GB tetris was one of the best games ever. It was a gold standard for all Tetris games to follow. I can't play another version of Tetris because they will compare to the version programmed for the Gameboy. Pixels/milisecond block falling rates, point values, level succession all these variables were adjusted to perfection for the gameboy platform, which made for an ideal game. All versions of Tetris, both successive and previous are inferior.
I propose the standardization of games such as tetris. Board games, because they are made by certain manufacturers, have been standardized for years, card games, decades, centuries perhaps. But how does one measure their success in Tetris if I kicked ass at GB tetris, but Hip is pretty good at the shitty flash iGoogle tetris? There is no normalized baseline with which to compare scores or level accomplishments. Someone should develop an algorithm or that is able to compute relative scores, based on a variety of gameplay criteria which relates the accomplishments achieved in a given game of Tetris to the point/level baseline standard established on the version for the Gameboy. Then only then will I again play Tetris seriously.
-Johnny D
9 responses so far ↓
PETE // Aug 6, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Technically, there were no previous commercially available versions of Tetris. The Gameboy version was the original that sparked a worldwide craze. This only makes your argument stronger though. I’m about 95% sure I’m right and too busy at work to look it up on wikipedia.
Hip E. // Aug 6, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Wrong again, Johnny D. I played a black & white Tetris on our Apple Macintosh (upgraded at some point to Mac Plus status). It was ten times the game that your chocolate ice cream stickened game boy version was. Of course, you never played that version and I may have never played the Game Boy one, but certainly the fact that the Macintosh game was controlled by four buttons (probably J, K, L, and Spacebar) which allowed for integration of the Tetris pretty much into the musculo-skeletal system. I was good.
It’s true though. Really the only downfall of Tetris over its storied career has been the lack of standardization across versions. I can still remember the first time I saw Tetris on some other system and excitedly sat down to play, only to quickly find out that my muscle memory and strong inborn sense of direction was of no use to me when the buttons were completely different, the pieces stuck differently at the bottom of a precipitous drop, the flip command flipped in the opposite direction I was accustomed to, and all the other little things were different. The nonstandardization of these variables has probably divided more people from each other than George W. Bush and the pronunciation of “banal” combined.
From Wikipedia, for PETE (that’s a big 5%):
While versions of Tetris were sold for a range of 1980s home computer platforms, it was the hugely successful handheld version for the Nintendo Game Boy launched in 1989 that established the reputation of the game as one of the most popular ever.
gamingheadliners.com » Blog Archive » Gameboy Tetris: The Gold Standard // Aug 7, 2007 at 3:25 am
[…] Gameboy Tetris: The Gold StandardGB tetris was one of the best games ever. It was a gold standard for all Tetris games to follow. I can’t play another version of Tetris because they will compare to the version programmed for the Gameboy. Pixels/milisecond block falling rates, point… […]
Johnny D // Aug 7, 2007 at 7:36 am
I was going to submit the wikipedia entry as part of my call to standardization, but, well, I was at work and wanted to quickly convert that email into a post. The gameboy version was and still is probably the most popular and memorable, and in my opinion, perfect, which is why that should be the gold standard. I’m sticking to my guns on this one.
Simon // Aug 7, 2007 at 7:58 am
I played the 8-bit Nintendo version and reached level 23 once where a spaceship comes down and sucks away the kremlin. Standardize that!
PETE // Aug 7, 2007 at 10:13 am
I was right about the worldwide craze aspect. Sorry, Hip E., your Mac version just didn’t have “worldwide craze” potential.
Two-year-old // Aug 8, 2007 at 11:12 am
Maybe you should take logic class again, because the fact that GB tetris became a worldwide craze and Mac tetris didn’t doesn’t say anything about whether the Mac version had “worldwide craze” potential.
PETE // Aug 8, 2007 at 12:50 pm
They must not have taught you about straw men in logic class because I never said anything like that. I only said the Mac version didn’t have worldwide craze potential, without saying anything of the reasons why. Here’s some though:
Macs are more expensive that Game Boys, and therefore less people were exposed to the Mac version.
The Mac version was shitty and lame, and only mouth-breathing dullards liked it. They tried to tell people about how fun the game was, but people would be repulsed by their drooling and their ugly, stupid faces.
M. Bock // Aug 8, 2007 at 4:03 pm
I am the greatest gameboy tetris any of you will ever know. 9-5 is a joke. I only play at the 9-x(heart) levels (hold the joypad “down” while you simultaneously press the “A” button when you start up the game).
I can beat the 9-3(heart) once every twenty or thirty tries. After probably 10K tries, I did finally beat 9-4(heart). You can’ t go any higher than that, because you literally do not have time to move the pieces before they impact.
Kneel before Zod!
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