Tetris Worlds

Here are the problems:

1. The animated backgrounds. This is a killer. Everything on screen is trying to distract you from playing the game. Just a static image on the sides would have been great.

2. The spin bug. You can rotate a piece once it hits the bottom as often as you hit the button. This means you can just keep spinning a piece around until you need to drop it. No challenge.

3. No battery. A huge part of the game was trying to beat your old scores. Also this means you can't save settings.

4. Far too permissive default settings. You get to see the next 3 pieces, and see an outline where the piece should go. Want to change the settings? You can, but you can't save it, so you have to do this *every time* you play the game.

Everything about this game feels wrong. The floating cube head mascot, the annoying backgrounds, and the lame attempts to change the gameplay. I still use my copy of Tetris DX instead! I just wish I could get a copy of Tetris DX in a gameboy advance cartridge, as it sticks out of my gameboy advance sp.

Stay away from this game. Hopefully the next Tetris will bring back the classic DX version, which was the best version of Tetris ever made, for any platform.


Awful port... how do you mess up Tetris?   September 30, 2001
Thomas Simpson (Scenic Woodbridge, New Jersey)
39 out of 43 found this review helpful

I was really looking forward to this title. Tetris has been a mainstay of every version of the Gameboy. With the Gameboy color the fantastic Tetris DX was released. Nice, vibrant colors, solid controls, good music and gameplay.

Tetris Worlds did the impossible, it ruined the Tetris experience. THQ is the new developer with the Tetris license and they took this game away from it's core. Tetris is all about the blocks, dropping them down, faster and faster, always focusing on them. Well with their GBA title they decided to do everything possible to distract you while playing. The game has animated backgrounds with bears, eagles, deer & other animals wandering around making it hard to see the blocks. Don't get me started about the flying block character. Ugh! Like the paperclip in Microsoft Office, you just want to slap it. The controls don't feel as responsive, the blocks are hard to distinguish, and the default mode even has this cheater mode enabled where you can both hold onto pieces to use later, see the next 3 pieces coming and even see an outline on the bottom of where your piece will go when dropped. Where's the strategy with that?

All I wanted was Tetris DX in a GBA shell really. Instead I got a game that literally gives me a headache while I try to play it. AVOID this title, pick up a used copy of Tetris DX instead, you'll be much happier.


A very colorful and vibrant disappointment   October 12, 2001
Joe Blevins (Columbia, SC USA)
25 out of 28 found this review helpful

While the game looks great, the 'Tetris' fun is gone. The fun of Tetris is getting better and improving yourself. But there is no recording of scores in this game. I own Tetris DX for the GBC and my wife plays that. I bought this game for her, but since you can't save your highscores the impetis for challenge is gone. At least with Tetris DX you can camp away for hours chipping away at all the records.
Tetris Worlds is pretty graphically and the new modes are fun, but the features found in more primative versions of Tetrix (i.e. DX) should have been incorporated into this version.
Buy Tetris DX instead.


Great game for Long lasting fun!   January 13, 2002
David (Amherst, NH)
25 out of 26 found this review helpful

This is a great game! with this product, the fun can go on and on. It has many great versions of the original tetris. The added background scenes make the game a little more fun and pleasant to loofk at. Tetris is a great game for people that travel a lot. There are many options avaliable, including six different background scenes and music.

Hint: The popular version of tetris is revealed by holding down the L button and pressing select. This will only work if you are in the menu with the game variations.


Tetris Worlds for GBA   December 3, 2002
23 out of 28 found this review helpful

This game is really cool. There are two modes: Marathon & Ultra.
Marathon: Play until you lose. Try to beat your best time.
Ultra: 2 minutes to beat every level.
There are 15 levels, each one a bit harder.
About the game(for you people who haven't played this awesome game): Shapes formed from four connected squares fall at random from the top of the screen. The seven shapes are: an "L" shape, a backwards "L" shape, a sort of square "Z" shape, a backwards "Z" shape, a square, a line, and a "T".
The object is to fit them together to form lines across the screen. Once you make a line, it disappears from the screen, giving you more room to make more lines. You have to make a higher number of lines in each level to progress to the next one. When the pieces pile up to the top, it's GAME OVER.
There are several versions of the game you can play, but I like the regular Tetris best.
Tips and Tricks for those of you who own the game:
- At the Main Menu Screen you will see a universe spinning. Hold down R to make it swirl around fast. Hold L to make it stop and spin the other direction.
- Select Marathon. At the Marathon screen, hold down L and press Select. An option saying "Popular" will appear. Select it to play the classic version of Tetris.

P.S. The term "Tetris" in the game means to make four lines at the same time.