Tetris 99: The Kotaku Review



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I love me some Tetris. Give it to me on whatever you want and I'll play it. Usually, I'll enjoy it. I gave a glowing review Tetris Effect last year for the PlayStation 4. So when I found out that a multiplayer-only version of the game was coming to Switch, I had to dive in.

Unfortunately, this Tetris-themed battle royal is not quite what I was looking for. Watch the video above to see some of my victories and hear my concerns, or read the script down below.


When I first saw the trailer for Tetris 99, I was extremely excited. But after a handful of wins and tense matches, I found myself growing up with the Nintendo Switch's new royal battle puzzle. It explores some interesting strategies Tetris games.

On paper, Tetris 99 is intriguing. Players clear lines in the hopes of knocking out fellow opponents by sending lines their way. You're competing to be the last one standing. But 99 players is a bit excessive even if it has a nice ring to it.

It takes quite a while for things to get interesting, and the path does not involve enough long warrant sessions. As a result, it just makes me less inclined to want to come back to it.

For higher level Tetris players, the grind into the top 10 drags. And finally managing to break into the world is only a matter of time. Part of the appeal for me Apex Legends is finding the right mix of team chemistry and picking another part of the map Tetris 99, each match is yet another Tetris grind from the bottom.

The more I played, the more I just wanted to be matched with the room's 20 best players so I could just go toe-to-toe with them instead. Oftentimes, I'm dealing with the luckiest players towards the end and not necessarily the best of the bunch, myself included.

with Tetris 99, there's so much going on that it's going to be out of it's rules. Players can target blocks at other players using the Switch's left thumbstick or moving the right thumbstick in one of four directions. But can you be sure that other players really know what they're doing? No, because there's no tutorial and those controls are not intuitive.

Once the pace picks up and the player counts goes down, it is useful to be able to target people who are trailing behind for easy picking. Knowing when to switch to a new way of life Tetris. For the more seasoned Tetris players out there, it's fun to be able to apply that skills to different fronts and add a spicy layer of strategy. But there is a cadence to it that gets stale.

I think this game was made to be played, which is fine, but the Switch's Joy-cons are not ideal for a game that is so heavily on the d-pad. The Pro Controller's got its own d-pad issues, with left or right inputs registering as up sometimes.

So the game can be a grind, but it does not stop there. Maybe I could deal with that grind if not for my biggest problem with the game: the presentation. The game looks and sounds like a game that I might have bought on my flip phone in the early 2000's. It's a pretty ironic way but it just looks pretty pretty.

And after last year's gorgeous Tetris Effectit's hard to go back.

I also find the music to be incredibly vexing. I'm not particularly fond of the songs that each and every one of them plays with. I guess in some ways, it would be the perfect commute game since I could just listen to my phone, but there are no offline modes, and unless you live in some future city, this is a game that requires a stable internet connection.

We have a personal level, part of the thrill of playing Tetris is the tension that comes with trying to surpass a high score or pushing myself past my limits. with Tetris 99it's more about me just getting a good hand. The rush comes from the nerves of one of your opponents. It's less of a personal achievement than lizard brain anxiety.

lead

BACK OF THE BOX QUOTE

"Tidying Up Kumite"

TYPE OF GAME

Sadistic Tetris

LIKED

Tetris feels solid. Knowing when to change mid-game strategies can feel really rewarding when you nail it.

disliked

The UI, music and overall presentation. Lack of tutorial and singleplayer practice modes. The grind back to the top can be shot after a few matches.

PLAYED

About 8 hours. Currently at level 23 with 8 wins under my belt, 249 total knockouts, 832 Tetrises and 7378 lines cleared.

I usually find Tetris to be this calming experience that lets me hyper-focus on something Tetris 99 make me feel like I'm always scrambling in a way that is sure to be Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to enjoy Tetris right now.

I dig what Tetris 99 is trying to do, but it's not my first choice. Maybe on the next drop.

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