Tetris Ultimate review for PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One, PC, 3DS

Platform: PS Vita
Also On: PS4, Xbox One, PC, 3DS
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: SoMa Play
Medium: Digital
Players: 1-4
Online: Yes
ESRB: E

Tetris Ultimate on the Vita works exactly as it should.

Under normal circumstances, that wouldn’t be saying much. In fact, it might even be seen as damning with faint praise. I mean, it’s Tetris, one of the most widely played games of all time. Thirty or so years into the game’s lifespan, you’d think its formula would be more or less settled by now.

But these aren’t normal circumstances. These are circumstances in which Tetris Ultimate’s release on the PS4 back in the fall was…a little problematic, to say the least. You wouldn’t think it’d be the sort of game that could be screwed up at this point, but the ample number of complaints would suggest otherwise.

Which, again, is why it’s such a relief that Tetris Ultimate works so smoothly on the Vita. There’s no glitching, no freezing, no tearing: it’s the core Tetris game that people have been playing and loving for decades now, working exactly like it’s supposed to. The blocks come down, you fit them in (or you don’t), and as you make more lines you level up and the blocks start falling faster.

That’s not to say this version is perfect, mind you. The online has been dead every time I’ve tried playing the multiplayer modes, so I can’t vouch for how well they work — though, on the bright side, the AI is balanced enough that you can still play them offline and not have the gameplay suffer. Much more seriously (at least as far as I’m concerned), the music here is seriously weird. Rather than the standard Tetris theme, Tetris Ultimate features some weird remixed version that goes heavy on the melancholy. It’s a little offputting to hear that iconic music chopped up and turned into something sad, but…well, that’s exactly what they did.

All things considered, however, “The music is messed up” doesn’t seem like that big a complaint; not when the alternative, apparently, is being a game that just doesn’t work. Tetris Ultimate on the Vita won’t redefine the game by any stretch of the imagination, but it also won’t tarnish its legacy — and as one of the many, many people for whom Tetris is a seminal gaming memory, that’s really all I could ask for.

Grade: A-
Matthew Pollesel

Recent Posts

Mouse: P.I. For Hire physical editions are available now!

Don’t let any hardware manufacturers prevent you from putting this black & white fps on…

2 days ago

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced tops 2 million on day 1, breaks franchise Steam record

Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag remake is doing quite well thus far.

2 days ago

Black Jacket review for PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X

Blackjack goes to hell -- and comes out the better for it.

3 days ago

Excel in PGA 2K25 and score free food at Chipotle!

Guess the fast casual chain is looking to ingratiate themselves with gamers of all genres.

3 days ago

Celebrate 10 years of Pokémon Go tonight at 6:15pm EDT/3:15pm PDT

Those looking to get in-game rewards should definitely enable Twitch Drops!

3 days ago

This website uses cookies.