The last big portion of the game is the multiplayer, which wasn't part of the initial launch. Combining that with the attention to the presentation, Effect Mode offers a great incentive to return to the game again and again long after you're done with the main Journey Mode. Playing these modes, which have a more competitive edge to them in comparison to the flow of Journey Mode, emphasises just how brilliantly the game plays and the controls feel. There's even a category, 'Relax', that lets you play any stage you want with no risk of a game over. 'Classic' includes more traditional modes such as Marathon (clearing 150 lines), Ultra (3-minute score attack), and Sprint (40-line time attack), while 'Adventurous' adds unique twists such as being challenged to clear specific 'infected' blocks. These modes are split into four categories that encompass a variety of different moods and gameplay styles. Much of the single-player replayability comes from the dozen or so Effect Modes, which are accompanied with high scores and leaderboards. Journey Mode, although short, is an incredibly satisfying Tetris experience and one that ends on a surprisingly emotional note.
You know the rules and you know how to create lines, and the fact that playing the game comes naturally means you can afford to let yourself soak in the atmosphere without the distraction of struggling and getting used to the controls. Each level comes with its own score as well as its own beautiful and evolving backdrop.Ī genius aspect of the marriage between the gameplay and the audiovisual presentation is how for many, playing Tetris is a familiar activity (the Zone mechanic aside). Everything that you do – from every button you press to every line you clear – is accompanied by sounds that blissfully complement the music. This is most effective in Journey Mode, a single-player campaign consisting of more than 25 wonderfully-crafted stages. What makes Tetris Effect such a standout take on the classic game is how its audiovisual presentation ties into the gameplay to create a powerful and dynamic all-around experience.
Mechanically, this is pretty much a perfect version of the formula, with tight controls that ensure accurate play even under pressure and the implementation of more recent features – such as ghost pieces, which makes it much easier to see exactly where your current piece will fall, and T-spins, an advanced mechanic allowing you to fit a "T" piece into certain holes that would normally not be possible. The difficulty ramps up as the fall speed of the tetrominoes increases. You move and rotate falling tetrominoes (made up of four blocks), with the objective being to fill entire rows with blocks to clear them and earn more points. It plays largely like the Tetris most people are familiar with.