Tetris Forever Review: The Real Story of Everyone's Favourite Puzzler
If you’re around my age and you’re asked “What is your favourite puzzle game?” I’m sure the answer is Tetris. It’s most likely its Game Boy incarnation, as I’m sure it was the version that everyone played.
No matter when (or where) you first played it, Tetris has earned its place in gaming’s pantheon. So when Digital Eclipse announced it would be the subject of their third Gold Master interactive documentary, I knew it would be one well worth exploring. Now Tetris Forever is here, and is that the case?
Absolutely.
I’m sure you’re thinking you already know the story of Tetris, but honestly? You only know a subset of it, and Tetris Forever is here to fill you in on the rest. Well, at least it did for me. If you’ve experienced any of the Gold Master documentaries, then you’ll know what to expect, and Tetris Forever continues to deliver on that with the 5 exhibits the story is broken up into. While most are focused on the stories of its development and release, I adored the final exhibit which focuses on the legacy, showing off how Tetris is still in everyone’s minds 40 years on.
Even with all the alternate takes and evolutions of the formula over the years, it’s a game still underpinned by the same foundational concepts that hooked us whenever we first saw it. To me, it’s a testament to Alexey Pajitnov’s original designs that they’ve been able to stand up all these years later and thrived with more recent entries.
As always, I enjoyed the video sections most of all. With Tetris Forever, we get a lot of fresh interviews, but also plenty of snippets that Henk Rogers recorded during his trips to Russia during the 1980s. Those showed me just how much things have come, yet remained the same oddly enough.
But it was the interviews that cemented something really important to me: how the friendship grew between Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers. Maybe it was just the timing of things – I sat down to watch the documentary portions on the day of the 2024 US Election, and both Henk’s historical footage alongside those interviews truly struck a chord. It honestly gave me a lot of comfort in knowing how these two men became lifelong friends because of one game.
One which happens to have such a legacy. It reminds me how a hobby like this can forge important connections for friends, ones that are all so important in the shadow of what’s happening away from our screens right now. The interviews also help humanise the artistry and creative processes behind making games, something I truly feel is where the Gold Master series shines its brightest.
This contrasts with something I was a little disappointed with: the lack of in-depth development materials. Maybe I was spoiled with what prior instalments included, but the fact we don’t get a peek behind the curtain on how it was built (or works on a mechanical level) does feel like a missed opportunity with the level of access we get to the game’s creators.
But that is made up by the rest of what is included here. Obviously, those exhibits form the biggest part of it, but they are only part of the course. The rest just happens to be the games. Once again, you’ll encounter them within the exhibits, but can also go directly to them for when you just want a quick fix. I’ll admit, I was certainly surprised by what was included though. Both in terms of additions, but also what I felt was lacking. Namely, the original Game Boy version of the game, which considering how pivotal it is to the story its absence was really felt here. But I’m sure both you, and I can guess why that didn’t happen.
On the flip side, I love how Digital Eclipse has gone to the effort to recreate the original Electronika 60 version of the game. It may be rough to look at, but seeing the genesis of Tetris is incredibly important, and it happens to carry that retro charm. What I also appreciated is seeing the original PC Tetris, the one that happened to start this whole thing rolling out.
These are joined by some of the first computer conversions released by Spectrum Holobyte, along with many of the console versions handled by Bullet-Proof Software, which were primarily released in Japan. The language barrier won’t get in the way for most of them, though I did find a couple where the lack of detailed instructions was a hindrance to being able to understand how to play them.
My biggest surprise was Tetris Time Warp, the new game Digital Eclipse developed for this documentary. It takes the core Tetris mechanics and adds a very unique spin with the titular Time Warp. As you clear lines, you’ll see pieces drop that look like those from earlier games, and clearing a line with them warps you back to a random period (based on when a given game came out). The goal then is to work your way back to the present by completing small challenges before time runs out. When completed, you’ll jump to the next one until you return to the main game, having earned a big bonus as a reward.
Maybe it’s the result of not being intimately familiar with the modern Tetris rules, but I found myself engrossed with the challenge offered here. Having to be quick on the draw to not only clear those lines with the special pieces but also the modes themselves? The different objectives offered mean you’ve really got to be paying attention to focus on beating them as quickly as possible.
When it comes to the rest of the included games, I found the emulation to be solid. I didn’t find any perceivable lag with the controls, though be warned the original schemes are preserved, meaning that the Famicom Tetris (different to the NES one released in the rest of the world) might trip you up with its default controls. Scans of the instructions are included, and I appreciate how they’re joined by a separate How to Play guide for those games that lack English documentation. Though I did feel in some cases they weren’t detailed enough, I guess those aren’t the ones you’re going to be firing up for a quick fix.
Like Digital Eclipse’s other Gold Master interactive documentaries, Tetris Forever tells a special story about a slice of gaming history. If you’re a fan of learning about the stories of these games, beyond what’s already been covered in the past, then you’re going to get a kick out of what they’ve done in presenting the story here.
Though there are plenty of games included here, if those are the main reasons you want to check this out, then you may be disappointed. As always, it’s about having the curiosity to learn about gaming’s past, rather than indulge your personal history.
For me though? I’ll always be on board to learn more and Tetris Forever absolutely did that for me.
Tetris Forever was reviewed on the PS5 with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
