Tetris (Windows)

Tetris

Windows 3 - Screenshot - Playing.

Developer Microsoft Publisher Microsoft Published 1990-??-?? Platforms Windows 3 Genres Action, Active puzzle, Puzzle, Single-screen Series Tetris Multiplayer Simultaneous versus Distribution Commercial

Tetris is an action puzzle video game ported by Dave Edson and published by Microsoft in their Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows for Windows 3 in 1990. The game is a port of Tetris. This port features 1 player mode, 2 player competitive mode, and supports starting anywhere from level 1-9, initial height levels, and next piece display.

Personal

Own?	No.
Won?	No. There is no win condition.

My first experience with this version of Tetris was on my family's Packard Bell 386SX computer my parents bought back in 1991. The PC was a showroom floor model and came with some demo software including the first Entertainment Pack. Although this wasn't the first version of Tetris I ever played, it was the first one I had unlimited access to, and how I initially practiced playing the game. I remember gradually getting better at the game and eventually bumping all the existing high scores off the list so it was just my name all the way down.

Review

3	4	3	1	4

Best Version: Windows 3

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• This is a passable port of the original Tetris, having the options you would expect for a port of the time.
• This version includes a competitive 2-player mode, which is always nice.
• The game draws the Tetrominoes as vectors, so they scale to any screen size.
• The game supports two-player mode, which still wasn't universal at the time.

Bad

• The game lacks any of the more interesting Tetris options. For example, if you drop a piece, you can't nudge it afterward, you can't store a piece in reserve, there isn't an AI to play against, no cut scenes, etc.
• Keyboard input cannot be customized, and the second player's layout is both uncomfortable and too close the player 1.

Ugly

• Probably the worst part of the design, and what makes this port nonviable to skilled players, you can't choose which direction to rotate a piece. Up rotates a piece clockwise, and that's it.
• The game is media-challenged. There is no music or custom sound effects. With sound on, it uses the default Windows sounds. Graphically, it only supports 4-bit color, and the backgrounds are poorly made.

Media

Icon

• 

  The game's icon.

Screenshots

• 

  Playing the game in single player mode.

• 

  Playing the game in competitive mode.

• 

  About dialog.

Backgrounds

These are the tiled background graphics used by the game.

Level	Image	Notes
1		Simple, yet fits with the blocky nature of the game.
2		Dull and obviously tiled.
3		Very poorly tiled, but it's nice to have a non-black background.
4		Obviously tiled. Interesting concept of alternating color at collision points, but poorly executed.
5		The inner circle isn't centered properly, and the circles have unfilled black pixels between them.
6		Nice jagged almost 3D shape. My favorite, but still obviously tiled.
7		Nice contrast with bright colors, obviously tiled.
8		The coloration doesn't fit the game, but still a nice graphic.
9		Inverted embossed effect from the previous tile. Lazy.

Play Online

Windows 3

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	There are no characters.
Bechdel test?	Fail	There are no characters.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	There are no characters.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no characters.

Links