Game Boy Advance

Tetris Worlds

We all know that Tetris is the one game to have on a deserted island. With Tetris Worlds, you get much more than the original. The ghost piece and piece saver may sound like small things, but they really add to the game. One reason that Tetris Worlds gets such a high score is the fact that everyone can play it. That, and the fact that there is an unlimited replay value too. Also, the new backgrounds are a lot of fun. Oh! I forgot about the new play modes. Well, I guess the one reason for the high score is the fact that Tetris Worlds is a total improvement in all areas over the past version.

Tetris Worlds isn't just the best Game Boy Advance puzzler available -- it's also one of the best puzzle games ever made. Tetris Attack still holds the top spot as puzzle game champ, while Columns and I.Q. hang on to second and third place. Looking back, each one of those games was released at least a year (usually more) apart from each other. Tetris Worlds isn't as groundbreaking as the other games listed, nor is it as original. But did anyone enjoy Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (the true sequel to the original game) any less, even though it was merely a harder version of the first game? Not at all. Despite what game companies will tell you, sometimes "more of the same" is exactly what we're looking for. Tetris Worlds is more of the same...and a whole lot more.

Make no mistake, Tetris is back for the GBA, and THQ has done a bang-up job with it. If you are a fan of puzzle games, or just a Tetris junkie, then go immediately to your local videogame retailer and grab a copy. Tetris Worlds is a beautiful version of a gaming classic, enhanced and beefed-up for the current market.

Tetris Worlds est une bonne adaptation du jeu de Pajitnov, avec quelques innovations au passage, qui enrichissent le jeu sans pour autant le dénaturer. Avec cette réalisation THQ ne décevra pas les fans. Vous y jouerez des heures sans vous en rendre compte.

Fortunately, Tetris is still as addictive as ever and it's a must have for portable gaming fans, which leads to the biggest problem with Tetris Worlds, the old Game Boy versions of the game still work and (at least Tetris DX,) provide most of the gameplay found here. Since the original Game Boy featured more than a few Tetris games over it's lifespan here's hoping someone tries a bit hard, optimizes a bit more, streamlines a lot more, and gives us a better playing Tetris experience than Tetris Worlds.

To make it plain and simple, Tetris Worlds is a decent version of the classic puzzler for the Game Boy Advance, but overall even the years-old Tetris DX is a better version of Tetris.

If this game happened to be the only Tetris package available to Game Boy Advance owners, I'd actually recommend a purchase...even with the lack of a battery. But bless that backward-compatible feature of the GBA -- since Nintendo still manufactures and sells a greatly superior version of the game, Tetris fanatics (and those still new to the idea) should grab a copy of the original 8-bit rendition. Sure, it won't take advantage of the GBA's advanced capabilities...but then again, neither does Tetris Worlds

Admittedly the game could be a bit brighter and the pieces could fall a bit faster. Fortunately Tetris is still as addictive as ever and it's a must have for portable gaming fans, which leads to the biggest problem with Tetris Worlds, the old Game Boy versions of the game still work and, at least Tetris DX, provide most of the gameplay found here. Since the original Game Boy featured more than a few Tetris games over it's lifespan here's hoping someone tries a bit hard, optimizes a bit more, streamlines a lot more, and gives us a better playing Tetris experience than Tetris Worlds.

Tetris Worlds presents us with a new evolution in Tetris playing. No, the game hasn’t gone 3D, but new modes appear, evolving the game the same way that bringing 2-player play did years ago. With this new cartridge, we have 6 different ways to play, the first being the classic Tetris game. Nothing beats this, and it will always be with me until the day I die. No matter how many variations on the theme are created, the original “tried-and-true” method just can’t be beat.

One of the key draws of Tetris has always been its elegant simplicity--a simplicity that allows for open interpretation, which is attested to by the countless forms it has taken on consoles, the PC, cell phones, calculators, and various Web-based platforms. Now, Blue Planet Software has brought six different variations on the Tetris formula together for Tetris Worlds on the GBA. With its wealth of gameplay modes, passable presentation, and its classic, nostalgia-triggering music, Tetris Worlds probably would have been one of the best iterations of Tetris yet. Unfortunately, Tetris Worlds also introduces one particular change to the gameplay that renders the classic game all but unplayable.