Tetris Party
A Tetris installment with Balance Board support and varied modes.
Tetris Party is a puzzle video game by Hudson Soft for WiiWare, part of the Tetris series. It supports Miis and the Wii Balance Board, and includes local and online multiplayer alongside several single-player modes. The game was released in Japan on October 14, 2008, in North America on October 20, 2008, and in Europe and Australia on October 24, 2008.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Blue Planet Software
- Publisher
- Hudson Soft (JP)
- NA/EU
- Tetris Online, Inc.
- Series
- Tetris
- Genre
- Puzzle
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Platforms
- Nintendo DS, Wii
- Composer
- Brian DiLucente
Facts from the source article.
Game modes
Tetris Party introduces several new game modes alongside returning ones. Traditional single-player marathon mode has 15 levels, and versus modes, Vs. Hot Lines, Team Battle, and Bombliss return. New modes include Beginner's Tetris, which uses larger blocks, a smaller playfield, and new polyominos such as a three-block line, a two-block line, and a small three-block L-shape. Wii Balance Board Tetris is a variation of Beginner's Tetris where players control falling Tetriminos by leaning left or right to move, leaning forward or backward to drop, and squatting to rotate clockwise; it also includes a 3-minute high-score mode called Balance Ultra and a Vs. Computer battle mode. Co-op Tetris has two players working together on a double-size playfield. Field Climber involves building layers of blocks to help a tiny man reach the top of the screen, and is time-based with online versus play. Shadow requires players to fill in a background image with Tetriminos without letting pieces lie outside the puzzle, featuring new Tetrimino shapes and 30 puzzles. Stage Racer guides a single Tetrimino downward through a narrow twisting passage. Dual Spaces is a Reversi-inspired mode where players section off empty space and gain points for locking out areas of their own color. Multiplayer versus modes support up to four players offline and six online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, with powerups using the Wii Remote's pointer and motion functions. The game includes skill charts, statistics, online leaderboards, and over 130 achievements. It does not include multiplayer marathon modes, and garbage is not optional in multiplayer. Hudson and Tetris Online organized tournaments starting in December 2008, with the first and third tournaments featuring four rounds of four different game modes each.
Reception
Tetris Party received generally favorable reviews according to Metacritic. IGN called it the best console version of Tetris in years and a must buy, though disappointed in the limited online multiplayer. Nintendo Life praised the online play as the most robust online Tetris experience next to Tetris DS, but also noted limited online play modes and felt the game geared more toward local multiplayer. Official Nintendo Magazine was impressed by the addictive online play and great variety of modes, loving the classic gameplay and good value, but marked it down for the Balance Board mode being gimmicky. The game was nominated for Best WiiWare Game and Best Puzzle Game by IGN in its 2008 awards. The DS version of Tetris Party Deluxe received generally favorable reviews, while the Wii version received average reviews per Metacritic; Famitsu gave the DS version one eight and three sevens, and the Wii version one eight, one six, one seven, and one eight. Tetris Party Live received average reviews at release according to Metacritic.
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