Tetris Worlds

Published by THQ
Developed by Blue Planet Software
Platform: Playstation 2
Price £19.99
Released: Out Now

One of the simplest and most addictive games of all time is Tetris. To look at, it has never been anything special indeed, to look at the game having never played it, there is little to suggest what has made the game so popular. Tetris Worlds aims to bring back some classic gaming from yesteryear to the Playstation 2 and fans of Tetris will like what the game has to offer.

Rather than just give Tetris a graphical update, Tetris Worlds aims to go that little bit further. The game comes with two modes. These are story mode and arcade mode. The story mode sees you in the role of a Mino who has to rescue his friends from six different worlds. Each of the different worlds has a different style of Tetris. Basically the story mode challenges you on all 6 types of Tetris the game has to offer. Arcade mode is sees one to four players competing against each other or simply practising their technique. Any one of the six Tetris variations can be played in arcade mode.

The six variations within Tetris Worlds are as follows:

Tetris - The original game where you have to manipulate the falling tiles into complete horizontal rows.

Square Tetris - In addition to forming horizontal rows you can get big bonuses for forming squares with the tiles.

Cascade Tetris - Like Tetris except that if when a row is cleared the falling tiles complete another row then a bonus is given.

Sticky Tetris - Like Cascade Tetris except that blocks of the same colour stick together. If 25 blocks of the same colour stick together a critical mass is said to have occurred and all the blocks of that colour will disappear.

Hot-Line Tetris - The matrix which you play on has horizontal lines across it. If you clear a row that is not on one of these horizontal lines then you won't receive points toward your goal.

Fusion Tetris - There are atom blocks that have to be connected to each other and to the fusion block at the bottom of the matrix. These special blocks cannot be cleared in a line like normal blocks.

Control has always been fine in Tetris. This didn't stop Blue Planet from making one or two refinements though. It is now possible to hold a block back, only one at a time though. This piece can be brought back into play at a later stage in the game. There is now a hard drop function that enables you to instantly drop a piece when you have it in the desired position. A useful function is the ghost piece option. If you turn this feature on you will see a ghost of the descending piece at the bottom of the matrix. This helps beginners line up the descending piece which is very useful indeed.

Almost all of the information in the game is given completely in text. There is even an information section where you can read all about the history of Tetris. The text is easy to read with it's clear font and large letters. The only verbal information is the time countdowns that occur in the game. This isn't really a problem because the time is clear and easy to see anyway.

Of course a game like Tetris was never going to be a showpiece title in terms of graphics but thankfully Blue Planet have made the old classic look respectable. Graphically the game has been kept simple and uncluttered, always a top priority when it comes to puzzle games. The game screen is clearly laid out and clarity doesn't become a problem until you come to a four player game and a large TV is required for this to be easy on the eyes.

Tetris Worlds is ultimately a game for Tetris fans. There aren't any revolutionary ideas in the game and it ain't going to appeal to gamers who never liked the original but maybe this isn't a bad thing. An option to play a time unrestricted game would have been nice but overall there is much to admire in this title if you are a Tetris fan.

Overall Game Rating: 7.5/10 Tetris Worlds represents a solid purchase for fans of Tetris and puzzle fans in general, for others though, it may be a little underwhelming.

Deaf Gamers comment: Absolutely no problems at all for deaf gamers. All information is provided in text. The game is fully accessible.