Developer: H2O Publisher: Nintendo Released: August 11, 1997 Genre: Puzzle
Tetris is an institution unto itself. It is hard to screw up Tetris as its foundation is so perfect. It is so perfect in fact that everyone who has touched the license has been content to add a few features and call it a day. But taking Tetris into the third dimension was a bold choice, and one that developer H2O managed exceptionally well. Nintendo wisely snapped up the project and saved it from the Jaguar’s failure and added the Tetris license. It’s a match made in heaven as Tetrisphere is great, although it will probably still turn some away.
Tetrisphere is the most unique variation of Tetris to date. Applying the Tetris formula to 3d requires reworking the basic gameplay and it is in this regard that Tetrisphere differs. Rather than completing lines in a tunnel you instead drop pieces on a 3d sphere to remove pieces to get to its core. You can rotate the sphere to find the best spot to drop Tetronimoes, all while working against the clock. Depending on the mode specific conditions are added but the theme is still the same. It may look and sound complicated but the excellent tutorial does a great job of explaining the basics. But even with that there is still plenty of depth in the gameplay.
To remove pieces three of the same type must be aligned before you can drop another. You can slide pieces around to line them up although the ever present clock is always ticking down. When a suitable drop is ready the piece becomes transparent. This is a nice bonus to help you avoid making mistakes. Once you make a drop similar pieces connected to your drop will also disappear causing a chain reaction. This can stretch across the board causing combos and leads in to the game’s depth.
Combos are the fastest way to clear the board in a number of ways. Not only do large combos remove chunks from the board but they also eventually grant magic. Clearing twenty or more pieces or finding hidden icons grants magic like rockets, dynamite, etc. Each of these “spells” clears the sphere in different ways. The rocket will clear a large area on the top layer. The atom bomb is similar but digs deeper and is harder to obtain. The molecule removes the entire layer across the board that it is used on. Each magic spell is on a tier and lower ranks can be upgraded although it is harder to do so. But it is worth pursuing as the difficulty ramps up quickly.
It isn’t all fun and games. You can and will fail in Tetrisphere but the game gives you a little more leeway than its traditional brothers. On every level you have three lives. If you drop a piece that does not cause a chain you lose a life. It sounds easy to avoid as the game lets you know both visually and aurally when a drop is valid. But when the timer runs down it becomes harrowing. Once it hits zero the sphere begins to approach the player. Once the second timer runs out the sphere hits the screen and will forcefully drop your current piece. Chances are you will lose a life at that point. The game is perfectly playable if you do not engage with its deeper mechanics. But your life will be a lot easier if you do so.
Tetrisphere does not rely on its core premise to keep gamers interested. It has a ton of varied content that gives it insane replay value. Rescue mode has three hundred (300!) levels but I will be honest it gets boring after a while. There are plenty of other modes that vary the gameplay. Puzzle mode challenges you to complete each level uses a limited set of pieces. I love modes like this and it comes with one hundred levels of its own. Hide & Seek adds a number of fun objectives to each level such as exposing a tower located in the stage. Time Trial is a race against time. Add on multiplayer and you have one of the best puzzle games from that period.
Presentation is usually not important in puzzle games. Thanks to the Nintendo 64 hardware Tetrisphere could reach its full potential presentation wise. The sphere is fully rounded and anti-aliased rather than a jagged mess. Special effects are at a minimum outside of small lighting effects and transparency. The real star of the game is its fantastic soundtrack. The eclectic techno soundtrack defied the hardware and showed that the N64 could produce good music if you put in the effort.
In Closing
What an amazing game. Tetrisphere could very easily have been too complex for its own good. Instead it smartly eases you into its mechanics while providing more content than you know what to do with. Tetrisphere is a fantastic variation of Tetris that I urge you to track down, it is insanely fun and like nothing else out there.
