Tetris Attack

"Now lets go play together...Together under the clearest of blue skies." This is what you are greeted with on switching the game on. Yoshi's Island has been over-run by the Tetris Attack bug, and Kamek (along with Bowser and his other cronies) is here to challenge you at every corner. They have cast a spell over the whole island, causing it to rain continuously, and as you progress through the different stages you break the spell in certain areas. And that's it...They basically want an excuse to puzzle-battle against each other! Now that is what I call depth to a story...hehe. Still, I suppose for a puzzle game it's acceptable.

 

There is not too much you can do with a puzzle game in terms of graphical quality

 

So, the game has Tetris in the title, therefore various different-shapes must come careering down from the top of the screen, right? Well, to be honest, you'd be wrong to assume that. The 'Tetris' theme is only present in the addictiveness of the game, not the actual play mechanics. First of all the blocks rise up from the bottom of the screen, and the shapes are all square. The squares are different colours, with separate shapes etched onto them (stars, circles, etc)

 

There are five main gameplay modes included in Tetris Attack: Endless (where you just keep going until you make an error), Time Trial (where you have a set time to achieve the highest possible score), Stage Clear (where you attempt to keep your blocks under a certain line), Puzzle (where you are given a certain amount of moves in order to clear the entire screen!) and Versus (where you can simply play against computer-controlled opponents).

Then there's the two-player mode. Bored of toying with the computer AI? Then why not inflict some pain and anguish on your friends instead? 'Tis always fun to watch people squirm, after all...hehe. If you thought the one-player sections were addictive, then you will be over-awed by this. Literally hours and hours of your life will be sapped away by the competitive nature the game will bring out in you.

So how long will this game last? Think about it this way: I've had the game since its launch nearly nine years ago, and I am still not tired of it. After coming back to it now, it is definitely just as fresh as it was all those years ago.