Tetris Forever review for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch

Tetris, even if you don’t consider yourself a gamer, you’ve surely heard of it. This was the game that came packed in with every Game Boy, the game that got me into online multiplayer games (Which not surprisingly was covered in this game’s timeline…probably because it was unlicensed.) and the game that got me to give battle royale a chance…I have a lot of fondness for the game, but I couldn’t say I knew that much about it. With the game’s 40th anniversary, the team at Digital Eclipse felt the game was a worth topic of coverage in their Gold Master Series, a series of documentary/game compilations which previously covered creators such as Jordan Mechner, Jeff Minter and now the duo of Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers with Tetris Forever.

Tetris Forever covers the game’s 40 year lifespan, from its origins in a Russian computer lab in 1984 to the wild story of how Henk Rogers got the handheld rights which now I see warranted the Apple TV movie (Given the amount of photos of a young Rogers, I do say the role should’ve went to Mega64’s Derrick Acosta than Taron Egerton…thank god I’m not a casting director) and beyond. While the story certainly has its share of legal drama, it was nice to see that Pajitnov and Rogers remained friends and are still collaborators. Pajitnov exudes a very by the book and curt mentality and Rogers comes off as someone who knows what he wants and will do whatever it takes to get it. It’s wild these two vastly different personalities didn’t have any major clashes.

The video aspects of the timeline do not really overwhelm you with talking heads although I did wish some parties were a bit more represented such as Robert Stein (The man who effectively brought Tetris to the west) or Nintendo.That said, the mix of archival images, video and even games is an interesting way to present the history of the game, even if it didn’t flow like a straight documentary would.

I will say it was quite illuminating to learn certain things about Tetris, from how radically different the first version of the game is to the one we know and love, the origins of the term tetrimino, and how the game Go was instrumental to getting the game onto the Nintendo platform (In fact there is a Go game in this compilation). I managed to go through the timeline portion of the title in roughly 2 hours, although it probably would’ve taken more time if I actually tried each of the games featured in the timeline.

If you weren’t really interested in the story of Tetris (Then I’d question why’d you buy this…) you could just go straight to the games portion of the compilation. The titles include the original version of the game for the Electronika 60, variations of the game from platforms such as Famicom/NES, SFC/SNES, MS Dos. This by no means is a comprehensive collection of Tetris games out there, but as someone who is a major fan of Tetris Battle Gaiden, its inclusion does put a smile on my face. Exclusive to the title is Tetris Time Warp, a new variation created exclusively for this title.

Time Warp’s gimmick is for every ten lines you make, the next tetrimino that drops will be a special one which changes patterns. Once it’s set in place the pattern sticks and when you clear a line with any portion of that tetrimino being a part you will be “Time Warped” into the era the block represents. This could mean you get warped to 1984 representing the original Electronika 60 version, 1898 the “Game Boy” era (Which was Digital Eclipse’s sneaky way of getting this version of the game into the compilation) and the third era is 1993 which represents Bombliss. There is a fourth pattern (Gold) which doesn’t trigger a time warp, but rather causes a cascade effect, a seldomly used effect in some tetris game which causes single blocks to free fall until all the gaps in the field are filled which can be a godsend when you are dangerously close to the top of the screen. Time Warp can be played as a single player game in score attack and marathon modes and multiplayer up to 4 players.

I have to say the time warp mechanics add a whole new layer of chaos to multiplayer, especially if your opponents are not familiar with the various eras accomplishing the task which will return them to the present. I particularly take a bit of sadistic joy of sending someone back to 1984 and somehow queuing up another 1984 block just to return them to the era after they have returned to the present. Thankfully I haven’t played multiplayer too much or otherwise I’d have a lot less friends to hang out with.

While I certainly enjoyed my time with the compilation I’d unfortunately say it would be a bit brief. The game selection is a bit repetitive, you have 2 versions of the original tetris, 2 versions of the Spectrum Holobyte version and nothing beyond the 16 bit era…I think even if you got demos of certain games, like say Tetris Effect (Tetsuya Mizuguchi makes an appearance in documentary) it would’ve widened the variety of the games offered. The game’s achievements/trophies lean too heavily on the Electronika 60 and the Time Warp version of the game, for trophy hunters it doesn’t incentivize them to play any of the other games, I’d even settle for trophies for completing each timeline.

I could certainly see the game’s $34.99 as a sticking point for potential buyers, but this is how I would spin it. You’re paying to see an exhibit at a museum… except you get to take the exhibit home with you. Frankly if you’re looking to play Tetris you have plenty of other ways to play it. Time Warp is a very fun variation, but by itself it’s not really going to move units. If you’re truly a student of the history of video games, then I would wholeheartedly recommend this or any other title in the Gold Master Series. Having spoken to the devs prior to the launch, they have mentioned the possibility of adding additional titles into the compilation (much like they did with their Atari 50 release), but this would be dependent on sales of the base title. Look I’m certainly happy to have a legal and portable way of Tetris Battle Gaiden, so even if I didn’t review it, this title would’ve been a purchase for me simply because of what a touchstone title Tetris is to me. If you’re a fan of Tetris consider giving this title a look, I’m certain you’ll learn something and have some fun while you’re at it.

Note: Digital Eclipse provided us with a Tetris Forever code for review purposes.