When play-style can become a dilemma between attack and defense - desperately clearing single rows, as opposed to playing the risky long-game of setting up a four-line clear - rather than focusing squarely on how best to screw over your opponent, it’s proof that even with something like Tetris, the Battle Royale can function without a single virtual bullet being fired. Even if the gameplay remains the same - even if the primary goal is to continuously clear lines of blocks and avoid having your board cluttered with greyed-out rows of junk - Tetris 99 still manages to make each and every one of its sessions feel uncannily personal, providing you last that long. The rampant chaos of its early stages progressing towards its “Final 10” climax, whereupon Tetrimino drops are faster, the music is stripped of its once-carefree casual antics, and unfortunately, the game offers a few momentary hiccups so far as occasional lag messing up an otherwise satisfyingly delicate run. Interestingly, despite the presentation and fellow 98 players confined to thumbnail-sized equivalents of other boards getting dished the exact same Tetrimino pieces, Tetris 99 still manages to evoke that evolving friction between yourself and other players. Turning what appears (and indeed remains) an aesthetically simplified and admittedly unappealing rendition of Tetris in this iteration into something with far more strategy and deliberated thought on knowing when and when not to act. But somewhere, somehow, Tetris 99 finds a way to not only find synergy with the puzzle-based formula, better still, the free-to-play entrant creates a slew of interesting, emergent moments that make sense both in the context of Battle Royale and of competitive Tetris alone. Laugh all you want about the notion of “Tetris BR” - yes, on paper, the idea is absurd. Put it this way: if you find yourself coming into Tetris 99 (notably, having never indulged in Nintendo’s laughable online component) with the intent of playing but a handful of games at the day’s end…only to find yourself still playing way past three in the morning, something must clearly be working here. How far from the truth this ends up being. And in a month that has seen Respawn drop their own take on the craze via Titanfall spin-off Apex Legends - which looks to have caught many people’s attention, despite the absence of what has given Titanfall (its sequel more notably) its richly-deserved acclaim - surely Tetris’ attempts would look paltry by comparison, right? To accuse them (like many) of hopping on the Battle Royale bandwagon, even if the IP with which the concept is incorporated into could be considered one of the least likely candidates for a mode often associated with first/third-person shooters. All joking aside, it’s easy - and thus understandable - to throw shade at Nintendo. No doubt it was one of the more left-field announcements to emerge from last Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct. And while it may still be early days, here comes a declaration that’s sure to grab your attention at the very least: Tetris might be one of the forerunners for biggest/best surprise of the year, for a second time. It would appear interesting Tetris iterations are akin to buses: you wait for one to appear, then two come along at practically the same time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |