I broke down and bought EA's Tetris today. The price is a little lower then when it first came out, which was what originally kept me away. I'm blown away by the quality of the title, makes me feel like i've been missing out. I tend to be hesitant about games over 5$, but this was a worthy purchase. The lack of multi player modes could be a real deal breaker for some people though. Head to head Tetris is one of the best things around. I know there's been a flood of great games lately, but if your an OCD-app buyer like myself, think about giving it a chance if you overlooked it before.
Tetris was my first app for the iPhone. Being a tetris fanatic I did not mind paying $10, plus it is the most played game on my phone
How long is the start up? Meaning, when I tap on the app how long till I get to actually play? The big reason I have stuck with Tris is because I tap on it and literally 3 secs later I am playing.
When u first open tetris u have that EA intro plus loading; I would say it takes about 25 seconds to actually start playing the game.
I don't really see this as a dig deal. I would rather wait for something that is worth it. I timed 42 seconds from tapping the icon to after the 3,2,1 countdown to start a marathon game.
Ack - lack of multiplayer is a dealbreaker for me. I love Tetris DS (for Nintendo DS), but I would like a version of the game for my (much more portable) iPod Touch. The multiplayer modes are what are most fun for me, though, so this version seems to be a bust. Oh well. Maybe they'll put out a better sequel, hopefully with wifi internet multiplayer (as well as vs. computer), and many more modes. Something more akin to Tetris DS.
Time The closer to instant the start times, the more value I get from the game. I like to play while I'm waiting for things, and anything over 5 seconds means that I will be likely to chose a different game. For example, I generally play Brain Tuner several times a day, but I rarely ever sit down and spend the time necessary to play Brain Challenge, even though Brain Challenge is superior in every other way.
I think multiplayer would be hard to implement in this since it would require you being able to see your opponents screen, hence shrinking your own play field. Since everything is touch controlled they probably can't afford to make it smaller without sacrificing game play.
Unless the multiplayer mode is Wi-Fi. I think that more developers need to focus on the multiplayer aspect. Not only local but what about online? There are how many iPhones around the world now? How cool would it be to have a system like Xbox Live for for the iPhone. It would be illa-b-killa!
It does seem like a great idea, but then if you got a phone call you would get dropped from the match. Apple would have to make a firmware update that turns off the phones functionality, or makes phone calls less obtrusive during gaming sessions. It's funny to think that they started off designing a phone that plays games, and now they may have to start redesigning around the idea of a game system that can take calls.
Galcon already has internet multiplayer (and it's a fantastic game - highly recommended). Can't you just turn off calls on the iPhone? What do you do at home when you are playing some multiplayer game on computer/console and somebody calls? Either you stop the game, annoying your opponents/partners, and take the call, or you ignore calls until later. Surely the iPhone has the option to stop taking calls? I'm on an iPod Touch, so don't know. The issue of fitting both playfields on the screen can be addressed via a much smaller view of your opponents playfield. It doesn't have to show detail, just what their playfield looks like in general.
I have it, and it is nicely done. Wouldn't it be nice to have a universal system for online play that any game could use though? Right now if someone doesn't wants to be bothered with calls but still be able to have online access they can turn on Airplane Mode (which turns off your cellular and Wi-Fi connection), and then just turn on Wi-Fi. Good idea. It could just be a little transparent and dynamic icon in a corner.
while normally I would completely agree with that I like having a game that I can play quickly. Once it gets to about 6pm my phone is flooded with texts and phone calls. Going into airplane mode is NOT an option for me. say I get a text, respond, then start up tetris. by the time it finishes loading (40+ secs) I'll have a new message from the same person or someone else. so it's possible that I will continue to TRY and play tetris and never succeed. at least with tris it will load in 3 secs and I can play a bit. There is a big a market for fun, low load time games that people can play between calls, texts, or to be entertained while not worrying about battery drain from 3d graphics and things like that.
@VegantTnT I understand. I tried receiving a call during the game and it does start from scratch when the call ends. Oh well, to each his own.
That's my point. I think it's WONDERFUL that devs are making these large games to sit back and enjoy like Reign of Swords. Blue Skies, and Vay. I love having console worthy games on my phone, it's one less thing I have to carry around with me. But there is always going to be a need for a quick game where I can play for a bit. It's more likely I'm going to have a few minutes to kill here and there than having 20-30 minutes of time to play. I'd just like a little more quality
Tetris is a solid game in terms of production value but definitely loses points for replay value. The graphics are amazing, the music and sound are awesome, but the game is woefully short on content, something other versions never suffered from. First of all, there are only 15 levels. Most Tetris games nowadays have between 30 and 99, and the difficulty ramps up incrementally. This Tetris gets slightly faster for the first 9 levels and then goes into hyperspeed mode. If not for the fact that you can game the system and constantly rotate the blocks until you can place it, people would lose very easily once they hit level 10. Next, Magic mode is too easy. The powerups are cool, but they are so plentiful and powerful that it removes much of the challenge. It's pretty, but EA was far too concerned about pushing it out the door than creating the definitive Tetris experience
