The puzzling classic revamped for your DS. Beware of Falling Blocks!

I want to get this out of the way right up front. I've never been a brilliant puzzle game player. Never have, never will. It's as though my brain isn't wired properly to deal with it. While other people are merrily racking up points, I'm building a vast misshapen tower of blocks with more holes than your typical episode of Lost. Anyway, the original Tetris was invented by a Russian mathematician and is almost certainly the most popular puzzle game of all time, having sold tens of millions of copies around the world.

Unless you've just returned from a 18 year trip around the outer reaches of Mars, you have no real excuse for not having played Tetris on any of the bazillion consoles or computers it has been converted to. Tetris is a puzzle game which involves arranging falling blocks together in horizontal lines. As the game progresses the blocks speed continually increases until it is impossible to keep up. While this sounds like a very lame game, the concept is so brilliantly addictive, yet so simple, that nearly anyone and everyone can love this game. When you completely fill a line it vanishes and all the blocks above drop down. If you make 4 horizontal lines simultaneously then you formed what is known as a Tetris, and you can feel pretty stoked with yourself.

When the game was first created, the graphics were below standard and they haven't really improved a whole lot. Obviously they are much cleaner and more colorful, but the 2D blocks have not changed a whole lot. There was a 3D version made (Remember Tetrisphere?) which was interesting but not overly successful, the real beauty of Tetris lies within its 2D roots. Over the years different conversions have added varying backgrounds or textures, but these have always been irrelevant window dressing. This game is no different; this time is a bunch of classic Nintendo themes from the 8-bit era. There are the usuals, Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Yoshi, and also some unexpected faces you may not have seen in a while, these include Balloon Fight, Excitebike and Ice Climbers.

So the graphics aren't mind blowing, so what! While mediocre graphics are generally a weakness when judging a videogame, for Tetris it's a strength, because the appeal is entirely gameplay related. The sound is what you'd expect from a Nintendo title, and can become quite annoying after extended plays. Listening to the Mario or Metroid theme over and over again can get a bit old and bit fast, so the volume is probably better off turned down. A bit more variety in the tunes would have been a welcome addition.

Tetris DS offers the standard game, and a host of other complementary games to play with. There is a handy swap mode, where you can swap the current shape for another one and save it until you need it, this makes life much easier as you can save the useful shapes, such as the all-important 'long one' until a Tetris is ready to be cleared. Rather than making the game too easy, this feature can make it more strategic and enjoyable. There are also features like infinite spin, and hard drop, which are pretty minor additions that can be turned on or off to your liking.

As a single player game only, you'd probably have to be an absolute raving Tetris fanatic to get anything about of this game. Sure there are plenty of modes, but you're still playing around with the same old blocks making the same old lines. But in saying that, get a couple of competitive mates around, and you're looking at a cracking multiplayer game which can be incredibly addictive.

The thing that will really win people over to Tetris is the multiplayer options. Up to Ten players can go up against each other in a massive Tetris free-for-all. You can also make modifications to the rules, such as teams and whether you can pick up items. The items aren't that great but provide some diversity if you're getting bored of the same old Tetris. These items can prevent you from rotating pieces, give you nothing but the same shape for a number of turns etc... The online mode is functional, but forgettable, you can chose 3 different modes, but cannot modify any of them, you'll probably find a lot more fun out of the local multiplayer options which is probably the best aspect about this game.

Well Tetris DS is probably the best puzzle game available for the DS at the moment. It certainly improved my skills slightly and has provided me with a fair deal of enjoyment as I struggled along. Some of the extra features work well, others fail and fall on their face like the touch screen modes, which can be a bit fiddly at times, which takes away from the enjoyment. The original gameplay is as addictive as ever though and you can forget about the graphics and sound and just have a great time. However the fun does not last forever. Though if you're a puzzle game fan it is a must buy, and if you're not, there's enough here to be experienced as a rental.

lataz