The New Tetris

Overview

The New Tetris is a falling-block puzzle game developed by H2O Entertainment (along with Blue Planet Software) and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 in North America on July 31, 1999, with a European release on October 15, 1999.

Developed by the studio behind Tetrisphere, The New Tetris builds on the traditional Tetris formula with some new gameplay mechanics (including the concept of Multi- and Mono-Squares and less restrictive "spin moves") and four-player multiplayer. The Square system was later used for the "Square" mode in Tetris Worlds.

Most of the game's theme revolves around the Wonders of the World, with players building different ones through achieving score throughout every play session (single-player or multiplayer), unlocking new cinematics and stages.

Gameplay

Much of the gameplay is similar to standard Tetris games.

Scoring is based on lines cleared, with bonus points for four-line clears (1 point per Tetris) and scoring with Squares (see below).

Squares

New to the series is the concept of Multi- and Mono-Squares, of which players can form special blocks by making closed 4×4 squares out of four tetrominoes. These are used to grant significant bonus points when a line containing them are cleared.

• Multi-Squares, shown in silver, are formed by making a closed 4×4 square out of any assortment of tetrominoes. Clearing a line grants 5 extra points for each strip of Multi-Square.

• Mono-Squares, shown in gold, are formed by making a closed 4×4 square out of tetrominoes of the same shape. Clearing a line grants 10 extra points for each strip of Mono-Square.

As the board is 10 columns wide, each row can contain up to two Squares at a time. This can grant a significantly large amount of points, with the highest amount being 85 on a single four-line clear (as opposed to 5 for a four-line clear without any Squares).

Game Modes

Unlike most other Tetris games, there is no option to disable the new "Square" system for classic Tetris. Instead, the game includes modes that focus on different objectives, which can be played in both single-player and multiplayer.

• Marathon - Endless mode. Score as much as you can before topping out. In multiplayer, be the last player remaining.

• Sprint - Timed mode. Score as much as you can after three minutes. In multiplayer, have the highest score after three minutes (without topping out) or be the last player remaining.

• Ultra - Time attack mode. Achieve the fastest time to clear 150 lines. In multiplayer, be the first to clear 150 lines or be the last player remaining.

In multiplayer modes, players can toggle between three different settings for sending garbage blocks to opponents: None (where it is disabled entirely), Directed (where players can choose where to send garbage), and Hot Potato (where one player receives garbage from all other players).

Trivia

There is a famous rant by David Pridie hidden inside the ROM for The New Tetris. Inside David rants about how he dislikes the game he made and wishes they could have had more time working on it to make the game he wanted. He also thanks several co-workers and Nintendo. The entire rant is over 2000 words long.

There are several pieces of ASCII Art hidden in the ROM as well including a Canadian Flag, an N64 logo and the logo for the game as well as a few others. Additionally there are much smaller rants by some of the other developers as well.