Copypasta!

I briefly tried Tetris 99, and it's super-cool. It's very bare bones, but it's also a very pure, competitive Tetris experience. In my handful of games, I mostly ended up in the Top 10. Maybe I could've gone farther if I had the ability to direct my attacks, but the NES controller didn't really offer me that option. Will I ever reach number 1? Who knows! It remains to be seen whether there is any sort of hidden depth to the competitive scoring system, a la Puyo Puyo. But Tetris is fun, so whatever. The stats are a pretty nice touch, too. At one point, I had five people targeting me, apparently!

I thought that the matches were paced pretty well, overall, although I never find it fun to play Tetris when the blocks start falling super-fast or almost instantaneously. I don't think that the controls are really up to the task. Or maybe I'm not. But still!

Applying the Battle Royale concept to a puzzle game seems ridiculous, but it's actually kind of BRILLIANT. Because no matter how accessible a puzzle game is, as more and more time passes from the release and more and more casuals fall off, the level of online competition rises to an insane level. A discouraging level. But this format really muffles the discouragement of finding out that maybe you AREN'T the best Tetris player in the world. I found Mario Tennis Aces tournament structure to be similarly clever. Smash Bros. could really benefit from something like this, too. And traditional fighting games definitely would. I wonder if Tetris 99 will add any sort of incentive to level. Like block cosmetics and more music tracks!

I've played this for half an hour and already I like it more than Fortnite.

Although I'm not really sure all the Battle Royale references and jokes really fit, to be honest. Isn't what makes a Battle Royale game what it is the gameplay itself, rather than the large number of players? Tetris involves no shooting or building, and very little actual survival (except in the "don't play poorly" sense, I suppose). This just seems like a natural evolution from Tetris DS's 8-player mode.

Whatever it is, I really like it. Not sure if I have the skillz to win, but it's a fun benchmark to aim for. Currently my best ranking is 6th place.

@TriforceBun

My best is also 6th!

Call it what you want, this game has a surprising amount of strategy, and I love it. Are you gutsy enough to go after players with the most badges? Or are you a sadist who wants to gang up on the people in the worst positions? The fact that a puzzle games has notions of stealth (going for single line clears and not targeting anyone specific) and revenge (duking it out with your attackers) is amazing.

I see people saying that Puyo Puyo Tetris is the best way to get good at advanced Tetris techniques because it has a ton of tutorials and stages that teach you the mechanics, is this true? Anand?

Who or what is a badge? What do you do when it says watch out? I don't get it.

@Secret_Tunnel
It's true! But I refuse to learn all of that T-Spin crap! It's blasphemous and unnatural.

Regular ol' Tetris was good enough for my grandfather, and it's good enough for me!

Holy hell on those strats, though. I'm impressed that that dude compiled all of this information so quickly! Never underestimate the internet.

carlosrox said:

Who or what is a badge? What do you do when it says watch out? I don't get it.

“Watch out” tells you that someone is targeting you. When they clear lines, the garbage gets sent to you. You can see who it is from the yellow line from their mini-screen to yours. You can target them back by moving the cursor to their screen with the left stick or choosing the “attackers” option with the right stick.

I’m less clear on how badges work. You get badges by knocking people out. When you knock people out you get their badges. You can see people’s badges on their screen with the white shield-looking things on the top. You can target people with the most badges by switching to the “badges” option with the right stick or using the cursor with the left. Having badges gives you bonuses to the damage you do to other players. The more badges you have, the more garbage lines you send to your targets.

@carlosrox

This explains everything.

@Anand

Sold! I need to check out Tetris Effect too, but having to hook my all my VR stuff is such a chore. I might just play it on the nice high-res TV that isn't strapped to my face.

It sounds like Tetris 99 is largely built on 1v1 competitive Tetris mechanics, and those are just extrapolated to 99 people. The badge system is what makes things interesting!

@Secret_Tunnel
Dude, ditching my PSVR was so liberating. Best decision I ever made.

Anyway, here are my long-ass Tetris Effect impressions!

Ahhh, so much fun! I got up to #2, my kids were cheering, lol! I tend to start my targeting at Badges, but the will just randomly hit the left and right sticks If the Big N call throw a couple of these free games out a year, totally worth paying for online.

Puyo Puyo Tetris impressions! Went through the tutorials in the demo and then looked up a longplay of adventure mode on Youtube. And hey, they force you to play Puyo Puyo? That's not what I signed up for! Gotta pass.

Tetris Effect impressions! Man, this game was kinda lame. Tetris in front of a cool screensaver. The first song was beautiful and got me hyped up for some amazing music and interesting gameplay twists. But nope, just regular Tetris with ambient weirdness.

Tetris 99 it is!

Tried a few matches. Mostly just reminded me how much I suck at Tetris, my average finished was probably in the 70s or 80s. I did get into the teens twice though, so that is something.

It also reminded me how I've never quite got into Tetris. Tetris DS is the only one that I legit loved and even then it wasn't really one of my top pieces falling from the sky puzzle games.

I think the concept is interesting but unlike other multiplayer games I feel pretty disconnected from the fact that I'm playing against other people. Yeah you can see them all there on the screen and I guess you can target specific people or something?! and you get hit with their attacks sometimes, but it's not like I have a clear idea who is hitting me and how and why it's just sort of chaotic. Maybe when you get down to the final 4 or whatever you can tell what is going on better but I have never gotten there. So it mostly just feels like me playing Tetris alone while occasionally getting screwed in what feels like a somewhat arbitrary way.

@Secret_Tunnel
Harsh! But, yeah, the first song in Tetris is easily the best one. By, like, a factor of 1000.

Adventure Mode in Puyo Puyo Tetris really doesn't teach you the techniques, though. It's just a series of matches that walks you through all of the modes with a nutty story. The Tutorial Mode explains the Techniques. I'm not sure if they're all on the demo.

But I have to say, PPT has the worst demo ever. It's way too generous! I'm sure that many were happy to just play the demo, rather than pick up the actual game

You know I used to always love either theme B or C more but now I'm listening to both and can't remember which one I really liked.

Whatever. TEAM THEME B.

I think I'm addicted...I've already played 30 matches and I'm itching to play more. I'm doing pretty well so far, especially since I don't know how to do t-spins and all that newer Tetris stuff. I'm an old school Tetris player and I mainly go for getting as many Tetrises as possible.

@Anand

Geez, 5 people targeting you at once?! That's some Chicago-style Tetris right there.

@GameDadGrant
If they were targeting me with guns, maybe!

Between Chicago and Detroit, I wonder which city has the worse reputation...

Number 3 is my best so far...! So close, yet once the battles reach the Top Ten, it's super intense and I can't keep up with the junk. I have to be really focused just to survive at that point, much less go on the offensive.

@GameDadGrant

When this happens, you can set your junk to go to Attackers and hit 5 people at once with stuff, raising the possibility of KOs and making yourself stronger for that fight!

@Zero
Theme B = life

Played two games, got 30something and 20something ranks. I've never been a big Tetris guy, but I like this spin on it. There's a vague but not overbearing emphasis on competition, and games have a clear endpoint in sight at all times. I probably won't play it frequently or often, but I'll probably play a game every now and then for kicks.

Guys. Guys. Guys.






This is amazing.