Tetris on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was more than just a license. It was the first official console release of the popular Soviet Russia developed game. It was also the culmination of many man hours investigating, talking, flying back and forth, and lawsuits. Out of all that commotion, Nintendo came out with the exclusive console and portable rights to the falling block game. This was a major blow to Sega and Tengen, both of whom released versions of Tetris on console themselves.

Tetris is simple but tough

Surely everyone reading this has played a version of Tetris by now. Maybe it was not an official port, maybe it was a tribute, or homage, or clone. The idea is the same across the board in all versions. Blocks fall from the top of the screen and you must arrange them.

This is where the strategy and skill come into play. While it seems so simple, line blocks up, so they disappear, there is so much more to Tetris. As you progress through levels, the pieces will speed up their descent. This makes later levels extremely tough because you have less time to think and rotate.

If the pieces reach the top of the well then, the game is over. Simple, huh?

Battle of the ports

As mentioned earlier, Sega and Tengen both released versions of Tetris. Sega for their Genesis console and Tengen an unlicensed version for the NES. Tengen’s version was based on their arcade game, which they did successful obtain the rights.

Other companies came out of the cluster of confusion with the rights to the PC version as well. If there was a screen available there was probably a version of Tetris created for it.

Nintendo would pack a copy of the game in with their just launched Game Boy portable. This is arguably a big reason the handheld was so popular, not just with gamers. Businesspeople were buying Game Boys to play Tetris during down time for instance.

Today, Tetris is back in the hands of its creator who went on to co-create The Tetris Company. This company controls licensing the brand name to third parties to create games.

What was your first experience with Tetris? Was it on the Nintendo Entertainment System? Was it one of those keychain variations? Computer? Was it a cake or Jell-O? Let me know inf the comments.

Carl Williams

It is time gaming journalism takes its rightful place as proper sources and not fanboys giving free advertising. If you wish to support writers like Carl please use the links below. https://www.paypal.me/WCW https://www.patreon.com/CarlWilliams