182. Tetris Flash (Nintendo, Famicom, 1993)

After playing through game #181 Tetris 2 + Bombliss, I was excited to try out Tetris Flash, which was the only Nintendo-developed Tetris game released on the Famicom. The Tetris released in the rest of the world was developed by Nintendo, but the Famicom Tetris was developed & published by Bullet-Proof Software, who had previously acquired the Tetris license. Tetris Flash was actually released on the NES & SNES as Tetris 2 and is kind of a hybrid of Dr. Mario and Tetris.

Like Dr. Mario, Tetris Flash gives you a playfield containing a certain number of blocks that you have to clear to finish the level. Where in Dr. Mario they were little viruses, here they are just flashing blocks in one of three colors. Just like in Dr. Mario, you have to connect at least three of a color in a row to clear those blocks. Lining up a row of blocks does nothing, so it's really not very Tetris. Clearing the last flashing block causes all of the remaining blocks to disappear and it's pretty satisfying.

Blocks are not just limited to the classic seven tetrimino shapes from original Tetris. You can get blocks that are not even connected in a traditional sense, and the fact that you are playing with blocks made of 4 instead of 2 adds a layer of complexity that Dr. Mario is missing. Still it feels like you're playing basically the same game, and it's not nearly as interesting of a puzzle mechanic as the original Tetris (or even Bombliss).

4/5, they should have called it Dr. Mario 2