HOW TETRIS 99 BECAME GAMING'S NEW ADDICTION

Folks I am taking you back to a precious time in my childhood, all the way back to one faithful Christmas night back in 1993. I was only 5 years old when my father presented to me my very first handheld gaming system THE GAME BOY and I was beyond ecstatic to have Mario to play everywhere I go. However, the 'puzzlely' goodness of Tetris enter my veins and I was hooked instantly forgetting all about the plumber bros. Who knew a simple game about falling funny looking shaped blocks can be so addictive. Now 26 years later, when I thought I finally kicked the stuff for good, those b#$tards got me back hooked with Nintendo's release of TETRIS 99.  

During a spring direct that had many Nintendo fans waiting on baited breath for more information on big first party titles, TETRIS 99 caught my eye as the big N's first special free offer for Nintendo Online  subscribers. Now after 20+ hours playing, the game single handily made my $20US year subscription worth it as mixing the tried and true puzzle gameplay of Tetris, with the masochistic tension that comes with the battle royal genre proved to be a surprising blend of gaming bliss. This is literally Tetris on steroids as being just good at the old school version won't cut here as  you take on 98 other online players simultaneously to see who is the last man standing. Also, new clever competitive gameplay mechanics such as targeting players who are closed to being knock out or returning fire to those who attacked you first with the flick of the right stick adds that extra layer of gameplay depth. Mastery of those mechanics will prepare you for those super tense final 10 battles where the awesome music ramps up and the blocks start falling much faster. At this point your focus will be unbreakable, your smile uncontrollable and your heart beating faster than an Usain Bolt race. This is not to say a layer of luck doesn't exist as one of your runs can be over in a blink of eye if you where the target of many players at once in the early rounds, but frustration is thankfully kept to a minimum thanks to the ability to jump back into another match right away. 

The game isn't perfect as it currently contains only one game mode (although there are rumours of more to come) and using the pro controller's inaccurate D-pad can cause annoying mistakes but hey...any game that gets my non playing wife actively looking forward to getting home from work to play some more absolutely deserves to be considered as one of gaming's current addiction. Now here's hoping for a Mario Kart balloon battle royal mode next. For more gaming news check out thereview round up for METRO EXODUS or for more animation news check out which anime won anime of the year.