Platform: Nintendo Game Boy

Developer:Nintendo, Bullet-Proof Software

Publisher: Nintendo

Release Date: 1989

Genre: Puzzle, Puzzler

Nerd Rating: 95/100

Tetris hit the scenes in the late ’80s and took on the nation/world by storm.  Developed by some Russian fellas who wanted to create a puzzle game to please the masses.  A multi-business signing-frenzy would ensue as multiple investors and companies would battle for months to secure the licensed rights to develop and publish this game.  Ultimately Nintendo would win the rights to release this game

In 1989, Nintendo released one of the most iconic and recognized games of all time on the Nintendo Game Boy… Tetris.  What a simple name, but what does it mean?  The name comes from the term “Tetrominos” which is a geometric shape arranged with four different squares.  The prefix “tetra” is Greek for 4.  When you play Tetris, you will notice that all of the shapes have exactly 4 squares, no matter what the shape is.  The goal of the game is to stack the shapes in perfect form as to not allow any gaps, and when you get a perfect layer across the screen (horizontally), that line disappears, bringing the mass of other blocks down.

Everybody knows Tetris, and if you don’t, I’m not even sure why the hell you’re on an entertainment review website. You’re non-American. Commy bastards… oh wait, wasn’t this game created during the Soviet Union rule?  … Hm… Moving on.

Tetris saw itself get released on just about every single platform from Super Nintendo to Computers to iPhones in some form or another.  But why the Game Boy version?  Simply put, the Game Boy version is the best version.  Well, not exactly a better “version” per se, but the platform makes it the best version.  To this day I STILL own the same copy of Game Boy Tetris that my parents got me in 1991 for what was probably way too much money.

The ease at which a player can just pick up his Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, etc and just plug in Tetris and play it for 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, etc is superb and incomparable to any other game on the market.  Tetris on the Game Boy is a perfect way to pass the time no matter who you are (although I will admit I feel a little silly sitting at the DMV in my late 20’s playing on a giant gray 1991 Game Boy brick) and the puzzle is still phenomenal.  Everybody puts together their own little puzzle-solving strategies.  And everyone is right. That’s the beauty of the game.  There’s no one way to play Tetris.  Everyone can do it and it pleases everyone.  When those blocks start coming down 100 miles per hour and you don’t know what the hell is going on, it’ll make you laugh, it’ll make you smile, and it’ll make you want to start from the beginning again just to do better than before.

This game is beautiful without color, although I will admit playing it on home video consoles helps, as you can use your peripherals to see the color of the next block on queue instead of having to shift your eyes in the mayhem to plan your next move.  There isn’t much flaw in this game, except the refresh rate on the Game Boy is a little slow for when you reach higher levels.  The blocks come down kind of “ghost-like”.

Overall I give this game a tremendous amount of credit for the simplicity of which it plays yet the complexity of which it was created.  Tetris Game Boy gets a near perfect Nerd Rating from me.

Nerd Rating: 95/100

Submitted by NerdBerry