NES Game Reviews #19 – Tetris
The best ending on Tetris, Kremlin rocket, 120,000 points.
Most people reading this will think two things after seeing Tetris on this list. Firstly, ‘I thought Tetris was on the Gameboy?’, and second, ‘You can complete Tetris?’
Well yes to both. Tetris was indeed invented for the Gameboy, but was ported to just about every console in some form or another. Some legitimately licensed, some not. The NES port was one of the prior, essentially the exact same game, except in colour.
So how can you complete this infamous puzzle game? Well in theory you can’t, Tetris will simply keep on dropping blocks at an increasingly faster and faster rate until you eventually lose. As far as I’m aware there isn’t an end screen, even if you could humanly make it to the fastest speed the game can drop at, I think it just keeps on dropping forever. However after clearing certain point markers, when you die, you be rewarded with a special screen that displays some form of rocket launch. This is the same with the Gameboy version though I believe the NES version offers more launches for more mediocre scores. The most prized launch you can obtain, and what you need to consider the game complete, is achieved by getting over 120,000 points. If you manage this, then you are rewarded with seeing a UFO in the usual rocket bay hanger. However instead of the ship taking off (as per usual), this time the Kremlin itself takes off!
It’s no easy task getting 120,000 points in Tetris. It took me many attempts, I’ll confess that I’m not the greatest Tetris player, but either way I don’t think it’s gonna be a cakewalk for any but elite players. I found starting out on level 7 and only holding out only for the 4 line Tetris’s, was the best way to succeed.
