Tetris

From Sega Retro

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Tetris Arcade Title.png

Tetris
System(s): Sega System 16, Sega Mega Drive, Sega System E, Sega Mega-Tech, Taito B-System, Taito H-System
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Puzzle

















Release Date RRP Code

Tetris (テトリス) is a 1988 Sega System 16 game developed and published by Sega. A less powerful version was also released for Sega System E hardware. Both versions are unrelated to Atari's arcade version, released in the same year under the same name.

Sega bizarrely also released versions on Taito's B-System and H-System arcade boards in Japan. The B-System versions were released as upgrade kits for Taito's Nastar and Master of Weapon; the H-System version appears to have been sold on modified boards that previously held Taito's Go for the Gold (released overseas as Recordbreaker) rather than as an upgrade kit.

Sega attempted to port the game to the Sega Mega Drive, however sales were blocked by Nintendo who owned the home console rights to the franchise (they had taken Atari's home console division, Tengen to court over a similar incident on the NES). As such, only about 10 cartridges were produced, all of which were only released in Japan. This version is now a rare collector's item, being sold in auctions for up to US$16000 (one of the copies costs US$1000000000). Because Nintendo had no authority over the arcade versions, the Sega Mega Drive port was brought to Mega-Tech hardware in 1989.

The System 16 version of Tetris does not add anything to the original formula, but at the time was the best looking version of the game available. If the player gets a tetris (i.e. he/she clears four lines at once), the background will change.

It was licensed from Mirrorsoft (and possibly from Atari Games, credited as Tengen), who held the rights to produce Tetris arcade games at the time. The Tetris license has passed through numerous publishers, but Sega did have another attempt with 1999's Sega Tetris. Several games share the same theme tune (and monkey helper) as the System 16 version of Tetris, including the Sega Saturn game, Tetris S.

Legacy

This version of Tetris was the most popular arcade version of Tetris in Japan, and many future Tetris games were based off how this one operated. For more technical details, see Sega Rotation.

Production Credits

Arcade Version

Discovered by Steve Hanawa

Mega Drive Version

PROGRAMED BY NAOKI OKABE

Promotional Material

Physical Scans

System 16 Version

Mega-Tech version

Mega-Tech,
Tetris MT cover.jpg
Cover

Mega Drive Version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
89 №35, p59[1]
100 №23, p54
Sega Mega Drive
95
Based on
2 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
40
[2]
ACE (UK) NTSC-J
89
[1]
Cool Gamer (RU)
60
[3]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J
100
[4]
Sega Opisaniy i sekretov (RU)
79
[5]
Sega Mega Drive
74
Based on
5 reviews

Tetris

Mega Drive, JP
Tetris MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
Tetris MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart

System E Version



Tetris and Tetris-like games for Sega systems/developed by Sega
Sega: Tetris (1989) | Flash Point (Mega Drive) (1989) | Bloxeed (1989) | Sega Tetris (1999) | Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 28: Tetris Collection (2006) | Tetris Giant (2010) | Puyo Puyo Tetris (2014) | Tetris (2019) | Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 (2020)
Third-Party: Blockout (1991) | Tetris Plus (1996) | Tetris S (1996) | Tetris 4D (1998) | The Next Tetris: On-Line Edition (2000) | Tetris Kiwamemichi (2004) | Tetris The Grand Master 4: The Masters of Round (unreleased)
Unlicensed: FA Tetris (1990) | Super Columns (1990) | Super Tetris (19xx) | Flashpoint (19xx)
Tetris related media
Music
Tetremix (1989) | Flash Point/Bloxeed (1990) | New Century (2006) | Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 & 2 Original Soundtrack (2020)
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NEC Retro has more information related to Tetris
  1. 1.0 1.1 File:ACE UK 35.pdf, page 59 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ACE UK 35.pdf_p59" defined multiple times with different content
  2. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 310
  3. Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 223
  4. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 54
  5. Sega Opisaniy i sekretov, "14000 Opisaniy i sekretov" (RU; 2003-03-11), page 200