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| Tuesday, September 28, 2004 |
New Tetris Record!
By far the best video game ever made was Tetris. It's a game so simple, yet so complex. Not reliant on killer graphics or bleeding edge hardware, but on a timeless concept. As such, it is a game that cannot be beaten and will never be mastered, offering countless hours of fun. Or, in my case, over 15 years of it!
There have been a lot of variants of the classic over the years. Some made for console systems, computers and PDA's, and I've even seen some made for calculators. All of these fall short, however, of the version designed for Nintendo's original Gameboy. As many of you may recall, this was the first game offered for the Gameboy back in 1989; it was included in the package when you bought the system. I highly doubt that Nintendo realised then that would be giving away the best game they (or anyone else for that matter) would ever produce. It'd be like Microsoft including Halo with the Xbox!
I received my Gameboy Christmas day 1989 and I remember, for that day at least, it was the only game I had to play (as I couldn't get to the store to get anymore since they were all closed for the holiday). I must have sat around all day playing that thing, even though I was terrible at it! Back then, before I knew anything about strategy, I was lucky to break 1000 points (on the Type A game).
Then my older cousin got a Gameboy and enjoyed playing Tetris as much as I did. He enlightened to the ways of the Tetri (I just made that word up by the way, it means, "one who plays Tetris"). He showed me how playing for Tetris's (I didn't make that word up) was the way of the champion. Almost instantly I was able to break 10,000, and was soon after hitting the 100,000 mark.
I began to practice regularly and even kept track of my hi scores. To this day I scramble for a pen when the game concludes and I think I may have set a new record; there's something about that that just doesn't cease to be exciting. I realise that I'm not actually breaking a world record or anything, nor will I win a prize - hell, to be honest no one has ever cared about me breaking a Tetris record. But it gives me further confidence that <sarcasm> I am the best Gameboy Tetris player in the world </sarcasm> :P I can confidently say this for two reasons: a) I've never actually met anyone who keeps records of their scores to the extent that they can discredit my own records, and b) I don't think there are many (okay, any) people in the entire world to give a shit about a game that came out 15 years ago (or at least as much of a "shit" as I do). But alas, that has never deterred me…
And now for the point of this post: last night I broke a Tetris record! A record that stood for over 10 years! I was able to score 9,198 points on the Type B game, beating my old record set in 1994 by all of 69 points. If you're wondering why this is such a big deal, read on…
The "Type B" game in Tetris is a little different than traditional Tetris (known as "Type A" on Gameboy). Under the normal Tetris, the objective is to acquire as many lines as you can, thereby racking up points, but increasing the difficulty of the game as you do so. In Type B, however, it's the opposite: once you get 25 lines the game is over, and you remain on the same level for the entire game (it doesn't get more difficult as you acquire lines); thus, there is a finite limit to the number of points you can score. For reasons beyond the scope of this post, once you get a score above 8,400 you're beginning to come close to this maximum. So back in 1994, when I obtained a score of 9,129 I was pretty confident that I'd played the "perfect" game. As such, for the next several years I didn't play Type B at all.
Then, for some strange reason, a couple nights ago I decided to give it another try. It had been so long I'd almost forgotten how to play under Type B rules! I quickly got my bearings back and realised just how difficult it was to reach the level I'd set back in 1994. You really do have to play a better than perfect game to get above 9,000 (that's 7 Tetris's in a row with a ton of drop points to boot). But after several tries I did it :) There were no crowds or TV cameras or post game interviews, but it was still some exciting stuff, believe you me! Now onto the ever elusive 9,200 club.
26 Comments:
- said…
yo I got 245,000 points on my cell phone. Is that any good - 2:27 AM
- Jerome said…
Ha! That's awesome. Unfortunately, I've never played Tetris on a cellphone; to be honest, I'm only interested in the (original) GameBoy version. - 11:39 AM
- said…
Hi! I'm another crazy "Tetri", as you called.
I'am a 20 years old Italian player, played Tetris since I was a child. but it was just since I was 12 than I started playing seriously, keeping records.
(I'm always talking about the GameBoy original version).
My own record for the A Type was about 250.000, but today I've beated it: 348.490, and, now having the technology, photographed:
http://img509.imageshack.us/my.php?image=recordtetris1ne7.jpg
for the B Type I'm not so good, actually my best record counts a Tetris, but I can't remember ho many points were. - 8:08 AM
- said…
hello my names jason from crawley england. nice to see others who feel the same about the origional game boy tetris. i too have photos of my score 412000ish for type A obviously. that was about 208 lines gets pretty fast on level 20. - 2:20 PM
- Jerome said…
It really is nice to hear from both of you. "Pierfra," the picture is awesome! Jason, I can only imagine how tough level 20 is. That's even higher than the highest start level (level 19)!
I'm glad to see this blog entry bringing together other Gameboy Tetris lovers (even if it is only three at this point, including myself). Keep the comments coming! - 9:42 AM
- jeff said…
for tetris mania on my phone my record is
9581980 lvl 83 - 4:15 PM
- said…
I'm playing a Tetris game that I haven't yet completed.. My current score is now up at 13534340 points and I'm at lvl 93. It's on my cell by the way. - 1:27 PM
- said…
i've got tetris on my phone but it has infinite spin so it's too easy to win, which is a shame cos it's a great version, either way my record (i play for lines) is 205 lines, level 21 (freetetris.o rg)and i have the gameboy version also, and while i agree it's a great one it is a tough one with freetetris..
what's your line score? Type A - 12:22 PM
- said…
Dude i got 4,638,120
14 hours 12 minutes and level 65
on my phone is there any record for this?
u suk!!! - 9:13 AM
- said…
Dude with 13 million how long have you been playin and do you have a life? - 9:22 AM
- said…
11/25/07 last night I got 406388 on my cell phone - 8:36 AM
- said…
im currntly at level 80 and about eight and a half million points - 8:44 AM
- Luka said…
Fuk that marathon mode, that requires no skill, after lvl 30 or something like that the cubes fall at the same speed for all the rest levels. I'm playing challenge mania, where the goal is to get as much points as you can in 3 minutes. My current record is 2050, anyone can beat that? :D - 5:34 AM
- said…
Hey, I just got 55,198 on my gameboy b&w... level 13, too. :P - 7:36 AM
- Jerome said…
Luka, that sounds like a cool way to play. I'll have to give it a try. The other thing people often do is keep track of lines, but again, I'm really only into score. - 2:34 PM
- said…
hmmm, pierfra, your foto really does prove your amazing score but why does it have color. The original gameboy version doesnt have any color, what gameboy version do you have. Jerome, i thought level 9 was the highest start level, how do you start from level 19? well guys, my highest score is 171,000. Thats about 158 lines. Not very good i guess. I´ve been playing regularly since 1989. - 4:32 PM
- TetrisRecord said…
05/30/08
HI! I been playing tetris sence I was a child but I stop for awild couple years 6 or 7 but I started challenging myself and other people also challenge me. I started playing alittle over a week ago.
Level 87 Time 30:34:36
goal 218 Score: 10975160
Im not finish playing but I shooting for level 100.
If you a big tetris fan the leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
Studiolinks@hotmail.com - 9:29 AM
- Jerome said…
Studiolinks, do you play the Gameboy version or something else? Either way, 10 million is incredible!
Oh, and to start from level 19, at the start (the initial Tetris start screen) screen hold the down arrow before pressing start. - 2:17 PM
- TetrisRecord said…
Tetris Record!
Hey jerome! I play Tetris on my cellphone. Thanks for the comments.
I have a new score and record showed below, but Im still playing Im not finish yet Im gona go for a 100 so 1 or 2 more days.
Level 95 Time 36:07:09
goal 475 Score: 14064550
studiolinks@hotmail.com - 7:29 PM
- TetrisRecord said…
Dermain
Here is a challange...
If you can beat my record then go for it but it wont be easy, I been playing the same game for the past 3 weeks now, Im setting the Record for this game.
Tetris Mania Record Score
LEVEL 114 TIME 51:49:20
GOAL 533 SCORE 2441070
If you beat this score that would be amzing but it wont be easy...Leave me a comment and tell me what you think about my score is it good are amazing.
Studiolinks@hotmail.com - 8:59 PM
- said…
my name is linda and im at level 101 and i have 16920620 points 40 hours i was wondering if anyone knows if there is a final level - 8:44 AM
- Jerome said…
Holy shit Linda, that's amazing. Was that on the original Gameboy version? There is an official database of high scores (see "Fist Full of Quarters"), but in order to get on it you pretty much have to record your recording setting session.
As for a final level I'm not sure. If the game was written properly, there shouldn't be; in theory the difficulty can increase exponentially, and the "level" is really just a function of the difficulty (or at least it should be anyway). - 8:49 AM
- said…
im level 120 with 30mil points, played 40 hours - 5:41 AM
- said…
I CAN DO 46 TO 47 LINES IN TWO MIUTES ON BIG SCREEN TETRIS IS THAT ANYGOOD? CANT FIND ANY RECORDS OF ANYONE WHO HAS THIS GAME. - 2:47 PM
- said…
bra thats nothing
i got 20 mill
holla at ya boi - 5:13 PM
- said…
Back in the day I played Tetris on the original Game Boy which I bought back in 1989. Played for hours and hours...
The most lines I ever completed in game A was 203 back in 1996.
January 25 2002, I got 424,387 on game A with about 200 lines. The best I've ever done, and I haven't played since. - 6:33 PM
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