Tetris Forever: The best, worst and weirdest variants of the once-unbeatable game

As a new version is released, we look back at the original, its legacy and influence

Tetris celebrates its 40th anniversary this year with the release of a new game called Tetris Forever. AFP

In the Soviet Union 40 years ago a man named Alexey Pajitnov designed a game that is played, enjoyed and celebrated to this day. He named it Tetris, a word that combined tetra, which means four, with his favourite sport, tennis.

It made its way to the US by the late 1980s and a revolution was born. The purpose of the game is simple: a series of shapes, called tetrominoes, drop down the screen one at a time, and the player has to position them in lines, which makes them disappear, thus creating space for more oncoming pieces.

This year, the game celebrates its 40th anniversary and celebrations have included the release of a new game called Tetris Forever, which will be available from November 12. The new game comes after teenager Willis Gibson managed to complete the game – a feat once thought to be virtually impossible – in December last year.

Tetris Forever, which will be available on most consoles, brings together a library of the best Tetris games from over the years. From the original basic version to ones released on Nintendo consoles, it will also feature a brand-new variant named Tetris Time Warp.

In 2017, Guinness World Records reported Tetris to be the game with most official versions released at 220 on 65 different platforms. In anticipation of the release of Tetris Forever, we take a look at some of the best, worst and weirdest versions of the game from over the years.

The original: Tetris

Released in the US in 1988 on just about every gaming console available at the time, including the Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, the original was something of a phenomenon. Its simple-to-understand concept, coupled with straightforward gameplay, meant that it was universally liked.

Sega released the game in arcades in Japan in 1989. It became the highest-grossing arcade game of the year and remained among the top 10 each year until 1995.

The original version is probably the one most people are familiar with. There are no bells or whistles. It's a case of dropping the shapes, clearing the lines and keeping it going until they drop down too quickly to keep up. Korobeiniki, the famous piece of music widely associated with the game, is a nineteenth-century Russian folk song which was rearranged in 1989 by Hirokazu Tanaka as the Type A accompaniment in Nintendo's Game Boy version.

In terms of sales numbers, the most accurate representation is provided via the aforementioned 1989-released Game Boy version, which sold 40 million units worldwide, making it the 15th best selling game title of all time.

The best: Tetris Effect

Released in 2018, Tetris Effect sought to take the experience of playing Tetris to another level. The game functions in the same way as the original does, but it is a different experience when played with a virtual reality headset.

The game levels up when the player is transported to different worlds thanks to the headset, with the grid in front of them. Each action is felt and each line cleared is momentous.

The backgrounds cycle from serene nature scenes to chaotic battle arenas on an alien planet. The added variations of colours and effects on the dropped shapes also make for an extraordinary game.

The worst: Tetris Blitz

It is difficult to say why exactly one variant is worse than another. Ultimately, they all deliver on the same line-stacking goal, however Tetris Blitz introduced microtransactions.

The mobile game, released in 2013, looked promising. It added power ups and tools to help the player vanquish more lines. There was fun to be had with these additions, but suddenly the player hit a wall and to continue an offer to buy more power ups follows.

The game was developed by Electronic Arts, which has been accused of inserting unnecessary microtransactions in other games. Many have argued that developers should have charged for the game and allowed players access to the range of power ups through progression. However, because it’s a free game, there was a series of offers to purchase in-game virtual goods, which ultimately impacts the experience.

The strangest: Weird Tetris by Beep Yeah!

Might be a bit of a cheat, but frankly there won’t be a weirder Tetris game than Weird Tetris.

How weird can a game of Tetris be? To start with, in Weird Tetris – a free game posted on the site Itch.io and created by user Beep Yeah! – none of the pieces coming down is ever the same. There are hundreds of different shapes but they always fall at a consistent speed.

There is no time to think or strategise. The player must simply do their best to stack the bizarre shapes and hope that eventually they’ll accidentally clear one line.

It’s not a serious game, it is made to lampoon Tetris, but it is definitely fun to play at least once.