By Mark Nobes, chief editor
Tetris is one
of the most copied video games of all time, and has been an extremely
popular game (in whatever format) since it was first launched in the
eighties. It was originally programmed and compiled in 1985, but after it came free
with the Nintendo Game Boy in 1989, it became hugely successful. Indeed,
it helped Nintendo shift 30 million units!
Tetris
was a pivotal video game, and there have been hundreds of different
versions released ever since, for just about every video game console
and home computer available. It was originally created by the Russian game designer Alexey Pajitnov.
The free game above is in HTML5 and should work on all devices. It's as basic as a Tetris game can get and very easy to play. All the controls are displayed below.
Although it wasn't until 1989 that the game became a mega hit, earlier versions were released on 8 bit and 16 bit home computers by Spectrum Holobyte. The IBM PC, Commodore Amiga, and Atari ST versions were released in 1988, although another version by Mirrorsoft was also released for the Amiga and ST in 1987. The Commodore 64 port was released in 1988 by Spectrum Holobyte.
The simplistic nature of the game led to it being released at a budget price on the home computers, and it would have been hard to justify a full-price release on the 16-bit computers when comparing it to the graphically superior full-price games of the time. However, the game was perfect for a hand-held LCD console like the Nintendo Game Boy.
The simplistic nature of the game led to it being released at a budget price on the home computers, and it would have been hard to justify a full-price release on the 16-bit computers when comparing it to the graphically superior full-price games of the time. However, the game was perfect for a hand-held LCD console like the Nintendo Game Boy.
