7 Best Tetris Games Ever Made

What's the best version of the greatest puzzle game ever made?

Tetris effect
Resonair

Everybody's played Tetris. Alexey Pajitnov's puzzle masterpiece is available on practically everything, and is simple enough for anybody to understand.

Originally programmed for the Electronica 60 with the rights essentially being given away because the Soviet Union prevented private sales, Tetris didn't even make its creator much money until 1996, when the rights to the game went back to him.

Now living in America, Alexey could get some money from his masterpiece, although this was after the Soviet Union had dissolved, so even in Russia he probably would have been able to sell the game at this point.

Since then, Tetris has been ported to essentially everything, has been used in medical research, and has two entries in the top ten best selling games of all time list, making up both the third and tenth spot.

If you haven't spent thousands of hours of your life lining up tetrominoes then you likely think that every version of the game is similar.

How different can two versions of Tetris be?

Very different, it turns out. There have been too many versions of the puzzle game to count and each one offers differences from one another, some subtle some more substantial.

So let's take a look at the best.

7. Tetris (NES)

Tetris effect
Alexey Pajitnov

The NES Tetris is the purist version of the game you'll ever play.

You can pick a starting difficulty and what music to bop along to whilst playing but that's about it.

Tetris for the NES has no wacky modes, the game only allows you to see one upcoming piece so the title is more a game of reaction than planning, it doesn't let you drop a piece immediately to the bottom of the screen, and the game definitely doesn't let you hold a piece for when it's needed most.

Whilst NES Tetris is going low on the list because if we're being honest those features were added for a reason, Tetris for the NES is the definitive way to play old-school Tetris with nothing put in place to help you out which is how some people like it. Well, it's the definitive version of home console old-school Tetris anyway but we'll get to that.

Unfortunately, the game doesn't have multiplayer which is another reason that it's so low on the list. If you want multiplayer Tetris on the NES you're gonna have to play Tetяis: The Soviet Mind Game which is incredibly rare so good luck finding a copy.

Contributor
Contributor

Has a degree in video game development. Is kinda addicted to video games, television, and films. Probably needs some help, to be honest.