Game Boy - Tetris

People throughout their lives often question the purpose of life, and wonders why they are actually in a form of existence in this world. Some humans, such as the people who wrote the film "City Slickers" had a solid idea of what the meaning of life was (the one thing). Other humans got absolutely no concept of why they are here, and toils away endlessly hoping that good fortunate shall decide to bestow itself upon them. Entire fields of study have been established around this simply complex question and they all have various theorems that are accepted to various degrees. The discussions about the meaning of life could toil on endlessly, bearing little fruit for life does end eventually. Some people feels that this toil is what life is: a continuous struggle until bad luck, a few bad decisions or simply time turns against you, ending the mortal existence once and for all. This concept eerily mirrors a single game that has crept its way into Nintendo's hands, and the gaming world: Tetris. 

Tetris is an easily dismissed asexual micro organism: it appears small and can easily fly under the radar and implant itself wherever it should desire, with a few exceptions due to bad climate. This bacteria has spread onto virtually every console, and most certainly the major ones, onto most to all handheld systems, most portable phones, and a plethora of online versions. It is a bacteria that, even when someone tries to kill, has firmly settled somewhere else in a great enough quantity that it shall survive most unpleasant events that be fall upon it. However, is this a good bacteria, that strengthens the immune system, or a disease that will destroy humanity?  

Tetris is essentially a game in which, for those who have overlooked its existence in blissfulness, is a game in which you controls a series of tetrominos (four blocks joined together to create a shape such as a 1 by 4 rectangle or a 2 by 2 square) that falls to the bottom of a bucket. The player's goal is to form lines from the tetrominos by arranging and turning them to score points that way, and to stop the bucket from overflowing:once it overflows, it is game over. Much like a bacteria, this is a very simple concept, and makes the game easy to pick up and play. The controls are, as well, very simple with only right/left directional buttons/keys and a key to turn the tetrominos, which improves the game play. 

Graphically speaking, the only adequate term that could be conveyed impartially towards the game's style is simple. The graphics are extremely simple, with absolutely no outstanding features. In later ports of this game, there would be intricate designs made around the bucket, and attempts made to add an unique edge to a largely familiar game, but the style largely remains the same inside the bucket. As far as functionality goes, it is perfect in that the player could distinguish what needs to be done. Often it can be difficult, especially at higher speeds, to distinguish where a block will fall which is a huge part of the game's challenge: to test a player's judgement skills. The audio is nothing special, but the tune does work for the game. If you want to have a Tetris melody playing, however, but in a different style, turn "The Complete History of the Soviet UNION Through the Eyes of a Humble Worker Arranged to the Melody of Tetris" on loop and play that way.That is the full title of the song, yes, but it can improve Tetris performance.

Tetris, among all of its simplicity, suffers from two flaws which may either deter a gamer, or pull them in and infect them. The first is the largely random nature of the tetrominos. This could be a problem because even a highly skilled player's entire game will depend on what pieces they are given in what order. If you are given a large number of a certain block (say s blocks) when you need another piece could end a game no matter how skilled the player is. On the contrary, the game could be made way too easy by receiving an unnatural plethora of pieces that happens to fit together perfectly. This trait is not completely negative, however, because the random nature tests how the player reacts to varying situations.

The second trait that can hurt this game is that, despite its addictive nature, it could prove highly redundant and repetitive as you are continuously building a wall and trying to make it disappear. Whether this is positive or negative depends entirely on how the player takes it: either it may grow boring quickly, or it may prove immensely appealing and entrails the player.

All in all, this particular port of Tetris has few major differences compared to other ports at the time, so this particular assessment is largely applicable across systems. How the game is presented and what modes are offered depends entirely on the port, but the bottom line is that it is the same game building the same wall to disappear. This port don't have a plethora of features but it is still the same game at the end of the day, and after arranging the blocks has grown wearisome to the soul.

So, the final verdict: is this game a bacteria that deserves to be exterminated, or is it a bacteria that could be used to make good cheese? This one is largely subjective, so the best thing to do is to play for half an hour one day and decide yourself if you are progressing further along and enjoying the experience, or arranging the blocks in toil. Roads are fairly common metaphors for life, but this game is one in itself: is it a metaphor for your life however? That is for the player to decide at the end of a day of arranging blocks.