Plain, simple Jake

Destructive Speed

How the hell did it take two decades to come up with Push mode?

The mode in question is an absolutely brilliant twist on Tetris, found in the latest version, Tetris DS. You and your opponent play your pieces onto the clump from opposite ends of the field, and try to push the other across the deadline. Two-, three- and four-line clears push the clump towards your opponent. It's like tug-of-war (except you're pushing and it's Tetris), and it's intense. It's also so natural that it feels like you've been playing it for years. I love it, and will probably fail my class because of it.

As for the rest of the game: also awesome. The standard mode that we all love is there, of course, though it's a little different. Now you can keep a piece alive by continually spinning it once it reaches the pile. That can make things a little easy early on, but there's a tradeoff: once you reach the higher levels the pieces fall ball-assingly fast. It's ridiculous. By level 14 or 15 they're coming down unmanagebly fast. At level 20, they literally don't even fall at all; they just appear at the top of the pile. Some people don't seem to believe this, so I'll be happy to demonstrate if you ask. At any rate, this all changes the game somewhat, and people may argue about whether it's for the better (I'm quite satsified, myself), but it's still Tetris, and it's still awesome regardless.

As for the other modes: Catch is neat, but not really my thing; Puzzle is neat but the control is annoying; Touch is a cool diversion, but certainly not a replacement; and Mission (racing against the clock to complete specified tasks) is a fun complement, but again it doesn't really stand on it's own. Standard and Touch modes are where it's at.

In conclusion: buy Tetris DS. If you don't own a Nintendo DS, buy one, then buy Tetris DS.

posted by Jake @ 10:40 PM