That February 13th Nintendo Direct was awesome. It was loaded with what looks to be some amazing games coming out later this year and very soon like Yoshi's Crafted World, Astral Plain and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. One very interesting reveal was that of a very different battle royal game that could arguably be considered a silver bullet to all current games in the battle royal genre: Tetris 99.
Tetris is a game that everybody has played. No matter how averse to playing video games someone might be, Tetris is a game that anyone, regardless of skill level, can get into. That's how accessible a game Tetris is. So giving it the battle royal treatment was a very smart move. It also shakes up Tetris considerably.
Like any game with an online multiplayer aspect, I was apprehensive to play Tetris 99. I have enough trouble warding off players more adept than I am in Splatoon 2. Tetris 99 pits you against 98 and you can be attacked at any time by multiple players so that's far more pressure for anyone to be under. And you better believe the stress is real in this game. You think Mr. X on your heels in Resident Evil 2 is panic-inducing? Puh-lease. When those garbage blocks are piled up and you've got multiple players gunning for you, and the music is kicking it into overdrive, you'll know true panic.
Tetris has also changed quite a bit over the years. Oh sure, the basic premise of dropping blacks to form lines and make them vanish remains the same. However, all the little additions to the Tetris formula make it quite different from the 1989 Game Boy game I spent so much time with. You can see multiple next pieces coming up to plan accordingly if you happen to be a very strategic player. One piece can be held for when you need to get out of a jam. T-spins are a term I first started hearing about two years ago and Tetris wizzards can pull it off with ease.
Tetris 99 is a wonderful addition to the long line of Tetris titles. It's also good for exposing players for the crappy Tetris players they are. You may think you are hot stuff at Tetris but a few rounds with Tetris 99 will show you just how outclassed you are. Tetris is a game that has been around far longer than a lot of other games. People have been dropping blocks since 1984 so that's a lot of time to improve one's skills on a game that is more than three decades old. Just as fighting games and Pokemon are played at a competitive level, so too is Tetris. I've no doubt several former Tetris champs have come out of retirement to show the kiddies how it's done in Tetris 99. Players like Wumbo have godlike skills. Then there are players like Tafo who can talk to his chat during streams and give advice while playing. That is particularly impressive because Tetris 99 is a game that requires the utmost concentration to play even a little well.
My very first game of Tetris 99, I reached 39th place. I was proud of myself because I expected to place far, far worse. This was on the day the game came out so I might have gotten lucky. Largtely, I think I got dropped into lobbies with the Tetris gods because I've been getting KO'd super early. Before doing this write up, I had a my worst game yet where I was taken out at 98. The best I've ever managed was 7th place and I haven't been able to perform that great since.
As stress inducing as Tetris 99 can be, it has forced me to come out of my Tetris comfort zone. If you aren't a player like Tafo and Wumbo, you cannot relax while playing this game. Playing a leisurely game of Tetris is best left for titles like the lovely Tetris Effect. If we get more free games like Tetris 99 for being subscribers to Nintendo Switch Online, this could help to improve the abysmal service. I'd like to take 1st placer in Tetris 99 at least once but I know it won't be easy.
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