The Video Game Revue

Tetris DS

I got some heavy gaming done today between Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence and Tetris DS. There's a common theme here in that both games prominently feature an online experience.

Playing MGS3 online is pretty cool. There's definitely something of a learning curve, especially if you've been away from MGS3 for a while, like I have. I actually found the controls to be clumsy and awkward; the L1 and R1 buttons have very different effects depending on whether you're pointing your weapon or not, and how each possible combination of L1 and/or R1 with/without weapon aiming gets to be a bit confusing. With some practice, though, it all becomes second-nature.

There's definitely a heavy stealth aspect to MGS3 online. You need to get the drop on your opponents and manage to sneak into good vantage points undetected if you want to rack up kills. The stealth aspect isn't so pronounced, however, that you won't find yourself running around a lot of the time, frantically using the L1 button to lock on opponents. Part of where the stealth element breaks down is that your opponent's names float over their heads once you've spotted them, so having seen an opponent, you can track them quite easily. I suppose this mimicks the behaviour of how the guards work in the single-player game, although human players tend to be smarter. :)

MGS3: Subsistence probably wouldn't be worth getting solely for the online play if you already have MGS3, unless you're really, really keen on the idea. Because they've tossed in emulated versions of the original Metal Gear for MSX and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for MSX, you've got more than enough bonus material to justify the purchase.

As for Tetris DS, hell yes. I haven't actually cared about a Tetris game release in at least 16 years or so, so when I first heard that they were making a Tetris for Nintendo DS, I just sort of rolled my eyes. For me, the most cannonical Tetris games were the PC version way back when, the NES version, and the original GameBoy version. Of these three, I liked the NES version the best--I felt that it had the best "feel" and challenge factor--but they were all good. There were other versions of Tetris that I devoted a bit of attention to, including Tetris Plus, The Next Tetris, and Tetris Worlds, but I didn't like any of them as much as the PC, NES, and GBA Tetris games. In fact, The Next Tetris and Tetris Worlds down-right sucked. Tetris Plus was alright, though.

Anyway, so I start reading about Tetris DS and how it's going to have classic Nintendo themes (NES games, basically) and Nintendo WiFi, and I start thinking that this version of Tetris might be alright. As long as it's playable, they don't mess up the "classic" game mode, and the online play works, I'll happily buy it. I decided to chance that stuff and pre-order a copy. When the game finally arrives, I plug it in, and am immediately blown away.

I knew that Tetris DS was going to be stylish, but it looks even better than the screenshots I saw made it out to be. The gameplay is very slick--there isn't a single feature that I find lacking. I saw that some of the multiplayer modes have the option for Mario Kart style "items" that you unleash on your opponents, and while I was mildly skeptical at first, I've found that they work as well for Tetris as they do for Mario Kart (besides, you can play without them.) The classic mode is just what I want for when I "just want to play Tetris," and--most surprisingly of all--the other play modes are actually quite entertaining.

I've been down on alternate Tetris play modes ever since I started to really like Tetris. It doesn't help that most Tetris games have either mildly dull alternative ways to play Tetris, or downright awful alternative ways to play Tetris (Tetris Worlds is such a case.) If I wanted to make changes to the gameplay formula for Tetris, they'd likely be minor things--perhaps even things that make the game more standard, rather than less standard. With Tetris DS, however, Nintendo has actually discovered some variations on Tetris that I can really get into, especially since I feel that they could help me to become a better Tetris player.

Of course, I mainly got Tetris DS for the online play. Satisfyingly enough, the online play is very competitive; and now that I'm signed up, it's even more competitive. See you suckers online. >:)

posted by Parappa @ 10:02 PM