Tetris Blast

Overview

Super Bombliss is a falling-block puzzle game developed and published by Bullet-Proof Software (along with TOSE) for the Super Famicom and Game Boy in Japan on March 17, 1995. The Game Boy version later received an overseas release, as Tetris Blast, by Nintendo on January 1996 in North Ameirca and June 1996 in Europe.

A standalone successor to the BomBliss mode in Tetris 2 + BomBliss, Tetris Blast builds on the traditional Tetris formula with Bomb blocks that detonate on clearing them in lines. As line clears do not remove normal blocks, players have to make use of Bomb block explosions to clear the stage. It is the first adaptation of Bombliss to be released outside of Japan.

The Game Boy version features enhanced Super Game Boy support, and later received a Japan-exclusive re-release for the Game Boy Color on December 10, 1999. Released as Super Bombliss DX, this version adds a new Puzzle mode.

An updated version of this variant was later included as bonus modes in Tetris Party Deluxe and Tetris Axis, both under their "Bombliss" name.

Gameplay

Tetris Blast is based on the BomBliss mode in Tetris 2 + BomBliss, with some changes to traditional Tetris. Rather than clearing rows of blocks by forming full horizontal lines, players instead use explosions from special Bomb Blocks to clear them.

Along with standard 4-block tetrominoes, players now drop 2-block dominoes and 3-block trominoes (with later SFC levels and unlockable GB levels having 5-block pentominoes), all of which have a Bomb Block for one of their blocks. At certain intervals, all blocks in the dropped piece are Bomb Blocks. When four Bomb Blocks are arranged in a square, they fuse into a much larger Bomb Block.

When a full row containing a Bomb Block is made, each Bomb Block in the row detonates, with the explosion removing all normal blocks in its radius and detonating all other Bomb Blocks in its radius (causing a chain reaction). Additionally, unconnected groups of blocks above the blast are affected by gravity, potentially dropping down and causing more line clears.

The blast radius of each Bomb Block explosion is based on how many lines were cleared with one piece. Single-line clears have thin 7×1 blasts, which grow taller in bigger clears (with four-line clears having 7×7 blasts). Large Bomb Blocks detonate on a large 10×8 blast, regardless of how many lines were cleared at once. In rare occasions, players can form line clears of more than four lines due to groups of blocks falling post-explosion, causing even more larger blasts (up to the size of the entire playfield).

Game Modes

SFC Version

• Contest is the game's main stage-based mode, tasking players with clearing pre-populated stages, in their entirety, with a limited amount of pieces (100 per stage). Players are scored per stage based on how many pieces are left over, and can add to the counter by forming larger line clears. This mode uses a six-piece preview. There are 100 stages in total, with the game saving the player's progress.

• Puzzle is a stage-based mode where players use a pre-determined piece queue to clear an entire pre-populated board with no time limit. There are 100 puzzles in total, with the game saving the player's progress.

• 2 Players / VS Com are the game's multiplayer modes, with the latter being the single-player version (with nine CPU opponents to fight, each with their own starting board pattern). Both players must race to clear their board first (or be the last one standing), share the same queue (with a five-piece preview), and can send rows of garbage blocks to their opponent through larger line clears.

GB Version

In the GB version, 5-block pentominoes are only enabled with a special password found after completing the game (other than Puzzle mode). The Contest and Fight modes use a limited one-piece preview.

• Contest is similar to the SFC version, but with a one-piece preview, 50 stages, and a password system for continuing.

• Training is the game's endless mode.

• Fight is a special stage-based mode where each stage has a semi-autonomous character moving around the playfield, and players must damage them by either crushing them with pieces or getting them caught in Bomb Block explosions. The game includes 8 stages, with each stage featuring a unique enemy (each with their own special abilities to hinder the player). Players can choose to start in later stages.

• Puzzle, added in the DX version, is based on the same mode from the SFC version. The only difference is that it uses a password system for continuing.

• 2 Players is the game's linked multiplayer mode.