Tetris
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
_________________________

This version seems actually closer to the original Tetris for the Elektronica 60.

---

The C64 version of Tetris is one of many conversions of the famous block-stacking game. The goal is to place pieces made up of four tiles in a well, organizing them into complete rows, which then disappear. As rows are cleared, the pace of the game increases, and the game ends if the stack reaches the top of the well.

Compared to other versions, the C64 adaptation differs in a few aspects: the well is 21 blocks high instead of the standard 20. Unlike in other early versions, clearing rows increases the score and a preview of the next piece to appear is always in view and cannot be toggled off for bonus points.

Options are simple: the starting level can be set from 0 to 9, and there is a choice between music (a continuous piece of 26 minutes in length) or sound effects during gameplay. There is a high score table with room for 15 names.

---

Description from the packaging  (Spectrum Holobyte US version) :

Discover the mystery of the four squares in Tetris. This game of skill was conceived by two Soviet programmers. Time is of the essence as you try to rotate and/or flip moving pieces to fit as they descend from the top of the screen. make the pieces fit precisely with the others to form a complete row with no blank spaces. The quicker you position each piece and allow it to drop into place, the better your score.

As complete rows are formed they automatically disappear from the screen. When ten rows have been successfully removed, you advance to a higher level and the pieces descend faster. Therefore, the further you get, the more challenging Tetris becomes.

Features:

Ten difficulty levels.
Five heights to start from.
Replay last game option.
Randomly generated pieces.
Scoring system with top ten recorded.
Mode to preview next shape to fall.
Statistic screen shows running total of times a particular shape has appeared in one game.
Help screen.
Beautiful background graphics.
The addictive challenge brought to you from the U.S.S.R.

---

Trivia

DOS version
 Included in the original DOS commercial release package was a memory-resident version of Tetris, with graphical backgrounds and all. It took up over 50K of precious DOS RAM, but Tetris could be played instantly from within any application. 
Licensing history
 
From the BBC documentation Tetris: From Russia With Love (2004):

In the late 80s, when Tetris was under the control of the Soviet Union's electronic gaming department, the man responsible, Mr Belikov, managed to masterfully play the West at its own capitalist game in what stands as an interesting footnote to The Cold War.

Belikov cut tycoon Robert Maxwell out of the equation (who made threats about damaging trade with the UK all the way to his contacts in The Kremlin), meaning that rights that had already been sold on to Atari via a Hungarian entrepreneur called Robert Stein were null and void. Henk Rogers, a lone producer who had picked up games for the Japanese market, went to Moscow and managed to secure both the rights to handheld and home console Tetris for Nintendo from under everyone's nose. Belikov held meetings with Stein, Rogers and Maxwell Jr on the same day, playing one off against the other!

Alexey Pajitnov, who wrote the original game whilst working at the state's computer centre in Moscow, only started to make money from Tetris royalties in the past few years. He emigrated to the US and, as of 2004, works for Microsoft. 
Records
 
As of 2008 Tetris is listed in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition as the most ported game, appearing on 55 different computer game platforms. 
References to the game
 
Tetris turns up, of all places, in Thomas Pynchon's 2006 novel Against the Day, around page 100:
The ship in the distance was distinguished by an envelope with the onionlike shape---and nearly the dimensions, too---of a dome on an Eastern Orthodox church, against whose brilliant red surface was represented, in black, the Romanoff crest, and above it, in Gold Cyrillic lettering, the legend BOL'SHAIA IGRA, or, "The Great Game." It was readily recognized by all as the flagship of Randolph's mysterious Russian counterpart---and, far too often, nemesis---Captain Igor Padzhitnoff [...]

The parallel organization at St. Petersburg, known as the Tovarishchi Slutchainyi, was notorious for promoting wherever in the world they chose a program of mischief, much of its motivation opaque to the boys, Padzhitnoff's own specialty being to arrange for bricks and masonry, always in the four-block fragments which had become his "signature," to fall on and damage targets designated by his superiors. This lethal debris was generally harvested from the load-bearing walls of previous targets of opportunity.

Title

 The word "Tetris" comes from the ancient Greek "tetra", which means "four". 

Awards

Computer Gaming World 

Hall of Fame member
November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #14 on the "150 Best Games of All Time" list
Game Informer Magazine 
August 2001 (Issue #100) - #3 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll
GameStar (Germany) 
Issue 01/2007 - One of the "Ten Most Influential PC-Games" (It requires both timing and organized thinking, something which only electronic games can achieve, is easy to access and forgoes violence. It also is one of the most-played games of all time and the grandfather of today's casual games.)
EGM 
February 2006 (Issue #200) - #4 out of 200 on the "Greatest Games of Their Time" list
Power Play 
Issue 01/1989 - Best Game Idea in 1988

Alternate Titles

"Тетрис" -- Cyrillic spelling
"Tetris: The Soviet Challenge" -- DOS title
"テトリス" -- Japanese spelling


http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/tetris_c64
