Game Boy
Tetris

June 8, 2021

My wife and I were out and about last week, and we stopped by 2nd & Charles, where I happened upon a copy of Tetris for the Nintendo Game Boy, which just happened to be in very good condition. Seeing as how I still have my original Game Boy Pocket but not Tetris, I jumped at the chance to buy it. (Tetris was included with most original Game Boy systems, but to my knowledge, it did not come included with the Game Boy Pocket.)

Tetris was actually the perfect game to include with the original Game Boy, and its inclusion helped make both Tetris and the Game Boy immensely popular with folks of all ages. The controls are simple, the game is easy to play, and with minimal motion blur, the graphics were well suited for the Game Boy’s screen. Plus, Tetris is highly addictive, but it’s also the kind of game that one can simply pick up and put down without a whole lot of time investment.

Even though the Game Boy Pocket, with its barely 8-bit graphics and grey and black screen, is an improvement on the original Game Boy, it is far from a graphics powerhouse. Even so, I had forgotten what a joy Tetris on the Game Boy was to play. I have Tetris on the NES (hands down the best console version), but in terms of portable gaming, Tetris on the Game Boy trumps any modern versions designed for Android or iOS. There are tactile controls versus on screen controls, and there are no ads or in app purchases. In my humble opinion, Tetris on the Game Boy is perfect simplicity. Needless to say, as of the time of this writing, I have gone through three sets of AAA batteries.

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