When Playing Tetris Party Deluxe With a Steering Wheel Isn’t the Big News

February 26, 2010 by admin
Filed under: Wii News

A game system without Tetris is a sad one indeed, and even though the Wii got a respectable version via the WiiWare title Tetris Party, the general assumption that most Wii owners don’t even know the console can go online can cause some headaches for publishers. Wanting to get more awareness of the game out there, as well as bring some added value for previous players, publisher Tetris Online has produced Tetris Party Deluxe, a retail version of Tetris Party that brings back the same gameplay and adds a wealth of new gameplay modes and tweaks for one or more players. We got a hands-on session with the game earlier this week, and despite not coming out until June, it makes a good impression.

Three key modes have been added to Deluxe on top of the dozen or so already in Tetris Party: Sprint, Master, and Bombliss. Bombliss was last seen years ago in Tetris Blast on Game Boy, and mostly stayed in Japan. It involves lining up “bomb blocks” on the play field, then clearing a line and seeing how many explosions you can connect at once — hopefully clearing the whole screen in one go. Sprint is familiar if you’ve played Tetris Friends online — a simple rush to clear 40 lines as fast as possible. And Master is a riff on a similar mode from the Japan-only Tetris the Grand Master series, where the Tetriminos fall at an extra-accelerated speed from the get-go, and is a good choice for Tetris savants. Sprint also has some extra multiplayer variants, and some previous modes have added tweaks. For one, the Wii Wheel can be used in the Stage Racer mode, where you turn Tetriminos to fit through a winding shaft as it falls. Goofy? You bet! But at least the wheel fits the theme. And yes, the Balance Board-compatible modes all make a return.