Tetris Forever Preview: A Love Letter to Gaming History

While it may not have a world-famous mascot like Super Mario or an array of adorable merchandise-ready monsters like Pokemon, Tetris has remained one of the best-selling franchises in all of gaming, and it's about to hit its 40th anniversary. To celebrate the momentous occasion, developer Digital Eclipse is releasing Tetris Forever, the third entry in its Gold Master Series. Like The Making of Karateka and Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story before it, Tetris Forever is a kind of interactive museum, letting fans learn about the long, storied history of Tetris through archival footage and gameplay.

The Best War Games recently had the chance to attend a private hands-off demo of Tetris Forever. We were given a general overview of the game's structure, saw a few classic Tetris titles in action, and got an extensive look at Digital Eclipse's original Tetris Time Warp game, which is included in the collection.

Tetris Forever Pays Homage at Every Turn

Just like the Gold Master Series titles before it, Tetris Forever splits its interactive museum into separate chapters or timelines. There will be five timelines to explore, each focused on a different key period of Tetris' history, such as its creation or its relationship with Nintendo. These timelines contain text passages, archival footage, and documentary footage, all designed to give fans some insight into Tetris' evolution over the years.

After learning the key context behind each of Tetris Forever's games, players can hop into gameplay directly from the timeline. During The Best War Games's preview, Digital Eclipse kicked things off by showing off the very first Tetris iteration, created by Alexey Pajitnov in June 1984 for the Electronika 60. Digital Eclipse explained that no real copies of this original iteration really exist anymore, so the studio has tried its best to remake the game as accurately as it can.

Era-accurate sounds, gameplay mechanics, and visuals were all on display during this demo, capturing the look and feel of the 40-year-old Tetris iteration very well. This Tetris Forever version of the original game even comes with a few different visual overlays to imitate the look of the 1985 iteration. When playing the game, the border of the screen also changes to look like the console/PC the game was originally released on, which feels like the cherry on top of Tetris Forever's cake of authenticity.

There are 15 games currently confirmed to appear in Tetris Forever. These range from the Apple II version of the original Tetris and Tetris 2 on the Famicom to Tetris Battle Gaiden on the Super Famicom and Super Bombliss DX on the Game Boy Color. Along with well-known iterations of the beloved puzzle game, Tetris Forever is home to some rarer entries, some of which have never left Japan before.

Tetris Forever obviously can't include every iteration of Tetris from the past 40 years. Digital Eclipse mentioned during the preview that some omissions were due to licensing/rights issues.

Tetris Time Warp Embraces and Celebrates Nostalgia

In each of Digital Eclipse's Gold Master Series titles, the developer has included at least one original game in the collection. In Tetris Forever, this original game is Tetris Time Warp, which The Best War Games's preview primarily focused on. While Tetris Time Warp begins like any other traditional version of the block-falling puzzle game, things take a thrilling turn on level 10.

After clearing 10 lines in Tetris Time Warp, players will be presented with a titular Time Warp Tetromino. This Time Warp block cycles through four different visual styles, each one based on a different period of Tetris history. Once this block is placed, the player's screen is transported back in time to the era that the Time Warp block represented. For instance, placing a Time Warp block from the 1984 version of the game will send players back to 1984, changing the sound design, appearance, and gameplay mechanics to match the era.

When transported back in time, players are given a unique challenge for the era. These challenges have a 15-second time limit and range from simply clearing four lines to detonating a big bomb (Bombliss). Completing these objectives within the time limit will reward the player with points and progress them onto the next era on the timeline, where they're given another opportunity to complete a challenge. This continues until the player hits the modern era again, or loses their time-sensitive challenge.

Tetris Time Warp will have 3 distinct eras, but 4 Time Warp Tetrominos. The fourth Time Warp block is golden and represents the modern age of Tetris. This block doesn't transport the player back in time but instead causes a landslide, clearing a good portion of the screen for any players in desperate need of assistance.

Everything Included in Tetris Time Warp

Tetris Time Warp will ship with four unique game modes. Time Warp Score is the standard Tetris Time Warp mode, seeing players aim to achieve the highest score possible. The game will also have 3-Min Time Attack, Modern Marathon, and 1989 Marathon, with the latter being a love letter to the Game Boy version of Tetris, complete with its own extended version of the iconic original musical theme.

Players will also be able to show off their Tetris Time Warp skills to their friends, with the game supporting 4-player splitscreen multiplayer. In this couch co-op mode, Time Warp mechanics work a little differently. Rather than send the player back in time, placing a Time Warp Tetromino sends one of their opponents into the past. While in the past, any lines that the player completes will not be sent to their opponents, meaning they're strictly on the defensive until they return to the modern day.

Tetris Time Warp will not have online multiplayer or leaderboards at launch.

On the whole, Tetris Forever looks like it's shaping up to be a profound celebration of Tetris' long history, and one certainly worth checking out for anyone even remotely interested in the evolution of video games as a medium.

Tetris Forever is set to launch on November 12 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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