The more KOs you get within 2 minutes, you win.

The more lines you clear in one go, the more “garbage” you send to your opponent. What I’m truly entranced with, however, is “Battle2P” mode – a fast-paced, merciless, intense game of Tetris that’s likely the basis of Tetris 99. Not exactly the most prominent of eSporting events, but nonetheless exciting to watch, if only to savour each time the commentators say “BOOM!” whenever someone lands a Tetris (that is, clearing four lines at a go).Īs it turns out, there’s a “Boom! Tetris for Jeff” T-shirt

It appears in many forms, the most prestigious being the Classic Tetris World Championship, an annual tournament where experts gather to compete using the original 1989 release on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), hooked to CRT TVs. But, as I’ve discovered a few years back, it’s also a game about besting others with masterful stacking, sublime block rotations and godlike reactions. Traditionally, Tetris is a game of you overcoming yourself. I want it because it’s seems like the inevitable extension to my current obsession: competitive Tetris. The last player standing will get their Winner Winner Tetris Dinner. You attack other players with “garbage” that fill their screen and mess up their line-clearing strategies. It’s you and 98 other players, stacking and clearing lines and praying for the coveted long bar. Announced during the recent Nintendo Direct, Tetris 99 – which is out now – is basically Tetris meets Fortnite.

Tetris battle