Fusion, and Hot-Line Tetris. They all feature gravity (pieces fall into gaps below when you clear lines), and offer many opportunities for strategic planning. The original Tetris is also rather enjoyable, although I don't care much for Sticky Tetris or the pretty much useless Square Tetris. I do, however, find the new features (which apply to all the game modes) to be rather useful: the ghost piece that shows you where your piece will land, the ability to see the next three pieces, and the ability to hold a piece and recall it later. Not everybody will care for these features, but I think they add a lot of opportunities to plan ahead and make for longer games.

Now, the bad: the "3D" backgrounds are pretty lame. I'd just as soon have the cartoony backdrops of Tetris Attack. I don't find them as distracting as a lot of other reviewers here have, though. Perhaps that's because early reviews of the game were on the original GBA, and the clearer screen on the GBA SP makes the backgrounds less annoying.

Also, there's the mattery of the battery save. There isn't one! This game came out in 2001, and I think everyone will agree that no Game Boy game should have ever seen the light of day in 2001 (or after) without a battery save feature. This has two unfortunate consequences for Tetris Worlds: there's no high score table, and no way to save your preferences. The latter is particularly unfortunate if you decide you hate some of the new features and wish to turn them off - you'll have to do so every time you fire up the game.

Ultimately, what it comes down to is this: if you like Tetris, and want some variety, Tetris Worlds will most likely satisfy you. Is it the greatest Tetris game ever? No, but it is a good one. I originally bought it just for the Cascade Tetris mode, but I've found the other variations growing on me as well. I've sunk far too many hours into this game that could have otherwise been spent being productive, and in that regard, this is indeed a good Tetris game.

how dare you name this tetris

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: July 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This Tetris is as different from the real tetris as snood is from Bust a Move, except Snood is fun... This game just does not feel like real tetris, it sucks!!!!!!!!!! Give me Tetris not this artificial weird thing. The pace is off, its way too forgiving, and multiplayer makes no sense and is so far from real tetris multiplayer... It's sad that the DS cant play original GB games because this Tetris cant hold a candle to Tetris DX. Unless you have a DS, get Tetris DX, and if you have a DS, wait for a new Tetris game and we'll see if it doesn't suck.

What the...?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 12 / 16
Date: February 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I wanted something that my girlfriend and I could play together on the Gamecube she bought me for my birthday. Keep in mind the last time she owned a console was the Coleco. Keep in mind the last time she was really addicted to a video game was "Tetris" on NES/SNES and maybe a little SimCity (the original).

She asked me to teach her how to play "Metroid Prime." Well, that was out. So off I went to get the Gamecube Player and Tetris Worlds (for the GB Advance).

It's not as bad as some reviews would have you believe, but...well, okay, it's bad. God only knows why they can't come up with a decent Tetris game. They simply never have. Look, people, it's a black background bordered by a visual of the "Kremlin," and some geometric colored blocks. My grandma could program that on a Mac classic. (And she's dead.)

Music: The default background music is some jarring thing. Go into the Options and you can reset the music to the Tetris Russian/Babushka music you're accustomed to. They've got it set to "The Tetris Theme" as a default, but if that's the Tetris theme, then I'm your mama. The REAL Tetris theme can be found as "Faster."

Gameplay: Well, it's still Tetris. Sort of. That's the nicest thing I can say about it. Two annoying options here: "Ghost" piece and "Hold" piece.

The "Ghost" is a shadow of where your piece will fall at the bottom. Good idea, right? Helps you avoid all the times you've accidentally placed an "L"-shaped piece right on top of the skinny long one when you wanted it to go next to Skinny? Forget it. When you're using "Ghost," tapping the down button will sometimes slam the piece right down to the bottom--could just be a bug, but I'm not sure. Get that stuff off.

"Hold" piece was described as thus in the context menu under Options: Allows you to hold a piece until the next round. Man, what's up with that?? That's not Tetris. That's like "crying little girl" Tetris. Off, I say, off!

How's the gameplay? You might think they could at least get that part right (down, right, left, rotate), but you'd be wrong. The controls are twitchy. When you want to advance the piece down a little ways (because, otherwise, it's falling as slow as Rosie O'Donnell in January), tap the down button carefully. Otherwise, one minute it was at the top, the next minute, it's sitting on the bottom.

Perhaps most damning of all are the backgrounds. Dear god, the backgrounds! Who was the video-game mogul who thought, "Hey, let's throw some cheap looking backgrounds--like a weird square shaped cartoon floating next to a seahorse or a weird square shaped cartoon floating next to a penguin--AROUND the Tetris playing field. The kids will really dig that!"

Not only are the backgrounds fugly, but they're distracting as all get-out. You can't concentrate on your little geometric piece when you've got a square flying around the side of your screen.

Pros: Tetris

Cons: Everything not Tetris-like (plenty)

Buy, but only if you're really desperate for Tetris on the GC or GB Advance.

Little bit of an overkill

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Don't get me wrong, I love Tetris. I've been playing it in the arcade as well as the Gameboy Color.

In the case of Tetris Worlds, the graphics are beautiful but they become intrusive to the gameplay. For example, in one scene a penquin bounces around while you are playing the game. Although its pretty to look at, its completely unneccessary.

Its seems that the game designers tried to jazz up the simple gameplay of Tetris but they overdid it with the graphics. Another bad thing they did is that they never bothered to include high score save ability (The old Gameboy Color Tetris had this). Thats a shame!

Its still a good buy but keep in mind this is definately not the best version of Tetris.

Great game, new ideas...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: April 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This newest breed of Tetris starts out like any other. You have the option to play the classic Tetris game that everyone, including Homer Simpson, has played. But, there are also 5 new play modes, included Fusion which is the most unlike classic Tetris. Each of the games offers hours of reply.

This game also includes an outline option to help you see where your piece will land, for newer or less skilled players. As well as being able to see the next four pieces ahead.

Additionally you can swap out one piece by pressing the L or R button, and trade that piece with any piece later in the game... this option is very helpful for storing straight pieces.

Unfortunatly each game only has 15 levels, unlike the nearly limitless play of the origional title.

Another flaw on my system is that most of the backgrounds are so dark you have to be in a very well lit area to play, this is a typical flaw of all gameboy games without an SP, but the purple pieces are almost invisible without some serious overhead lighting.

All in all this game offers a new look at a great game, and offers at least a month of solid replayablity, plus it's great to pick up for a 5 minute distraction.

-- nemo54321 (3 1/2 stars)

Good... but not Great...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: October 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I wish I had waited to read more reviews on Amazon before I bought this game. It's good... it's Tetris, so you already know more or less what it's all about. But it's just not great. Tetris DX for Game Boy Color is much better. This new Tetris does not have a battery back up, and it does not have as many good game variations either. In addition, while they put a lot of effort into adding graphics and animations, it actually takes away from the game. I wish I could recommend it, but I just can't.

Don't buy this.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: March 31, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Well some people might like it. What I wanted was Tetris, for the Game Boy Advance. I have the original Gameboy Tetris, which is perfect except for the fact that it forgets the high scores when you turn it off. The point of Tetris, for me anyway, is to compete with your friends for the high score. They completely eliminated scores from Tetris Worlds. It says it has a "classic tetris" mode. But it's not. You have 15 levels to complete and the game ends. That's not classic Tetris.
I just found out you CAN play classic Tetris, but it's hidden for some reason and it still doesn't keep track of your high scores. To get to it, go open the "Marathon" menu, then hold L and press Select. "Popular" game type will appear. If it's so popular, why did they hide it?
I haven't tried it yet, but I'm hoping that Tetris DX for the Gameboy Color is more like the original. Tetris worlds IS cheaper and it's an advance game, so it will not stick out of your shiny new Gameboy Advance SP like classic Gameboy cartriges... that's about the only positive thing I can think of right now.

tetris for newbies

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: November 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have been a tetris fanatic since I discovered it on regular nintendo many years ago. I recently bought a GBA so I thought why not pick up my old addiction? Its fun, because, well, its tetris! I do like that various game types that you can play that are available on this cartridge. What I don't like is that due the the color of some of the pieces and the background "worlds" you can play in, sometimes the pieces are hard to see. Plus, it doesn't keep score or save any of your progress, and thats something I miss from the original game. I think the thing that annoys me the most about the game is the icky music choices, and these stupid cube things that have eyes that fly around the background sometimes. I don't know what the cube represents, but its annoying as hell. However, if you aren't used to the old tetris, you might really enjoy it.

No Battery save

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: September 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I love Tetris, but this game really needs a battery save for high scores and line totals and stuff. Kept an awesome game from greatness... All of the different modes are cool,(my favorite is square tetris), and the graphics aren't too bad either.

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