Tetris (Game Boy) Review

Being on the crusty old Game Boy you would hardly expect that the graphical level of Tetris would be in the upper echelons of the gaming world. However, despite being various shades of green, as per all games on that platform, the style is plain, simple and perfect for an intense puzzle game. Straight lines, 'L' shapes facing left or right, squares or different 'Z' shapes, each have nice patterns that do not clash with the background setting. Other than that all there is on the playing field is the information section on the right side, showing your score, how many lines have been cleared and which piece is due next.

There are three main pieces of music that are played throughout the game, all depending on what you choose before you begin a new challenge. They are split into Music A, B and C

Numerous puzzle game comes and go, some are mildly interesting, others quite abysmal, whilst there are a few that actually battle for supremacy with the King itself, Tetris. Recent additions to the fold over the years include the likes of Tetris Attack, which bore no resemblance to this game in all honesty, the water-based Wetrix from British group Zed Two and Rare's It's Mr Pants (another British classic). But since they are not exactly the first out of the blocks, they are classed as pretenders to the throne.

For those that do not understand the concept of the Tetris, anyone who is too young to know about the series or have lived in a closet for the past twenty years, it is not exactly a hard idea to grasp. You move various four-block shapes around so that they all fit together, trying to make up complete lines in order to make them disappear and boost you overall score. How could things be any easier? The shapes appear at the top of the screen and slowly fall down to the base.

As they are falling you must quickly decide where best to place the pieces by switching them round either clockwise or anticlockwise to suit the situation. Once you fit sufficient pieces together in a horizontal line long enough to fill the width of the playing field without any gaps in-between, that line will disappear like magic, allowing all blocks above it to slide down, closer to the bottom.

Once you have cleared a certain amount of lines the difficulty level will automatically be upped. What this means for the innocent player is that the pieces from above will start to drop far quicker. Now, those who were already pressing down on the D-pad to place their pieces faster anyway should be fine for a while. However, with the increased music speed as well, the pressure really does rise

The beauty of Tetris is that it goes on forever and ever, with the main pull of the title being the increasing challenge as you play more and more. It can prove to be highly addictive, despite its simplistic nature