Tetris 2 (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
224A playthrough of Nintendo's 1993 puzzle game for the NES, Tetris 2.
This video shows all 80 stages of the single-player game.
Tetris 2 isn't necessarily *the* official sequel to Tetris, but it is the game Nintendo saw fit to dub as such when they released it on the NES, SNES, and Game Boy.
The NES version was the lead version upon which the outsourced SNES and GB games were based, and it was developed by the Yokoi-led Nintendo R&D1 group. Many of the people that worked on the various versions of Tetris 2 were also involved in the creation of Yoshi's Cookie and Super Tetris 2 + Bombliss.
The game looks a lot like Tetris, but it's a very different game - enough so that I question the wisdom behind labeling it as a direct sequel.
The goal of each stage is to clear the three "flash" blocks (yellow, red, and green) from the field. Clearing one of these blocks will clear the entire board of all blocks of the same color, but they're usually buried at the bottom of the screen and require some real effort to get to.
Instead of lining up horizontal rows, you clear blocks by matching at least three of the same color, meaning that it has a lot more in common with Dr. Mario and Columns than it does its namesake. Matching six in a row will clear all of the blocks that you've dropped of that same color.
The original six Tetris block shapes are still here, but there are also three new additions to the line-up. The blocks with the dangly bits attached by corners instead of sides handle a bit differently than their older siblings: once you've set down one of these blocks, you can move around the dangly bits on their own until they solidly land on another surface. This mechanic makes for a pretty dramatic change from most puzzlers, and mastering the maneuver is essential in solving the game's later stages.
Scrambling to get a single tiny block down a narrow, cramped passage has always reminded me of the intense escape sequence at the end of Life Force on NES. It's a weird comparison, but hopefully it makes sense.
The cutscenes that you see every so often are a cool reward for making progress, and I liked the whole primitive art schtick. It was a creative way to go about establishing different visual themes, but what were they thinking with these color choices? That garish yellow frame will really wear on your eyes after awhile. It's as hideous as it is distracting. The music is pretty good, though. It's not as iconic as the original Tetris themes were, but they're still peppy and upbeat without being annoying.
I really like Tetris 2, but it took me many years to get there. It had never felt like Tetris to me, and that had always put me off of it. I only came to appreciate what it had to offer once I had learned to ignore the title. It's not a Tetris game, and it suffers thanks to the comparison that its title invites.
If you can approach it, without sky high expectations, as a standalone game with a few engaging gameplay quirks up its sleeve, you just might find a game that you really enjoy. I did.
Here are a few more related games for your perusal:
Tetris, NES (Nintendo ver) https://youtu.be/E6vjqZbkshY
Tetris, NES (Tengen ver) https://youtu.be/lUJbiLJrkgo
Dr. Mario (NES) https://youtu.be/94joL2AgxJI
Tetris & Dr. Mario (SNES) https://youtu.be/2nuTufbYeNg
Tetris (Game Boy) https://youtu.be/BQwohHgrk2s
Dr. Mario (Game Boy) https://youtu.be/FU9rkqHSiTg
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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