Ask yourself the following question: How many times, over the course of your life, have you bought a version of Tetris? Two? Five? A dozen? Tetris is about as ubiquitous a game as has ever existed. It singlehandedly defines an entire genre -- when people are trying to describe an action-puzzler, they say, "You know, like Tetris." It has appeared on every conceivable system known to man (I had Tetris on my graphing calculator so I could ignore my calculus teacher). Type the word "Tetris" into Google and you will be playing any of a thousand free flash versions of the game inside of 3 minutes. Every single person who has ever touched a gaming system knows how to play Tetris, and has likely spent several hours doing so.
So, after nearly 25 years and countless versions, how is it that Tetris is still a commercially viable product? The answer is simple: Because it's freaking Tetris. I'm not going to insult you by suggesting we should be sick of Tetris by now; Tetris is timeless. We will still be enjoying Tetris long after we've forgotten games like Halo or Grand Theft Auto.
The question is, knowing that there's plenty of ways to now play Tetris for free, is there a reason to spend 1200 Wii Points on Tetris Party? Hudson Soft's new WiiWare take on the title certainly brings plenty of new wrinkles and gimmicks along for the ride. Not all of these gimmicks are winners, but there are areas where Tetris Party gets it right -- and those areas are worth a visit.
Allow me to get the negative points out of the way first: It's important to note a couple of caveats up front, when it comes to considering the feature set of Tetris Party. Hudson's marketing materials paint an impressive picture, promising things like "18 game modes" and "use the Wii Balance Board to play Tetris in a whole new way." Let's cut some of the hype out of those: Those 18 choices count a number of modes twice, counting the single-player and vs. versions of the same mode as two different games. In addition, several of the modes simply aren't very good, and as for the Wii Balance Board... well, you'll try it out once to see the amusing gimmick, get bored after two minutes, and never bother with it again. Make no mistake, I mean it when I say there's some genuine fun to be had in Tetris Party -- but the game comes with a lot of empty, tacked-on content as well, attempting to fool the unwary gamer into believing he's getting a much greater value.
I won't waste your time, in this review, explaining how to play Tetris. If you're reading this, you already know, and if you don't know, you need to get out less. As one would expect, Tetris Party comes with the standard "Marathon" mode, the undiluted and original experience. Tetris Party (Balance Board modes notwithstanding) is played in the classic method, with the WiiMote on its side in the pad-and-buttons controller posture; the Classic Controller is also usable. Marathon mode comes with all the typical trappings: It can be played in endless mode, up to a specific number of lines, or up to a time limit. The graphics and sound are nice and unintrusive, including a variety of pleasant but undistracting backgrounds, and a broad variety of easy-listening BGM tracks, all of which will speed up dynamically as the pace of the game increases. The difficulty curve is set just where it should be, with a sense of urgency finally rolling in around level 10, and genuine difficulty arriving around level 15. Toss in a few Mii integrations, and you've got an excellent core package for your classic Tetris experience. Of course, in order to be worth your while, there needs to be more than just Marathon -- as we mentioned, you can get that part of the game, for free, almost anywhere.
So, let's take a look at the extra modes, beginning with the other single-player offerings:
- Computer Battle: If you've played Tetris head-to-head before, you know what this is. Considering the game also has a VS Battle mode, where you can set your opponent to be the computer, this mode is redundant.
- Field Climber: This is a genuinely interesting concept, disappointingly marred by buggy execution and seemingly arbitrary rules. In Field Climber, your playing field is occupied by a tiny little man, and your job is to guide him through a few flags scattered about the field, and ultimately get him to the top of the screen. In order to do this, you must drop the tetrominoes in such a way that the man can climb them -- he can scale a vertical obstacle that's one block high, but anything more than that will block him. In theory, it's a great game -- the player is forced to strategize about where to build his tower, and can clear lines to erase his mistakes. In practice, however, you will find yourself cursing at the little man, who insists on moving directly under the blocks you're trying to place, and then boggling when dropping a block directly on top of him does not generate a game over (as it's supposed to, according to the rules), instead letting you cheat your way to the top by making the man appear on top of blocks you just crushed him with. Time and time again, I was able to cheat my way through these levels by dropping new structures in places the man would not logically be able to climb, only to watch him appear harmlessly on top of them.
- Shadow: A more puzzle-oriented mode, Shadow challenges you to fill in the indicated areas with falling tetrominoes (as well as smaller pieces of 1, 2, or 3 blocks) to form a predetermined shape, such as an apple, or a pencil collection, or Bomberman. The challenge lies in the ticking clock, the fact that you can only opt to skip a limited number of ill-fitting pieces per attempt, and the fact that your score is penalized for every block you place that doesn't fit the shadow. This is an enjoyable mode, if frustrating at times due to the random blocks -- which never fit the holes you need them to, naturally.
- Stage Racer: This mode puts you in control of a single tetromino, and has you guide it through a pre-set "race track" of other blocks, guiding it from side to side and often performing complicated rotations to get through narrow gaps. As an instructional experience to learn a few advanced Tetris moves to fill small gaps in Marathon mode, it's an interesting academic exercise. As a game, it's worthless.
- Beginner's Tetris: Narrows the playing field to 5 columns, takes out the difficult tetrominoes (such as the Z and S), and gives you some smaller, 2 or 3-square, easier ones. This is great if you have a toddler, but the average gamer will grow bored almost instantly.
- Wii Balance Board Tetris: Swapping out the Wiimote for the Balance Board, this mode allows you to control the game with your body, shifting your weight around to make the necessary moves. Leaning left and right will move the tetromino left and right, leaning forward or backward will drop the tetromino faster, and squatting quickly will rotate it. It's not quite a full-body workout, but it's cute, and good for a brief amusement -- but that's it. In truth, this mode could almost have been an enjoyable game -- players would be challenged to keep control over their balance not to over-slide a piece, and at higher levels, might require some downright fancy footwork. Instead, however, the actual gameplay that's tied to the Balance Board mode is the aforementioned Beginner's Tetris, with the five-column field, an even shorter field height-wise, and even fewer tetrominoes. The game has been dumbed down so far to make up for the unfamiliar Balance Board controls as to present a nearly pointless experience, ensuring players will become instantly bored once the novelty wears off.
With the single-player offerings largely on the unimpressive side, Tetris Party isn't sounding like much of a game at this point, but one doesn't put the word "Party" in the title unless one intends to include some solid multiplayer options. It's in these portions, thankfully, that Tetris Party begins to shine. The game supports local play with up to four Wiimotes (as well as CPU players to fill the gaps), with Wi-Fi play for up to six players, and these modes are definitely more hit than miss:
- VS Battle: Again, if you've ever played a head-to-head Tetris game since the days of the original Game Boy, you know what to expect here. Clearing several lines will cause extra rows of detritus to stack up underneath your opponent's playing field, and each of you have to worry about faster tetrominoes as the match wears on. Tetris Party, however, adds a few chaotic wrinkles into the mix, allowing for extra lines to be sent via consecutive clears, and also allows the optional use of several game-altering "items." A well-timed bonus item can allow you to speed up only your opponent's pieces, fire several blocks onto his playing field by aiming the Wiimote, or even completely obscure his vision until he shakes his own Wiimote. In addition, the inclusion of up to four players can turn the game into pure, entertaining chaos -- it's one thing to deal with the extra blocks from an opponent's tetris, it's quite another matter when three opponents all touch off a tetris or trigger an item in quick succession.
- VS Field Climber: The addition of items and the urgency of racing against other players (rather than the clock) certainly improves this mode, but it doesn't change the fact that you can exploit the buggy climber to cheat your way to victory.
- VS Hot Lines: The playing field is marked by glowing lines, and the first player to clear all of theirs, wins. The experience pits you more against yourself than your opponents, since detritus is no longer sent over through cleared lines, but this mode certainly provides for a fun race -- with a little chaos thrown in, if you keep using items.
- VS Shadow: This may well be my favorite mode, apart from the party-oriented chaos of the standard VS Battle. This game mode is really something unique: The best way to describe it is "puzzle chicken." As in the single-player Shadow mode, the object of the game is to drop your tetrominoes inside of a bordered area to create a specific shape. This time, however, you're going up against up to 3 other players, and the most accurate score wins. All scores start at 0%, and while every correctly-placed block will inch you closer to 100%, every block that falls outside the border knocks a few points off of your possible maximum score. If a player is able to complete the shadow perfectly, and reach 100%, the game instantly ends, but given the random nature of the available pieces, this very rarely actually happens. Instead, players will be scrambling to tidy up their fields, working to raise their scores without making too much of a penalizing mess, because once the timer runs out, the highest percentage wins. It's possible, in fact, to end your game prematurely, and aim for victory that way: If you stack the tetrominoes off the top of the field, your timer stops and your score is frozen. Of course, if you had a very high score at this point, this may hand you the win -- in the event of a tie, victory will go to the player who had 95% with 30 seconds to spare, rather than the player who had 95% when time ran out. The underlying strategy of this mode -- which nobody actually has time to think about, in the face of the short timer -- makes it a real gem.
- VS Stage Racer: Unless you feel like bringing another player or two along for this purely academic mode, don't bother.
- Co-Op Tetris: Now, here's something new. This mode doubles the width of the playing field, gives two players each their own queue of tetrominoes, and lets them both drop pieces at once in an otherwise regular Marathon setting. It sounds easier than it really is -- if you don't remain aware of what your partner is doing at all times, you can make a mess of things very quickly, dropping pieces where there's suddenly no room, finishing a line that your partner may have been saving for a tetris, and so on. This mode is great with someone you know very well, especially once the speed starts ramping up and the two of you start trying to assign responsibilities. The phrase "I thought that was your side!" has not come up so much since Virtua Tennis.
- Duel Spaces: This is an interesting addition -- a competitive, turn-based, territory control game, like Ataxx, only with tetrominoes. As a piece falls, one player decides its placement, earning a point for each space it takes up, plus one point for every empty square that is now irrevocably blocked off. Simple to learn, and great for a five-minute head-to-head puzzle.
Clearly, the real effort in Tetris Party went into the social modes, and it shows -- the game is a fairly bland offering for the solo player, but if you've got a few friends on hand and some spare Wiimotes, you're in business. Of course, players who are short on Wiimotes -- or actual friends -- have Tetris Party's Wi-Fi mode to bridge the gap, right? Not quite, I'm sorry to say. The Wi-Fi mode, more than anything, comes up disappointingly short, especially in light of what might have been, with a little more effort.
It's easy to blame many of the Wi-Fi shortcomings on Nintendo's usual user-unfriendly sttructural decisions. Tetris Party does nothing to advance Nintendo's lousy online services: Friend Codes are certainly included, and despite the appearance of your Mii face above your playing field, playing with strangers is a wholly impersonal experience -- your communication is restricted to a handful of pre-approved chat messages, so get ready for the usual "Hello!" and "Let's Play!" routine. Lag is a problem, as well -- which is rather baffling, considering the minimal data needed to communicate progress in a game of Tetris. On more than one occasion, I had filled my playing field to the top, thus ending my game -- only to watch my opponent continue playing, and ultimately fill his field to the top, inexplicably handing me a victory fully five seconds after I had lost the ability to play by generating a losing condition.
Still, taking some solace in the knowledge that you're beating actual humans instead of CPU players in VS Battles can be satisfying, and the addition of ratings and records brings some fun to the obsessive and/or competitive player. On the other hand, I hope VS Battle is your favorite mode, because it's the only one you're going to be playing. This is Tetris Party's greatest disappointment; every other multiplayer mode has been omitted from online play. I would have loved to play Duel Spaces or VS Shadow against three other online players; even getting to compare a Hot Lines time in a face-off setting would be fun. I can understand that latency might make something like Co-Op Tetris impossible, but come on -- Duel Spaces is turn-based. There is no reason not to include it, and yet, it's missing. Wi-Fi could have really made Tetris Party a must-own title, but instead, we can only truly recommend it for those who have the friends and resources to enjoy some local play.
If you have those friends and resources, though, Tetris Party will provide you with some good, clean, block-dropping fun. So, go ahead -- ask yourself how many times you've bought Tetris over the years. And then, remember why that number is as high as it is... and add one more to the total.
Tetris Party is available now via WiiWare.
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