Tetris
テトリス
- Year
- 1989
- Developer
- Nintendo
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Platform
- FC / NES
- Hardware
- Family Computer (8-bit)
- Genre
- Puzzle
- Players
- 1-2 players (alternating)
- Controls
- D-pad + A / B (rotate)
- Series
- Tetris series
Gameplay Screenshots
About This Game
Tetris is Alexey Pajitnov's falling-block puzzle, and the NES version published by Nintendo in 1989 is the one most players grew up with. Seven tetrominoes fall one at a time; you rotate and slot them to complete horizontal lines, and completed lines vanish while everything above drops down.
The elegance is that it never changes. Difficulty scales purely through speed - at level 19 the pieces drop faster than you can react, which is why the NES version produced a generation of competitive players and the famous 'Tetris kill screen' race to level 30. The Nintendo release also includes a two-player versus mode and a Type-B mode where you clear garbage blocks off a preset field, which quietly became the template for every versus puzzle game since.
- Type-A endless mode and Type-B garbage-clearing mode
- Two-player versus play with garbage lines sent to your opponent
- Nine starting levels and escalating fall speed
- Composed by Hirokazu Tanaka; its arrangements of Korobeiniki are now inseparable from the game
Version History
- NES version (Nintendo)1989-11
The version on this page, published by Nintendo for the NES.
- Tengen Tetris1989
A competing unlicensed NES release with a two-player mode, later withdrawn from sale.
- Game Boy Tetris1989
Nintendo's handheld version, the one bundled with the original Game Boy.
Tips & Strategy
Keep your stack flat
The only real long-term strategy is a flat field. Flat stacks let you place any piece anywhere, which is what keeps you alive once the speed ramps up.
Reserve one column
Keeping the far-right column open for the I-piece lets you clear four lines at once, which scores far more than four separate clears.
Rotate before you move
Get the orientation you want at the top of the well, then slide sideways. Trying to rotate at the bottom is where mistakes happen.
Learn the level speeds
Type-B heights and levels let you practise specific speeds. Grinding level 19 in Type-A is the classic way to build reaction speed.
Download Resources
Resource packs for this game are provided through the button below.
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