On a platform deluged with puzzle games, Capcom adds one more to the fray with the release of Magical Tetris Challenge. What began on the N64 as a decent combination of Tetris variants has been shrunk down, enhanced, and greatly improved for Nintendo's pint-sized handheld.
At first glance, Magical Tetris Challenge (MTC for short) may look like Tetris with a Disney license slapped on. However, the reality is that MTC combines seven of the best Tetris variants with an entertaining Disney-esque storyline. The names have been changed to protect the guilty, but it's a fair description to call MTC a combination of Tetris, Tetris Attack, Tetris Plus, The Next Tetris, and The New Tetris. When you first turn on the cartridge, you can play four of the seven Tetris types: normal, upside down, magical, and harmony. The final three types can be unlocked later via MTC's quest mode.
Normal Tetris is standard Tetris. The player must align quad-cubed shapes left and right across the screen to form lines, which in turn disappear. Upside-down Tetris is similar to normal Tetris, but the lines you clear end up increasing the height of your opponent's pile. Magical Tetris removes this penalty-lines aspect, opting instead to send across bizarre Tetris shapes. Imagine getting a Tetris piece in the shape of a letter U, or maybe a Z, and you have the idea. Harmony Tetris is a two-player game in which each player must clear lines in tandem with the other. If one player fills too many more lines than the other, the game ends.
