2nd Op By

Chi Kong Lui 7.5 RATING

Shifting the focus over to building world wonders with lines accrued makes The New Tetris the first Tetris in the franchise to reach 'biblical' proportions. Why 'biblical'? Because the sheer amount of effort it takes to build one of these mammoths made me feel like I actually was a slave in Egypt! I agree with Dale that it's a huge misstep and the feature should have been implemented less painfully.

Still, I didn't find The New Tetris to be the horror show that Dale likened it to. Credit the inclusion of the square-building aspect. While most 10-year olds in a fragfest would have me begging for mercy faster than Justin Volpe on trial, I'd say my Tetris skills are comparable to anyone in this planet. My affair with the shapely demons is a bond that I've harnessed through years of countless lines and endless scores; resulting in an unsurpassed technique (which I've named the Four Lines of Death style). Yet, even with all my bravado, The New Tetris made me do what Bruce Lee did after failing to pummel an opponent in seconds (he took a couple of minutes instead!): I had to rethink my style.

Constructing a solid square out of the familiar Tetris pieces sounds simple enough, but trying to orchestrate the consistent production of them while in the midst of play proved to be a truly challenging objective (especially mono-squares built with identical shapes). Pretty soon, I was adjusting the old tactics I've loyally used for years and scheming up new ones in the vein of Jeet Kune Do mantra: "Absorbing what is useful and discarding what is not." My best technique thus far: L-shapes and blocks to the left side, three-quarters pluses and s-shapes to the right, leaving a sliver of space between the two monoliths for the money-piece, the stick.

Make no mistake that this game has its drawbacks and is far from being the definitive Tetris for years to come. Only the most extreme and diehard fanatics devoted to the art of Tetris (like myself) will appreciate the unique challenge that The New Tetris presents. The multiplayer mode in The New Tetris could be a goldmine for casual players who assemble on a frequent basis. Otherwise, it's going to take a lot of love and blind devotion to ignore all the negatives before getting to the positives. But then again, if compiling an excruciating amount of lines for the sake of building world wonders doesn't sound like slave labor to you, this may be the Tetris you've been waiting for.

Public Opinion

John Isles, IV 5.0 Rating

Both Dale and Chi make very good points on the torturous goal of building the Wonders of the World. After only completing one on a rental copy, I was bored. The bonuses are not warranted by the effort. And I wouldn't want any other players endure the same sadistic chore. However, neither mention The New Tetris' most painful feature -- its soundtrack! If you can survive without turning the volume down at any time, you deserve congratulations. You can't change it in-game, making the mute button the best way to go.

Sure enough, it's just like Tetris. The gameplay additions don't help the cause: Holding pieces dumbs down the game, and seeing the next three pieces in advance subtracts from the surprise factor. Being able to rotate pieces into constricted spaces is a nice touch. Try as it might, it can't balance out the negatives.

Nintendo has taken the Tetris franchise to a new low with The New Tetris. The mock Jerry Springer ad will be easily recreated by any group who even tries to endure this game. As far as Nintendo 64 puzzle games go, things can't get much, if any, worse than this.

Reader Second Opinions