Missing an important piece
Digital Eclipse continues to be one of my favorite developers. Their Gold Master series has been one of the best things to happen to classic video games in the industry. Their third entry takes a look at one of, if not THE most influential game of all time; Tetris. This classic puzzle game elevated the original Game Boy to astronomical status, it was everywhere. Everyone was playing this game when I was a kid. It was the first video game I played on an airplane; everyone knows the theme song. It is a phenomenon, and this collection is built to give the history of the game while offering up a multitude of versions of it to play. There are some blind spots here, but this continues the trend of excellence Digital Eclipse is known for.
For anyone that has experienced any of these Gold Master series titles you know the drill. The entire package is broken down into an interactive timeline that goes through the beats behind the history of the franchise. This includes playable games, videos and interviews, as well as high-resolution documents, ads, and design documents. The love and care put into bringing these pieces of history into the experience is amazing. I rarely ever touch the games as I go through these. I want to soak in all the history before I even boot up a game. It is magical.
MSRP: $34.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $34.99
There is a lot here too. Tons of new and old footage chronicles the rise of the game. Digital Eclipse spares no expense in digging into the history of Tetris from the perspectives of creator Alexey Pajitnov, including his creation of the original game. It also focuses on Henk Rogers’ obsession with getting in good with the likes of Nintendo and selling them on the game. It is fascinating and comes directly from those involved. I still have issues with the video being out of sync on Xbox Series consoles. It can be distracting, but not game breaking. Going through these timelines also gamifies the process by giving a completion percentage for looking at every single piece, which is really cool.
Alright, time to talk about the games. This collection has a solid lineup of versions of Tetris, with some notable omissions. It kicks off with the original game created by Alexey completely redesigned in the style of the original Electronika 60. Digital Eclipse has done an amazing job of replicating the feel of playing the game on an ancient computer. There are other versions here alongside some spin-offs including multiple versions of Hatris, Tetris+Bombliss, and Tetris Battle Gaiden. The biggest omissions though are the original Tengen Tetris as well as the Game Boy version. These are odd considering those are the two games most people remember. I get it, licensing sucks, also Nintendo just put these on NSO, so obviously they didn’t want the thunder stolen.
I get it, but it still sucks. I would have also loved to see some of the weird versions such as Tetrisphere and perhaps a few of the recent games just for reference. Still the collection is outstanding. There is even a brand-new game created just for this collection called Tetris Time Warp, which is amazing. It works by swapping palettes during moments in the game, so one minute you are playing modern Tetris, and the next you are swapped back to the original Electronika graphics for a few lines. It is addicting. It is wild this simple puzzle game still has such an addictive quality after all these years and iterations.
Digital Eclipse continues to do the Lord’s work with these Gold Master collections. Being able to learn the stories behind them from the people that made them is the best form of preservation. I want them to do all the games, which is unfathomable, but I will be there for each entry into this series and every developer should be banging down their door to get one made for their game. Highly recommended.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
