Blockout

n/a

Blockout

System(s): Sega Mega Drive

Publisher: Electronic Arts (US/EU), Sega (JP), Tec Toy (BR)

Developer: California Dreams, Logical Design Works

Original system(s): PC

Sound driver: Electronic Arts/Rob Hubbard

Genre: Puzzle

Number of players: 1-2

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1991-11-01	¥6,0006,000	G-4059
US	1991	$49.9549.95^[1]	705501
EU	1991-07		E175SMX
AU	199x
BR	199x

Non-Sega versions
Amiga Apple IIGS Arcade Atari ST Commodore 64 IBM PC J-3100 Lynx Macintosh PC-9801 VM

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Blockout (ブロックアウト) is a puzzle game developed by California Dreams and published by Electronic Arts for the Sega Mega Drive in 1991. It has also been released for other consoles and computers.

The game can be seen almost as "3D Tetris". The game has a top-down perspective, with the primary objective being to clear "floors" rather than lines. Like Tetris, the player is given a series of shapes made up of cubes, which can be rotated on all three axes. Also like Tetris, if the player's pieces reach the top of the screen (i.e. some floors have gaps in them), the player will lose.

The formula behind Blockout has been recycled and rebranded numerous times, just like Tetris.

Production credits

Original Design by: Alexander Ustaszewski
Genesis Programming by: Edwin W. Reich, Jr., Steve Hayes
Graphics by: Gary Martin
Sound and Music by: Michael Bartlow
Technical Director: Richard Hicks
Produced by: Richard Robbins
Assistant Producers: Jeff Haas, John Manley
Special Thanks To: John Tomlinson

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Blockout/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Mega Force (FR) #1: "Juillet/Août 1991" (1991-06-18)

Print advert in Velikiy Drakon (RU) #33: "xxxx xxxx" (1997-08-07)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

70

^[14]

Beep! MegaDrive (JP)

NTSC-J

65

^[15]

Console XS (UK)

PAL

76

^[16]

Cool Gamer (RU)

60

^[17]

Computer & Video Games (UK)

86

^[18]

Famitsu (JP)

NTSC-J

68

^[19]

Game Mania (UK)

91

^[8]

Gamers (DE)

67

^[20]

Hippon Super (JP)

NTSC-J

60

^[21]

Hobby Consolas (ES)

82

^[22]

Joystick (FR)

PAL

85

^[23]

Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)

81

^[24]

Mega Drive Fan (JP)

NTSC-J

59

^[25]

Mega (UK)

PAL

67

^[26]

Mega (UK)

PAL

65

^[27]

Mega Force (FR)

PAL

70

^[28]

MegaTech (UK)

91

^[10]

MegaTech (UK)

PAL

91

^[29]

MegaTech (UK)

PAL

88

^[30]

Mean Machines (UK)

91

^[31]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

91

^[32]

Power Play (DE)

74

^[33]

Raze (UK)

PAL

69

^[2]

Sega Power (UK)

PAL

89

^[34]

Sega Power (UK)

PAL

100

^[13]

Sega Pro (UK)

PAL

76

^[35]

Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)

NTSC-J

60

^[36]

Tilt (FR)

70

^[37]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

78

^[38]

Video Games (DE)

75

^[39]

	76
Based on 30 reviews

Blockout

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, AU

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

✔

CRC32	5e2966f1
MD5	c324d9a3cbfa530996b6ad202686627b
SHA-1	f6620d3b712f3bd333d0bb355c08cf992af6e12d

128kB

1991-06

Cartridge (US/EU)

EA version

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Blockout

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: Super Columns (1990) \| Super Tetris (19xx) \| Flashpoint (19xx)
Tetris related media
	Tetremix (1989) \| Flash Point/Bloxeed (1990) \| New Century (2006) \| Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 & 2 Original Soundtrack (2020)

[:File:VG.26amp.3BCE_US_31.pdf_p46-1] VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "August 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 46

[:File:Raze_UK_12.pdf_p48-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Raze, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-08-29), page 48

[:File:SegaPower_UK_21.pdf_p23-3] Sega Power, "August 1991" (UK; 1991-07-04), page 23

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1991-11.pdf_p38_.2836.29-4] Beep! MegaDrive, "November 1991" (JP; 1991-10-08), page 36 (38)

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p87_.2885.29-5] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85 (87)

[:File:ConsolesPlus_FR_001.pdf_p66_.2868.2F69.29-6] Consoles +, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-04), page 68/69 (66)

[:File:CVG_UK_116.pdf_p52_.2852.2F53.29-7] Computer & Video Games, "July 1991" (UK; 1991-06-15), page 52/53 (52)

[:File:GameMania_UK_05.pdf_p80-8] 8.0 ^8.1 Game Mania, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 80

[:File:HobbyConsolas_ES_001.pdf_p46_.2846.2F55.29-9] Hobby Consolas, "Octubre 1991" (ES; 1991-xx-xx), page 46/55 (46)

[:File:MegaTech_UK_01.pdf_p76-10] 10.0 ^10.1 MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 76

[:File:MeanMachines_UK_09.pdf_p36_.2836.2F37.29-11] Mean Machines, "June 1991" (UK; 1991-05-29), page 36/37 (36)

[:File:SegaPower_UK_21.pdf_p22_.2822.2F23.29-12] Sega Power, "August 1991" (UK; 1991-07-04), page 22/23 (22)

[:File:SegaPower_UK_23.pdf_p52-13] 13.0 ^13.1 Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 52

[14] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 56

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1991-11.pdf_p38-15] Beep! MegaDrive, "November 1991" (JP; 1991-10-08), page 38

[:File:Console_XS_UK_01.pdf_p127-16] Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 127

[17] Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 36

[:File:CVG_UK_116.pdf_p52-18] Computer & Video Games, "July 1991" (UK; 1991-06-15), page 52

[:File:Famitsu_JP_0151.pdf_p38-19] Famitsu, "1991-11-08" (JP; 1991-10-25), page 38

[:File:Gamers_DE_1993-01.pdf_p101-20] Gamers, "Dezember/Januar 1993" (DE; 1992-11-19), page 101

[21] Hippon Super, "December 1991" (JP; 1991-11-05), page 88

[:File:HobbyConsolas_ES_001.pdf_p46-22] Hobby Consolas, "Octubre 1991" (ES; 1991-xx-xx), page 46

[:File:Joystick_FR_019.pdf_p189-23] Joystick, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 189

[:File:MDAG_UK_05.pdf_p63-24] Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 63

[:File:Mdfan_JP_1992-01.pdf_p101-25] Mega Drive Fan, "January 1992" (JP; 1991-12-07), page 101

[:File:Mega_UK_09.pdf_p19-26] Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 19

[:File:Mega_UK_11.pdf_p83-27] Mega, "August 1993" (UK; 1993-07-15), page 83

[:File:MegaForce_FR_02.pdf_p84-28] Mega Force, "Septembre/Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-13), page 84

[:File:MegaTech_UK_02.pdf_p49-29] MegaTech, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-20), page 49

[:File:MegaTech_UK_20.pdf_p113-30] MegaTech, "August 1993" (UK; 1993-07-20), page 113

[:File:MeanMachines_UK_09.pdf_p68-31] Mean Machines, "June 1991" (UK; 1991-05-29), page 68

[:File:MeanMachinesSega01UK.pdf_p137-32] Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 137

[:File:PowerPlay_DE_1991-08.pdf_p128-33] Power Play, "8/91" (DE; 1991-07-1x), page 128

[:File:SegaPower_UK_21.pdf_p22-34] Sega Power, "August 1991" (UK; 1991-07-04), page 22

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p64-35] Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 64

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p87-36] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87

[:File:Tilt_FR_093.pdf_p86-37] Tilt, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-xx), page 86

[38] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 27

[:File:VideoGames_DE_1991-03.pdf_p87-39] Video Games, "3/91" (DE; 1991-09-06), page 87

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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: Super Columns (1990) \| Super Tetris (19xx) \| Flashpoint (19xx)
Tetris related media
	Tetremix (1989) \| Flash Point/Bloxeed (1990) \| New Century (2006) \| Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 & 2 Original Soundtrack (2020)

Blockout

From Sega Retro

Contents

Production credits

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

Technical information

ROM dump status

References