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    Tetris 2

    Game » consists of 9 releases. Released Sep 21, 1993

    The tetrominoes of Tetris meet the color-coded matching of Dr. Mario in this falling-block puzzle game by Nintendo.

    Short summary describing this game.

    Tetris 2 last edited by Nes on 09/10/23 08:28PM View full history

    Overview

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    Tetris 2, known in Japan as Tetris Flash and not to be confused with Bullet-Proof Software's earlier Tetris 2 + Bombliss, is a falling-block tile-matching puzzle game developed by both Nintendo R&D1 and TOSE and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan on September 21, 1993, with a worldwide release later that year. It also received Game Boy and Super Nintendo Entertainment System releases in 1994.

    While it shares the popular Tetris namesake, Tetris 2 plays more like Nintendo's earlier puzzle game Dr. Mario and has players matching three-or-more blocks of one of three colors in a row, rather than clearing entire rows of any block. Players are still given Tetris-style rotatable pieces of four-block shapes (including standard tetrominoes and new unorthodox "hinged" shapes), which are now multi-colored. Similar to Dr. Mario, players clear each stage by removing all pre-populated "Fixed Blocks" from the board, with one of each color being special "Flash Blocks" that clear all blocks of the same color from the board.

    The game was produced by Gunpei Yokoi, who previous puzzle works include Dr. Mario and Yoshi's Cookie. While the NES and GB versions feature an ancient civilization motif, the SNES version features a comical cartoon motif (with backgrounds and cutscenes showing family antics).

    The Japanese SNES version was released by Bullet-Proof Software.

    Gameplay

    Falling Blocks

    For falling pieces, the game includes six of the seven standard tetromino shapes, with only the "square" shape missing, and three special shapes, each one having one or more corner-connected blocks.

    The special shapes are unique in that, when one part of the piece lands, the other parts can separate and continue falling. These shapes are:

    • A line of three blocks, with the fourth block corner-connected in a counter-clockwise fashion. This forms a modified "L" shape and has no corresponding symmetrical "J" shape.
    • A line of two blocks, with the third and fourth blocks corner-collected at different points to the same block. This forms an extended "T" shape.
    • Two lines of two blocks each, corner-connected at different directions. This forms an extended "L"/"J" shape.

    In rare occasions, players can form a straight line of six blocks. This removes all non-Fixed blocks of the same color from the board.

    Fixed and Flash Blocks

    The objective of the game is to clear all the pre-populated Fixed Blocks from the game board, similar to Virus Blocks from Dr. Mario. Unlike standard Falling Blocks, these blocks are always fixed in place.

    One piece from each of the three colors are special "Flash Blocks", named for flashing their position on the screen. Removing these blocks have different effects based on the game mode:

    • In Normal and Puzzle modes, removing a Flash Block also removes all other Fixed Blocks of the same color.
    • In Versus mode, removing a Flash Block causes the opposing player's ceiling to drop down one line. If there are other Fixed Blocks of the same color still on the board, one at random will become the next Flash Block.

    Scoring

    During a match, each standard block removed scores 10 points and each Fixed Block removed scores 20 points. Forming chain reactions adds a multiplier to the match, with x2 for the first chain, x4 for the second chain, and x8 for all additional chains.

    In the Game Boy and SNES versions, Fixed Blocks that are removed with Flash Blocks score 40 points each.

    Players earn bonus points based on how fast they complete the round.

    Game Modes

    The original NES release included two modes: a standard one-player mode (known in the Game Boy and SNES versions as "Normal Mode") and a multiplayer Versus Mode (which can be played against a computer-controlled opponent or against another player). The Game Boy and SNES versions have a separate one-player mode, known as Puzzle Mode.

    Normal Mode

    Similar to Dr. Mario, the basic one-player mode is round-based, with each round starting with a random assortment of Fixed Blocks on the board. The goal of each round is to clear all of the Fixed Blocks, with special Flashing Blocks clearing all Fixed Blocks of the same color.

    Puzzle Mode

    Both the Game Boy and SNES version have an alternate one-player mode, known as Puzzle Mode. While the goal is similar to Normal Mode, this mode features stages with pre-populated layouts and tasks the player with clearing the playfield with a limited number of pieces. In addition, players can allow the game to only drop the next piece once Down on the control pad is pressed, giving the player time to think.

    While both versions of the game include a specific piece order, the Game Boy version adds an extra random assortment of pieces, with 100 pieces total, and tasks players with clearing the stage with as few pieces as they can.

    In total, there are 100 stages, and a password save feature is included in the game.

    Versus Mode

    Tetris 2's versus multiplayer can be played against a computer-controlled opponent, or against a human opponent (with the Game Boy version requiring a Game Link cable and a separate handheld with a separate copy of the game). Matches are played in multiple rounds, best-of-five.

    Similar to the Versus Mode of other games, both players play on their own separate board, each with the same number of pre-populated Fixed Blocks. Rather than having their own Next Piece queue (similar to Puyo Puyo), both players share the same queue. In order to win the round, players must either clear all of the Fixed Blocks on their board first or have their opponent unable to drop their piece.

    While Flash Blocks appear in this mode, they have a different effect. Rather than clearing other Fixed Blocks, they instead drop the opponent's ceiling by one row, giving them less time to react and increasing their chances of overflowing their stack. It also raises the player's own ceiling, up to its base, and makes another Fixed Block of the same color into a Flash Block. In addition, chain reactions temporarily increase the speed of the opponent's next falling piece.

    The SNES version features a special "fish tank" aesthetic where, rather than showing a falling and rising ceiling, the playfield is shown with a water level that drains and fills. This also applies to the victory counter, which is shown as fish swimming in the player's tank.

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