Every Game Included in Tetris Forever Explained

The premise of Tetris is simple: differently-shaped blocks fall on a screen, and it's the player's job to clear horizontal lines of them for as long as possible in order to accrue a high score. It's an easily understandable concept that anyone, young or old, can grasp in a few seconds. Tetris's accessibility, combined with its basic but addictive gameplay, make it the perfect pick-up-and-play title. It should come as no surprise then, that the game is massively popular and is still one of the best-selling games ever made. Tetris debuted in 1984 and, as of December 2011, sold over 202 million copies. The overall franchise it spawned, meanwhile, has garnered a whopping 520 million sales worldwide, making it the second most sold video game property of all time.

The original Tetris has been ported to basically every platform one can think of, and the game has received more than 220 official variants throughout the years, unofficial clones not included. Many of these versions of Tetris are unfortunately still trapped on aging hardware and aren't easily accessible on modern devices these days. Fortunately, Tetris Forever, an upcoming 2024 title that doubles as both a video game compilation and an interactive documentary, aims to remedy this issue. This collection, which is being developed by Digital Eclipse for PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC, contains an assortment of classic Tetris titles from the 1980s and 90s. So far, fifteen variants of Tetris have been confirmed for the compilation, including some noteworthy releases.

Tetris Forever is a Deep Dive into the History of the Tetris Franchise

The Original Version of Tetris is Included in Tetris Forever

One of the games featured in Tetris Forever is, unsurprisingly, the original Tetris. This isn't just any version of 1984's Tetris, though, this is literally the very first iteration of the title. Indeed, Tetris Forever players will be able to try out the variant of Tetri s for the Electronika 60, the line of Soviet computers that the hit puzzle game initially debuted on. In addition to this, Digital Eclipse's compilation will include two other versions of the first Tetris title, one that launched on the Famicom in 1988 and another that came out on the Apple II in the same year. The Famicom variant of Tetris, in particular, has a different control scheme than other ports of the game, which makes it more significant.

List of Games Included in Tetris Forever

Tetris Forever Features Hatris, Super Bombliss, and Other Tetris Spin-Offs

Another game that's included in Tetris Forever is the 1990 puzzle game Hatris, which, like Tetris, was designed by the Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov. As its name suggests, Hatris is basically Tetris, but with hats instead of tetrominoes. Tetris Forever features all three of the game's console ports, specifically the ones for the NES, the Famicom, and the Game Boy.

A handful of other Tetris spin-offs were released during the 90s, like 1995's Super Bombliss. Also known in North America as Tetris Blast, this game is an expanded Game Boy and Super Famicom version of the titular mode featured in Tetris 2 + Bombliss, a Japan-exclusive sequel to the original Tetris. This Bombliss mode, which adds a fresh take on the standard Tetris formula by introducing exploding "bomb blocks," is the highlight of several more installments in the series, like Super Bombliss DX for the Game Boy Col o r, and Super Tetris 2 + Bombliss (and its limited edition Genteiban variant) for the Super Famicom. All of these aforementioned titles are included in Tetris Forever.

Tetris Forever Comes With a Brand-New Tetris Game

As if that wasn't enough, Tetris Forever contains a couple of other offshoot games as well, such as the multiplayer-focused Tetris Battle Gaiden and the Super Famicom title Super Tetris 3, both of which were only released in Japan. To top it all off, Digital Eclipse's upcoming compilation includes a brand-new game called Tetris Time Warp, which, according to the developers, alternates between different variants of Tetris in real time and features up to four-player co-op. Digital Eclipse has even hinted that more Tetris titles may be added to Tetris Forever in the future, but exact details on this matter have yet to be shared.

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Tetris (1984)

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Puzzle

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Released

June 6, 1984

ESRB

E

Developer(s)

Alexey Pajitnov

Multiplayer

Local Co-Op

Franchise

Tetris

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Tetris® is the addictive puzzle game that started it all, embracing our universal desire to create order out of chaos. The Tetris game was created by Alexey Pajitnov in 1984—the product of Alexey’s computer programming experience and his love of puzzles. In the decades to follow, Tetris became one of the most successful and recognizable video games, appearing on nearly every gaming platform available.

The goal of Tetris is to score as many points as possible by clearing horizontal lines of Blocks. The player must rotate, move, and drop the falling Tetriminos inside the Matrix (playing field). Lines are cleared when they are filled with Blocks and have no empty spaces. As lines are cleared, the level increases and Tetriminos fall faster, making the game progressively more challenging. If the Blocks land above the top of the playing field, the game is over.

Platform(s)

Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Game Boy, Android

Publisher

Alexey Pajitnov, Nintendo, Mirrorsoft, Spectrum HoloByte, PLAYSTUDIOS, EA Mobile, Tandy Corporation

Genre(s)

Puzzle

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