Editing Tetris

{{italic title}}
{{game infobox
|image=[[File:Tetris GB Cover.jpg|250px]]
|developer=[[Nintendo]]
|publisher=Nintendo
|release='''Game Boy:'''<br>{{release|Japan|June 14, 1989|USA|July 31, 1989|Europe|September 28, 1990}}'''Virtual Console (3DS):'''<br>{{release|USA|December 22, 2011|Europe|December 22, 2011|Australia|December 22, 2011|Japan|December 28, 2011}} '''Game Boy - Nintendo Switch Online:'''<br>{{release|USA|February 8, 2023|Japan|February 9, 2023|Europe|February 9, 2023|Australia|February 9, 2023|South Korea|February 9, 2023|HK|February 9, 2023}}
|genre=Puzzle
|modes=Single player, multiplayer
|ratings={{ratings|esrb=E|acb=G|pegi=3|cero=A}}
|platforms=[[Game Boy]], [[Virtual Console]] ([[Nintendo 3DS]]), [[Game Boy - Nintendo Switch Online]]
|media={{media|gb=1|3dsdl=1|switchdl=1}}
|input={{input|gb=1|3ds=1|joy-con=1|switchpro=1}}
}}
[[File:Tetris Title Screen.png|thumb|left|160px|The game's title screen]]
'''''Tetris''''' is a puzzle game for the [[Game Boy]] released in 1989 in Japan and North America and 1990 in Europe. It was developed and published by [[Nintendo]] (with the rights to a Game Boy version sub-licensed from [[Bullet-Proof Software]]<ref>Boot-up screen: "Tetris licensed to Bullet-Proof Software and Sub-licensed to Nintendo."</ref>) and is directly based on {{wp|Alexey Pajitnov}}'s original rendition of {{wp|Tetris}}. The basic gameplay involves stacking a series of blocks to create full rows with increasingly fast speeds. This simple gameplay, combined with its basic visuals, gave ''Tetris'' a universal appeal that made it immensely popular. It massively helped sell the Game Boy by virtue of being bundled with it upon release.

The Game Boy ''Tetris'' title was made available for the [[Nintendo 3DS]]'s [[Virtual Console#Nintendo 3DS|Virtual Console]] in December 2011, although the title was later pulled from all regions. It was later released on the [[Nintendo Switch]]'s [[Game Boy - Nintendo Switch Online]] service as one of its launch titles on February 8, 2023.

The [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] version of the game also has ''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Super Mario]]'' characters [[List of references in Nintendo video games#Tetris (NES)|cameo on the end screen]]. This version was never released in Japan as Bullet-Proof Software held the rights to produce ''Tetris'' for the [[Family Computer]].
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==Gameplay==
[[File:TetrisGBMarioLuigi.png|thumb|left|Mode selection]]
The goal of the game is to stack blocks into complete lines, removing them from play. All of the blocks, called Tetriminos,<ref>"About Tetris®." ''Tetris'', tetris.com/about-us. Retrieved January 26, 2017.</ref> are based on the {{wp|tetromino}}es (every geometric shape that can be created from four perfect squares). As play begins, a random Tetrimino falls to the bottom of the screen, and the player can position it and rotate it without being able to move it back up. After one is placed down, another appears, and this continues for every subsequent Tetrimino. In single-player, the player can choose from the A-Type or B-Type modes to play. In A-Type, the player selects the speed at which the Tetriminos fall, then the game begins. It continues forever<ref>Spectre255. "Game Boy Tetris - 999,999 Points." ''YouTube'', 13 Mar. 2006, www.youtube.com/watch?v=keeSEJG4XzU. Retrieved January 26, 2017.</ref> until the Tetriminos reach the top of the screen, with no more room left for them to appear. In B-Type, the player must clear twenty-five lines, and in this mode, they can choose both the Tetriminos' falling speed and the number of misaligned blocks that are already on-screen. Once the necessary lines have been cleared, the player is scored on their performance. If they complete B-Type with the maximum settings, a special ending plays featuring the launch of a spaceship.

[[File:MarioTetrisGB.png|thumb|left|Luigi, sad at his loss]]
Multiplayer features only two players, and pits [[Mario]] against [[Luigi]] as they stack Tetriminos on separate fields. If one player clears more than one line, extra lines suddenly appear at the bottom of the other player's screen. Play continues until either one player runs out of space or one player clears at least thirty lines, at which point Mario and Luigi are seen celebrating or moping. The games then begin anew, with a cleared screen, until one player wins three times.
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==Development==
Though the Game Boy had four launch titles upon its Japanese release, none of them were bundled with the console. Henk Rogers of Bullet-Proof Software convinced Minoru Arakawa to bundle the Game Boy in North America and Europe with ''Tetris'' rather than ''[[Super Mario Land]]'', stating that the former would have broader appeal while the latter would only appeal to children. As he put it, "[i]f you want little boys to buy your machine include 'Mario,' but if you want everyone to buy your machine, include 'Tetris'".<ref>Levy, Karyne. "The Complicated History Of 'Tetris,' Which Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary Today." ''Business Insider'', 6 June 2014, 10:59 AM, www.businessinsider.com/tetris-history-2014-6.</ref> Nintendo consequently encouraged Rogers to seek out the rights to develop a Game Boy port; since the game's creator, Alexey Pajitnov (Romanized on the game's startup screen as Alexey Pazhitnov), was an employee of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, this meant arranging a deal with the federal government of the Soviet Union itself.<ref>DeMaria, Rusel; Wilson, Johnny L. (2003). ''High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Video Games'' (2 ed.). McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0-07-223172-6.</ref>

After a failed attempt at getting Robert Stein of Andromeda Software (who had previously obtained the rights for various home computer ports outside the Eastern Bloc) to work out a deal, Rogers flew out to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to meet with Pajitnov and ELORG, the Soviet Union's state-sanctioned computer company. At the same time, Nintendo contacted Spectrum HoloByte, to whom Andromeda Software previously granted the North American distribution rights, to work on the Game Boy port, leading to a legal dispute with Mirrorsoft, who owned the European rights for home computer ports.<ref>DeMaria, Rusel; Wilson, Johnny L. (2003). ''High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Video Games'' (2 ed.). McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0-07-223172-6.</ref> Eventually, Rogers learned that Stein had never actually contacted the Soviet government to obtain the international distribution rights, instead talking directly to Pajitnov (who Soviet law prohibited from owning the game),<ref>Evans, David Sparks; Hagiu, Andrei; Schmalensee, Richard (2006). ''Invisible Engines: How Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries'' (Illustrated ed.). MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-05085-4.</ref> and worked out a deal to give Nintendo exclusive home console and handheld rights for ''Tetris''.<ref>DeMaria, Rusel; Wilson, Johnny L. (2003). ''High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Video Games'' (2 ed.). McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0-07-223172-6.</ref> Consequently, the game's startup screen lists both Nintendo and Rogers' company, Bullet-Proof Software, as copyright holders. Rogers' efforts were later dramatized in the 2023 thriller film ''{{wp|Tetris (film)|Tetris}}''.
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==Reception==
===Critical reception===
{| class="wikitable reviews"
!colspan="4" style="font-size:120%; text-align: center; background-color:silver"|Reviews
|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6"
|Release
|Reviewer, Publication
|Score
|Comment
|-
|3DS
|Lucas M. Thomas, [http://ign.com/articles/2011/12/23/tetris-review IGN]
|9.0/10
|''"Tetris endures. It was one of the greatest video games ever made when it first appeared back in the '80s, and it retains that status to this day. This particular version of Tetris just adds to that sense of awe, as it's inarguably the most important and nostalgic edition of the game ever published."''
|-
|Game Boy
|Marc Golding, [http://www.honestgamers.com/1907/game-boy/tetris/review.html Honest Gamers]
|10/10
|''"To summarize the Tetris experience is to quote Maynard James Keenan of the great rock band Tool -- as I am often wont to do: I know the pieces fit!"''
|-
|Game Boy
|Adam Riley, [http://www.cubed3.com/review/326/1/tetris-game-boy.html Cubed3]
|10/10
|''"Tetris is one game that will never be forgotten, no matter how many pretenders to the thrown come and go over time. Sure, there may be some games that have actually managed to improve on the idea, but the original still stands out as one of those revolutionary games. I should not have to tell you to play this, as the majority already will have in some form or other..."''
|-
|Game Boy
|Victor Lucas, [http://web.archive.org/web/19970804173808/www.elecplay.com/portable/tetris.html Electrical Playground]
|10/10
|''"Although we're talkin' moving different shapes around and fitting them into the proper positions, Tetris stands as one of the best videogames ever made. The Game Boy would be the Game Infant without it."''
|-
!colspan="4" style="background-color:silver; font-size:120%; text-align: center;"|Aggregators
|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6"
|colspan=2|Compiler
|colspan=2|Platform / Score
|-
|colspan=2|GameRankings
|colspan=2|[http://www.gamerankings.com/gameboy/585960-tetris/index.html 89.73%] (GB)
|}
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===Sales===
The popularity of ''Tetris'' was immense, to the point where the success of the Game Boy is often attributed to ''Tetris'' itself.<ref>Kaplan, Arie. "Games To Go." ''The Epic Evolution of Video Games'', Lerner Publications Company, 2014, p. 15. ShockZone — Games and Gamers. ''Google Books'', books.google.ca/books?id=ACejAgAAQBAJ.</ref><ref>Rollings, Andrew, and Dave Morris. ''Game Architecture and Design'', New Riders, 2004, p. 538. ''Google Books'', books.google.ca/books?id=qFdzalo0ixcC.</ref> Due in large part to the game being bundled with the Game Boy, ''Tetris'' sold over 33 million copies<ref name="Handheld Market">Haghirian, Parissa, and Philippe Gagnon. "The Handheld Market." ''Case Studies in Japanese Management'', World Scientific, 2011, pp. 61-62. ''Google Books'', books.google.ca/books?id=Lx08DQAAQBAJ.</ref> and its combined earnings were billions of dollars.<ref>Sheff, David. ''Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered The World''. Knopf Doubleday, 2011. ''Google Books'', books.google.ca/books?id=b_N5FzzD3hsC.</ref> The game has thus gained a reputation as the handheld's "killer app".<ref>Bellomo, Mark."Bricks and Pocket Monsters." ''Totally Tubular '80s Toys'', Krause, 2010, p. 348. ''Google Books'', books.google.ca/books?id=CF8AjVJXvH0C.</ref> Although the game succeeded with Nintendo's core demographic of young children, the game was notably also popular with people outside of their usual audience, such as businessmen and other non-traditional gamers, and Nintendo began marketing the game towards them.<ref name="Handheld Market"/><ref>Loguidice, Bill, and Matt Barton. "Nintendo Game Boy (1989)." ''Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time'', CRC Press, 2014. ''Google Books'', books.google.ca/books?id=wZnpAgAAQBAJ.</ref>

===Legacy===
''Tetris'' holds the distinction of being the first video game played in space, by Russian astronaut {{wp|Aleksandr Serebrov|Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Serebrov}}.<ref>Plunkett, Luke. "This Game Boy Has Been to Space. For Real." ''Kotaku'', 4 May 2011, kotaku.com/5798377/this-game-boy-has-been-to-space-for-real. Retrieved January 22, 2018.</ref> The astronaut received the game from Nintendo's then-chairman, {{wp|Howard Lincoln}}, while the latter was on a trip in the USSR to see Pajitnov.<ref>Nintendo Staff. "A Link With The Soviet Union." ''Nintendo Power'', 1989, p. 54.</ref>

==References in later media==
*''[[Nintendo Comics System]]'': In "[[It's a Small World After All]]", [[Tannis Rhodes]] mentions the game while expressing frustration at her poor ''Super Mario Land'' playing skills. 
*''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'': Arrangements of "Tetris: Type A" and "Tetris: Type B" from the Game Boy ''Tetris'' can be played on [[Luigi's Mansion (stage)|Luigi's Mansion]].
*''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'': The ''Brawl'' arrangement of "Tetris: Type A" reappears as a track for [[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS#Smash Run|Smash Run]].
*''[[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U]]'': The ''Brawl'' arrangements of "Tetris: Type A" and "Tetris: Type B" can be played on Luigi's Mansion and [[Wuhu Island]] respectively. 
*''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'': The ''Brawl'' arrangements of "Tetris: Type A" and "Tetris: Type B" can be played on [[Battlefield]], [[Final Destination]], and any stage that lists "Other" as their source for the game series.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
TetrisGBJpCover.jpg|Japanese [[Game Boy]] box art
Mario Tetris.jpg|Artwork of Mario leaning on a Tetrimino
TetrisGameboy.jpg|Artwork of Mario playing on a Game Boy
Luigi Tetris.jpg|Artwork of Luigi playing on a Game Boy
</gallery>

==Trivia==
*The tagline on the Game Boy version's North American and European box art, "From Russia with Fun!", references the 1957 {{wp|Ian Fleming}} novel ''{{wp|From Russia, with Love (novel)|From Russia, with Love}}'', and by extent, its 1963 {{wp|From Russia with Love (film)|film adaptation}}.

==See also==
*''[[Tetris & Dr. Mario]]'' ([[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]], 1994)
*''[[Tetris Attack]]'' (SNES, 1996)
*''[[Tetris DS]]'' ([[Nintendo DS]], 2006)

==References==
{{NIWA|HardDrop=Tetris (Game Boy)|SmashWiki=List of minor third-party universes#Tetris|StrategyWiki=Tetris (Game Boy)}}
<references/>

{{GB}}
{{Virtual Console}}
[[de:Alleyway]]
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Puzzle games]]
[[Category:Game Boy games]]
[[Category:1989 games]]
[[Category:Virtual Console games]]
[[it:Tetris]]