Tetris ignited the world's interest for handheld gaming when it released on Nintendo's GameBoy back in the 1980s. Adults, children, men, and women alike all got caught up in the simple, yet highly addictive puzzler. The series has appeared in official and unofficial releases on just about every type of electronic device, including: video game consoles, PCs, cell phones, handhelds, PDAs, wrist watches, and calculators. One group of students even rigged a skyscraper's lights to a set of computers to turn the entire building into a gigantic game of Tetris. Over the years the world has repeatedly shown that Tetris has remained a relevant franchise with both the hardcore and casual crowds. With Tetris DS, Nintendo is attempting to continue the long tradition of quality and fun that fans of the franchise have come to expect. So does Tetris DS fit snugly into a long line of quality releases, or is it a bit of a misfit?

Facts and Features

• First online Tetris title on a Nintendo platform
  
• Up to ten players on a single cartridge
  
• Up to four players online
  
• Classic NES tunes remixed
  
• New gameplay modes
  
• Unlockable content

Classic Made Modern
Lame Taco Bell commercial references aside, Tetris DS manages to mix the classic gameplay formula with evolutionary ideas to make a franchise that is two decades old feel fresh. The basic core of Tetris hasn't changed much over the years, but usually a gameplay tweak or two will materialize in each new iteration. In Tetris DS, the biggest gameplay addition to the standard mode is the inclusion of a "hold" option. The hold option allows players to switch out their block with one that is held in a box on the left side of the touch screen. The swapping is helpful when you are dealing with a less than perfect fit, but it becomes a bit more difficult to use as the speed increases in the later levels of the game.

Purists may view the hold box as a bit of a crutch, but it's something that is easily ignored. You really can't fault the game for adding what might be considered controversial elements when they aren't forced upon the player to be used. The ability to continuosly rotate a block before it sets into place has been carried over from Tetris Worlds to Tetris DS; something that may or may not be popular with longtime fans.

Personally, I don't like the spin tactic for delaying the release of the next block, but like the hold box, it can be ignored. In addition to being able to spin blocks repeatedly, the time between a block reaching its resting place and it becoming immobile (locking into place) has been lengthened noticeably. Oddly enough, however, I found that this caused me to commit more mistakes than I was able to avoid; there isn't anything much more frustrating than moving a block that you think has set in anticipation of the next block. These tweaks really become second-nature soon enough, but it would have been nice to make them optional or adjustable in some form.


A mix of old and new.