Tetris Forever (2024)

Tetris might very well be the greatest game ever made. I consider it one of my top 5 favorite games, and it's maybe the only game I can think of that I would pick up and play at literally any time. Alexey Pajitnov created a masterpiece, and Tetris Forever is a testament to the incredible game he made in his free time while living in the U.S.S.R., a game that has had a ridiculous amount of iterations over its 40+ years.

Tetris Forever, made by the fantastic team at Digital Eclipse, who have done wonders for game preservation, is almost like a documentary formed as a video game. You can go through the timeline of the game's history, playing different versions as you go along, watching video clips, and exploring documentation throughout the long history of Tetris. It's a phenomenal way to explore game history, and it makes me wish there were even more collections like this for other major titles. It's almost like the closest thing I can think of to a Criterion Collection for classic video games.

In this documentary, Tetris Forever gets into the early rights issues between Alexey Pajitnov, the U.S.S.R., and Henk Rogers, and how difficult it was to get the rights to Tetris in the U.S. But while Tetris Forever is a tremendous collection of Tetris history, it also shows just how convoluted those rights still clearly are. It is wonderful to hear Rogers talk about making a version of Go for the Famicom, then get to play that exact version of the game, or hear about all sorts of other obscure versions of Tetris and dive into them, likely for the first time.

But what's strange is that the documentary portion builds up how important it was to get the console rights for the NES, and how the Game Boy version of Tetris is still the pinnacle of the franchise. And yet, neither of these versions of the game is on here. Granted, it's easy to find them (I simply saved my game and played the games on the Nintendo Switch Online during the appropriate part of the timeline), but it's a shame we don't get a more complete look at Tetris history. I'd love to see these versions, 3D Tetris on the Virtual Boy, Tetris DX (my personal favorite), or even Tetrisphere on the N64. This is a great set for what it is, but it's impossible not to see the holes in the timeline, especially when the documentary builds these titles up as much as it does.

As a tool for game preservation, Tetris Forever is a brilliant way to allow people to deep dive into one of the greatest games ever made. If this had the opportunity to be even more thorough, this truly might've been a masterpiece.

3.5/5

Tetris Forever is another celebration of the history of a gaming franchise that's been assembled by the team at Digital Eclipse. This time their focus is around the incredibly messy, wild, yet entertaining history of Tetris. This "game" includes many videos of various developers and publishers who helped bring us Tetris, as well as industry veterans telling their story of how Tetris affected them or their reactions to it as it became the juggernaut that it is today. On top of these videos, you get to see magazine or newspaper ads, pictures, press releases, among other documents through the history. As per the other collections, you also get to play various games throughout the history of Tetris. It's truly a celebration fully worth the $35 price point entree fee.

There are more than 15 various classic Tetris titles you can play (don't remember the exact number, and you get multiple versions of the same game at times) according to the description. Unfortunately, actually playing the various titles included is the weakest part of this collection. I love Tetris, but I don't need to play the "next" version that has the smallest of changes, or yet another version of Bombliss.

The documents here are pretty interesting and sometimes a wild ride through the history of advertising. The real enjoyment from this game though is in all of the interviews. You have a large chunk of interviews of Henk Rogers and Alexey Pajitnov, the two main figures behind tetris, as well as others involved in the history of this game. The stories that are told with Henk and Alexey are often shocking, almost always heartwarming, and absolutely always entertaining. I would pay even more money just to have additional interviews with just those two talking back and forth. Henk also proves to be one of the most interesting individuals on the planet.

From a perspective of playing various Tetris games through history, this collection is a bit of a letdown. Assuming it was a rights issue trying to get some of the bigger or more interesting Tetris games in here, you don't get a whole lot of variety for playing here. The interviews alone though are more than enough to make this game an absolute recommend and I really hope we get to see more in terms of DLC for this game with more interviews.

Tetris Forever (Nintendo Switch)

Opening Act: 6/10

Tetris Origins is a “Docu-game” or a video game experience that is also a movie-documentary experience also. The primary game mode presents information on a horizontal timeline peppered with gameplay experiences. After moving through several events on the timeline comprised of both reading & short videos, the player has an opportunity to play the “first” version of Tetris!

Gameplay Loop: 6/10

The opening act shows the player what the game will be like: Documentary interspersed with Tetris gameplay opportunities. The documentary has some interesting facts about Soviet Union, contextual information about computer science at the time, interviews with creator Alexy Pajitnov, and other pop culture references of time time: Nintendo, Dungeons and Dragons, etc. If these topics are of interest to you, you will probably like the documentary aspects. As you progress over time you will get to play several different versions of Tetris, which is really interesting if you have only played 1 or 2 versions in the past (this was the case for me). Completing the game means you’ll get to play different versions and also identify which ones you like best. I discovered that I may actually like Bombliss (a variant of Tetris) better than normal Tetris, and I never played it before, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Hand and Eye Strain: 8/10

Tetris doesn’t require too much intensity on control inputs. But pressing the button to rotate your tetraminos is a bit repetitive and could be annoying for some players. In addition, when playing different versions of Tetris, there are options available to adjust border/Screen Type/ TV filter which all affect appearance. This will make the game more eye friendly for some. Additionally some of the older Tetris versions you can play have dark backgrounds without any brightness, so players can also pick a Tetris visual style for dark cozy playing or something more bright and vibrant.

Gameplay Mechanics: 9/10

The primary Tetris have very well known and somewhat addictive gameplay mechanics. In addition, a few of the more experimental versions of Tetris (not all versions) are also interesting hidden gems. In addition the later-versions of the game allow for multi-player couch Co-op (1 to 4 players according to the box, but I only played on my own). Lastly, there was even the possibility to press ZR to rewind your mistakes! Something that old Tetris games didn’t have. If you are hoping to create your highest record ever (with a little bit of rewinding/cheating), then this is the Tetris for you ;)

Sound: 6/10:

Classic Tetris soundtracks are present when playing the game, a few of which are pretty catchy. Menu sound effects indicate well that you are navigating around the game. The on-screen videos have studio production quality interviews with good sound quality.

Overall Experience: 6/10 = Recommended (Worth the time)

The time investment to experience the documentary respects the players time. The documentary as well as a single session of playing a match of Tetris in all the available games can be completed in less than 6 hours. In addition, there are not any required missions to play Tetris to achieve certain scores or results. This means the player can experience the game at their own pace. There is ample time to spend trying all of the extra modes inside the individual Tetris if you want to extend the experience as you go along! You could choose to power through the documentary only playing Tetris for a few matches on each version (which is what I did), or you could spend hours exploring all features of a particular Tetris version and pick up the documentary when you have time again. Overall this is a great way to add & play several versions of Tetris. However, not ALL games in the series are available, with the majority focused on those BPS published retro games. It is still a worthwhile experience if you like the genre and don’t already own all of the early/rare versions of the games.

Rating notes (this pertains primarily to the overall rating):

1. The game doesn’t function
5. You may like it better than me
6. Recommended (Worth the time)
7. Highly Recommended (Fun)
8. Must-play (Fun plus unique)
9. Game-changing for the genre/Legendary/Enshrined
10. It feels like the 1st play through of A favorite game…

This is more than a collection of games. This is important documentary material that gives all the context we need to understand the origin an evolution of the "most perfect video game ever"

Digital Eclipse keeps doing god's work with the Gold Master Series. Can't wait to see what's the fourth addition to the collection.

Read my full review in spanish in GamerFocus.