***UPDATED*** Is this the Tetris addiction help line??? (Tetris DX. (GB))

Member Name: idodoyou

Product:	Tetris DX. (GB)
Date:	13/06/01 (231 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Its just the best thats all!!

Disadvantages: Addictive, Addictive, oh and.......addictive!!

I defy anybody NOT to become addicted to this game! There should be help lines and meetings set up for Tetris Addicts?! (Where can I join??)

How can such an easy and simple concept attract so many people to spend hours improving (well, its exercise isn’t it?) their finger and thumb muscles by the quick repetitive flicking of the buttons as they try to fit little bricks into other little bricks while you keep getting more little bricks falling down onto the pile of………..Yep, you’ve guessed it…..little bricks!??

I’ve got a Gameboy Colour, and a whopping amount of games……..2!! Its not that I’m tight and don’t want to keep spending the money (£15-25.00) on new games, I only really need the one (Game number 2 in my extensive collection is a Tennis game which has been completed and therefore holds no attraction!!) TETRIS DX is without a doubt the ONLY one!!!

For those of you that aren’t familiar with the workings of a Gameboy, whether it be a Colour, a Pocket or the regular version, you have to just slot the game in the back (label out!) flick the on switch and … you’re hot to trot!!

Up pop the credits, such as the designers name and the year of design, this guy must be one serious rich one, and then onto the player selection.
Make your choice either 1 or 2 player, I suggest that you opt for 1 player cos its really annoying waiting for your opponent to complete his game, get one each, a lot better for your sanity!! Once you have entered you details you are ready to become a potential Tetris addict….

You’ve got a choice of 4 games;

**Marathon** ~ This is the standard Tetris game, basically the idea of the game is to build as many lines as you can, once you’ve built them, they disappear giving you points and a bigger space in which to play on. As the amount of lines you’ve amassed increases, so does the speed
in which they fall, therefore making it harder to position the bricks correctly before they hit your pile. You amass points on the completion of lines, the higher the number of lines you can complete in one (max 4) go, the more points you score. The higher the pile becomes the more chance you have of finishing quicker, for as soon a brick can go no further, it’s the end of the game. This condition is the same for all 4 games. You have the chance to set your level before you start the game I start on 9, well, its pointless starting anywhere else, hopefully you’ll get past level 9 anyway?? My personal best is 512 lines.
I don’t know if there actually is a maximum number of lines that can be achieved here? (If anybody does know, can they let me know please? Also, I’d love to know what kinda line totals you are bringin home? Is 512 average? Is it super duper and worthy enough to get me into the Guinness Book of Records? Or is it so c**p that most of you can achieve that score with your eyes closed???)

**Ultra** ~ This is a timed game. And the idea of the game is to achieve the highest score in three minutes; again you are given the choice of which level to start at. Is there any point at starting at 9? You only have three minutes and you want to make sure that you actually achieve lines rather than just a ‘hicklydipicklyde’ pile therefore amassing no points at all?? And then once you’ve set your level, do you opt to complete the single lines and their points or wait and try and achieve the max 4 lines and score big??? Oh my God, decisions decisions……………… ;

**40 Lines** ~ Another game involving time here. The object of this is to get rid of 40 lines as quickly as possible. Again you have the choosing your level option, and then its decision time………………

**VS.COM** ~ Play against the computer with this one (or a friend of you hav
e the Universal game Link cable) With this game you have a choice of level, but not your usual 9, its just the basic easy, normal or hard. Here you start off the game as in Marathon, there you are merrily amassing points, completing lines when all of sudden, the pile of bricks suddenly ‘grows’ and pushes your pile nearer to the top! Which as we know, is a no no to go near the top!! Panic sets in, they didn’t say anything about that in the instruction manual, the race is now on, you have to get rid of the pile with your lines while the computer gives you more when you are least expecting it!! The height of the pile of the bricks that you get ‘given’, ‘lumbered’ with is actually the amount that your opponent has amassed. Beware, the computer is not stupid (are they ever??!!) and learns the pattern that you choose to make lines, an advantage for you……… I don’t think so!!

You have the choice of opting for music on all games, whopping 3 different tunes to choose from with the 4th option of no music at all. We are not talking the latest of musical offerings either, just your basic ‘plinkety plink’ in 3 different ‘plinketyplink’ tunes which for me is totally annoying when I’m trying to concentrate, and I mean concentrate. I have a mission…….a pink box will two AA batteries will not beat me, I will get more lines, I will win, I will…………..

All scores are kept on a ‘best scores’ sheet, but there are only places for the three highest. Tetris DX has a resume function, so it saves your game and is ready for when (and if??!!) you return later. If you have to leave suddenly in the middle of a 250 lined game (cramp has set in or maybe flames are licking your feet??) just switch off, when you power on again, you have the choice of agreeing to the ‘continue’ question, or if your score wasn’t great, just
say no and the saved data will be erased.

One thing that I find annoying? Although it keeps a record of your highest score, it fails to keep your highest line total. I would rather this be the case actually. I mean when your friends are bragging at the number of lines they have got, it really isn’t the same when you say “yeah, I got 1016512 the other day” ~ They’ll look at you blankly and sneer ‘But how many lines ya get?” So if you’re reading this Mr Tetris inventor, WE WANT LINE TOTALS NOT SCORES OK??!! If I remember rightly, although it was a long time ago now, so maybe I haven’t ……….. the original Tetris on Gameboy did actually record the line number? Am I right?

Graphix are nothing special with Tetris. But c’mon, how special does a load of little bricks have to be right? They are clear, and easy to see. Well, that’s if you are sitting in a reasonably well-lit area. The screen is dark but its due to the design of the machine rather than the game itself (to be quite honest, I’m rather pleased that all colour Gameboys have this fault !!! Well, in a way…... Let me explain? I bought my Gameboy Colour while in Tenerife (35 quid ~ bargain or what???) and it wasn’t until I got it home that I realised that the screen was kinda dark, oh great I thought, no wonder they were bloody cheap, been given a bum steer!!! Anyway since I found out otherwise I have now apologised and eaten all my unkind words about the little Spanish guy that had me parting with my cash so easily, well, how could I not at about a 50% reduction in price hey?? Anyway, I’m waffling so I’m gonna close these brackets and get back to the item in question…………..) There really isn’t a problem when it comes to seeing what you are doing, the graphix are clear enough and strong enough to counter the somewhat dark screen. Of course if you are going t
o try and play this in the dark on the grounds that I have said that you can see what you are doing…………….. don’t be a pratt. You know what I mean!!

To be helpful and give the consumers fair warning about what they are letting themselves in for when they buy this game, there should be a time warning on the box.
It should only really be started if you have plenty of time to spare, I’d say a good two weeks will be long enough to start with?

Its addictive, good clean fun and a must for every Gameboy owner.
If you haven’t got this in your game collection, just go out and buy it this instant. YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY. Its the best fun I’ve had for 20 quid in ages??!!??!!??

Anyway, I gotta go, my thumbs are starting to itch, my sense of coordination is heightening, I'm starting to sweat at the mere thought....... I'm going to have to give in to the need ............. the need for Tetris.....

Thanx

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