A very cool game for the
Nintendo 64.
Even though the game name has the word "
Tetris" in it, the only similarity between Tetrisphere and Tetris are a few similarities in piece types. Other than that, it's a completely different game.
Rules of the game:
For standard "Rescue" mode: There is a big
sphere with all these pieces on it. If two or more pieces of the same type are lined up, and you drop a third piece of the same type down next to or on them, they all break apart (A
combo). Get a hole big enough in the center of the sphere to let your friend out. Seems pretty simple, but there are a ton of other rules that enhance the game.
You can move blocks around to line them up. However, you cannot move blocks "up" levels, unless it is a
power block.
You get to mess up three times. If you place a block that doesn't start a combo, you lose a "
life"
If you take too long to place a block, the block will be put down automatically for you. If it doesn't start a combo, you lose a life. Time is reset when you lose a life. In earlier levels, just doing a combo will reset the time meter, later levels, regular combos do nothing, and combos started with power blocks will add only a scant amount of time to the time meter.
If you get a combo where 20 pieces or more break apart, you get a "
magic" attack. This is pretty much a type of
bomb or
destructo ray that will blow holes into the bricks. If you decide not to use it, you can upgrade it several times by getting another 20 piece combo. Also, there are a few flame blocks on the sphere that will automatically give you magic.
If you complete a normal combo, some blocks will turn into
POWER BLOCKS. Start a combo with these, and the speed at which connected blocks
disintergrate slows down a lot. While those blocks are breaking apart, you can start a combo somewhere else. The number of blocks in the combo count will include the blocks from both combos. If you start a combo with a power block, get a second combo with another power block, you can get a third one in if you're quick enough for an even bigger combo. If the total combo count is above 20, you get magic.
There are also dark pieces. You cannot start a combo with these, but they will break if part of a combo. You get these in two player mode, and also if the sphere get's 6 layers thick with pieces.
There is also a multiplier. Everytime you complete a
gravity combo, or a
fuse combo, this will increase by one. Having a multiplier of 5x will increase the amount of points you get by 5. The highest this will get is 20x.
There are 100
stages in standard "rescue" mode. By the time you get to the later stages, the amount of time you have before placing blocks is so low and the action so fast that most people who watch me play just say, "Wow. How can you tell what's going on?"
There is also a
verses mode. The first person to open up a hole in the center wins. If someone loses three lives, they lose. Do a combo big enough, and you can send dark pieces over to their sphere. The multiplier is huge here, as if you have a multiplier of 6x, you'll send 6 times more dark pieces to your opponent than normal.
Other modes include:
Hide + Seek, you have mission objectives, such as finding a line in the center of the sphere, and clearing all blocks that are on top of it.
Puzzle, you can only slide blocks a certain number of times, and you can only place a certain number of blocks. Get rid of all blocks on the small part of the sphere. Takes some thinking and analizing of the blocks on screen to figure out. There is no time limit.
Time trial, See how long you can last.
VS. CPU, Just like a regular verses mode, except against the computer instead of a human.