Super Tetris 3

Overview

Super Tetris 3 is a falling-block tile-matching puzzle game developed by TOSE and published by Bullet-Proof Software for the Super Famicom exclusively in Japan on December 16, 1994.

A sequel to Tetris 2 + BomBliss, Super Tetris 3 combines an adaptation of the classic Tetris with two new variants (Magicaliss and Sparkliss), as well as a party-style multiplayer mode for up to four players (known as Familiss). As with the original, players can keep track of their high scores.

A limited-ediiton themed multitap accessory was released by Hori for the game, which is required to make full use of Familiss mode.

Tetris

Tetris is a straight-forward adaptation of the classic game and is nearly identical to the previous game's adaptation, with two different single-player game modes:

• Endless has players progressing through the game until they lose, with the speed level increasing at intervals with line clears (from 1-29, then from S0-S9). The variation from the previous game that made use of garbage rows is not included in this game.

• Standard has players playing in shorter stages, where they must clear 25 lines to advance to the next stage. The game includes six rounds (with later rounds adding layers of garbage blocks to deal with at the start of each stage), each of which have 10 stages of increasing speed. The mode includes a lives system and players are scored between stages.

Along with the previous game's two-player versus multiplayer, the game includes a special multiplayer mode known as Familiss. Familiss can make use of a multitap accessory for up to four-player multiplayer and is designed as a party mini-game. Rather than simply sending garbage rows per line clear, Familiss gives each player a target display that changes at random intervals, where clearing lines either send garbage rows to, or remove rows from, another player (including themself or all players).

Magicaliss

Magicaliss is a new variation of Tetris that make use of blocks of different colors. Much of the gameplay is the same as in Tetris, with the game including the same Endless, Standard, and Versus modes.

Unlike standard Tetris, each tetromino dropped now starts as one of three different colors (red, blue or green), which can be changed by the player by doing full rotations (as shown with a color gauge). Clearing a line with tiles of the same color causes a "Magicaliss", which not only clears all tiles in that line, but also all tiles of the same color on the board (but will speed up the game temporarily).

There are two special types of pieces used for the game:

• Almighty Blocks are from some tetrominoes and make the game easier for the player, as they count as either color for the purposes of counting Magicaliss.

• Silver Blocks are from single-blocks, dominoes, and trominoes and make the game harder for the player, as they count as neither color and can only be removed by changing them to normal blocks during a Magicaliss (with the color being the one used for the Magicaliss) or by forming a Magicaliss of all Silver Blocks.

During a line clear, all nearby blocks that are not Silver Blocks are affected by gravity, potentially causing additional line clears as chain reactions.

As an option, players in single-player can activate a Beginner mode to automatically change the tetromino's color using the X and Y buttons. However, this disables the player's score.

Versus Mode in Magicaliss has both players sharing the same piece queue, rather than each player having their own queue. In addition, garbage rows are now Silver Blocks and getting a Magicaliss sends random blocks to the top of the opponent's playfield.

Sparkliss

Sparkliss is a new variation of BomBliss from the previous game, with a high-fantasy theme. The main gameplay difference is that explosive Bomb Blocks are now magical Lightning Blocks with a different blast pattern (affecting the blocks' cardinal directions only).

The core gameplay is similar to Tetris, but each tetromino can now have one or more Lightning Blocks that give a special effect when activated. Forming full rows doesn't clear the blocks, and instead activate the row's Lightning Blocks (which cast lightning blasts from their four cardinal directions, clearing normal blocks and themselves while activating other Lightning Blocks for a chain reaction). Groups of blocks that are surrounded from all sides by lightning blasts are also affected. The length of the blast is based on how many lines were cleared at once (or in a chain of line clears). Combining four Lightning Blocks together in a square forms a powerful Big Lightning Block.

The game also includes fixed blocks known as Kuroi Blocks, used in Puzzle and Versus modes, that are not affected by gravity and can only be destroyed by either two lightning blasts or one big lighting blast. Puzzle Mode also includes spiked blocks that are fixed in-place, cannot be destroyed at all, and are not counted for clearing Puzzle Mode puzzles.

Similar to BomBliss, the game has two single-player modes (Contest and Puzzle) and a two-player Versus mode. Contest Mode tasks players with clearing the board with as few random pieces as they can (and are scored based on how many are in reserve), while Puzzle Mode tasks players with clearing the board with a pre-determined set of pieces (which can be up to 28 different shapes, from 2-block dominoes, up to 5-block pentominoes).

Versus Mode in Sparkliss has both players sharing the same piece queue, rather than each player having their own queue. In addition, players automatically win if they clear the entire playfield.