Tetris DS has proven itself to be probably one the greatest Tetris reincarnations ever created, with brand new game modes such as Touch Mode, Push Mode, and Mission Mode. Unfortunately, it didn’t include all of the great modes from THQ’s Tetris Worlds, but it did give respect to a handful of 8-bit NES games, which Nintendo fans will enjoy plenty. Tetris is one of the most addicting games to ever be created, and I guarantee, you will feel as though you have rediscovered the game all over again once you play Tetris DS.
The feel and presentation of Tetris DS will appeal to old-school Nintendo fans. When I first played the original Tetris mode, I felt amazed. The entire interface is filled with old-school game sprites, old sound effects, and old backgrounds. The moment you start the game, the old-school Mario jump sound effect comes up. The top screen shows the logo of Tetris DS and a handful of old-school Nintendo characters such as Link, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi, while the bottom is the menu to choose what game type you want to play. During the original marathon mode, you will hear the classic NES Mario theme, as well as have a classic Mario background in the back of your Tetris pieces on the bottom screen, and you will also notice that the top screen has a Mario sprite running through a level. For every Tetris line you acquire, Mario goes farther into the level he is in. I really thought this was just too cool.
Of course, since Mario is the top dog of Nintendo, you will see Mario run through various levels for 100 lines. After beating Bowser with line 100, the game then changes its look to other classic NES games. After Mario’s theme, you get 10 lines of Zelda, Excitebike, Ice Climbers, Balloon Pop, and many other classic games. The final 10 lines actually have the original Tetris theme and music, instead of using old NES game music. I thought it was pretty weak that you couldn’t play a Tetris theme all the way through.
Tetris DS features six game modes in total. There is Standard, Mission, Push, Touch, Puzzle, and Catch.
Standard Mode is your regular Tetris game. Tetris DS took a page from Tetris Worlds and ended up using the “Hold” box in this game, meaning you can use the L or R buttons to save a piece you want to use for later on. Although this is your standard Tetris game, as stated before, the only Tetris theme music you will hear will be on the last lines you achieve. You will play up to 200 lines, and then you’ll have completed Tetris DS. There are more specific options in Standard Mode, where you can play a marathon, go against a CPU, or line clear, which has you choosing how high you want your Tetris pieces to be when you start out.
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