Tetrisphere
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| Tetrisphere | |
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| Developer(s) | H2O Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64 |
| Release date | August 11, 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Kids to Adults (K-A)
OFLC: G |
| Media | Cartridge |
Tetrisphere is a video game released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. Development of the game was done by H2O, located at the time in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
It is a peculiar variant on Tetris in which various shapes are shifted across a sphere and destroyed. The objective of the game changes depending on the mode, but generally depends on removing layers of shapes to reach the core of the sphere, thus releasing one of the robotic characters inside. The underlying topology of the game's playfield more resembles a grid of 32x32 squares per layer, wrapped at the edges, than a sphere.
Tetrisphere was also accredited for its techno style soundtrack composed by Neil D. Voss, who later composed the music for The New Tetris as well. IGN.com conducted an interview with Voss in June 1998 in light of the acclaim [1], [2], and Nintendo Power gave it an award for "Best Soundtrack" of 1997 in their January 1998 issue.
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[edit] Play mechanics
In most Tetris titles, your score is tallied in "lines", where a line of brick pieces that is without gaps is removed from the playing field, advancing your score, and diminishing the collection of pieces by the armatures which extend into the affected area.
However, in Tetrisphere, your goal is to remove bricks by forcing three of the same piece to touch as a result of a "drop". A "drop" is achieved when any brick falls, either from the randomly generated inventory carried by the player, or when the brick which supports it is removed (by sliding, explosion, or reaction). For the purposes of differentiation within this document, we will call this method of removal a "reaction".
When a reaction occurs, the three bricks will glow brightly and implode, removing themselves from the field of play. Any other same-shaped blocks which are touching that reaction will also be removed in a chain reaction. For example, if you have lines of nested "Z" pieces, and you (the player) drop another "Z" directly on top of one of the nested Zs, the one which was dropped will cause the piece below to implode, causing all identical pieces touching that piece to explode, and so on. The only exception is that the pieces involved (including the original three) must abide by the rules which dictate which pieces are "touching". For example, any two matching pieces which are stacked must be exactly on top of each other, if they are both to be removed. Laterally, each pieces obeys the rules specific to its shape. As an illustration of this point, "O" pieces (a 2x2 square, colored blue) and "I" pieces (a 3x1 or 1x3 rectangle, colored green or yellow) must have full contact on one side with one full side of another piece of the same shape, but all other pieces are considered "touching" if any part of them is in contact with another of the same shape.
There is a penalty for each time a player drops without starting a reaction. The player may be penalized three times during a given play period, after which the round ends. It is possible, with some small effort, to clear the majority of a "layer" on the globe with one, well-executed chain reaction. The fewer the number of different pieces allowed in the construction of the globe, the more likely and impressive the chain reactions will be.
Removing 20 or more pieces will give access to progressively more powerful assistive devices, such as sticks of dynamite, that the player may employ at any time to remove large sections of surface pieces. Each type of explosive has its own pattern of removal, area of effect, and drawbacks. This also multiplies the player's score for each piece removed.
While the player tried to set up reactions, a timer counts down. When the timer reaches zero, the piece which is held in the player's randomly generated inventory of pieces will fall, causing a penalty if it does not lead to a reaction. For this reason, it is important to take as little time as possible when removing pieces or setting up reactions.
[edit] Modes of play
There are several modes of play. For a single player, there are "Rescue", "Hide + Seek", "Puzzle", "Time Attack", "Vs CPU", and "Lines". A two-player "Vs." mode exists for battling a friend. All modes are immediately available to play except "Lines", which must be unlocked using a code.
Rescue: "Rescue" challenges a single player to free a bot from the center of a globe. As levels increase, the number of layers, squares to be removed, and types of pieces present increase.
Puzzle: "Puzzle" removes the Drop Timer, the combo weapons, and the infinite and random natures of the inventory supplied to the player. They must remove all blocks from the surface of the globe, given a finite number of sliding moves and drops of select pieces. Complex chain reactions and very specific placement are often required for every piece to be removed.
Vs. CPU: The player battles a bot controlled by the computer. The computer's AI increases with each passing level.
Vs. Player: Two-player Vs. mode is a race to reveal a number of core squares. Number of layers, number of core squares, and pieces present in the game are all configurable for this mode.
[edit] History
Tetrisphere got its start as an Atari Jaguar game called Phear [3], and was on display in Atari's booth at CES '95. After H2O Entertainment became a 2nd party developer to Nintendo, they took charge from the developer and released it a couple of years later as a Tetris installment.
[edit] References
- ^ http://ign64.ign.com/articles/060/060225p1.html?fromint=1 IGN interview
- ^ IGN: Interview With Neil Voss (Part II)
- ^ NFG Games - Tetrisphere, the Jaguar and the Nintendo 64
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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