The Next Tetris (PlayStation)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Sam Kennedy
• Reviewed on: 07/08/1999
• Updated on: 05/02/2000
• Released on: 05/31/1999
• Originally published on GameSpot: The Next Tetris (PlayStation) Review

Think you've mastered the game of Tetris? Know how to defeat all your friends? Know exactly where each block should go the second it touches the screen? Well, forget all that and throw it out the window. The Next Tetris is here, and you're going to have to unlearn everything you know. This is the game's most appealing feature, but also its biggest flaw.

Unlike previous incarnations of the Tetris brand, there is a definite end to each stage in The Next Tetris. The game places blocks on your screen at the start of the match and it's your objective to clear them off. This held my attention at first, but after a few minutes I was simply aching to go back to Tetris on the Game Boy Color - it just didn't feel right to only clear boards. Tetris has always been about seeing how long you can last.

Then I discovered how to make use of the new multicolored Next Tetris blocks. Now this was a game.

This is where you'll have a whole new game of Tetris to master - I played the game every single night for about a week, and I still didn't come close to figuring out exactly how to place each block. But the block placements I did come to understand really left me with a feeling of accomplishment. So it's not the old-style Tetris we've known over the years, but The Next Tetris manages to become a fun game in its own right. Kudos to Blue Planet Software for coming up with this new spice for the Tetris formula.

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