Consoleation Addition Alert: Tetris DS
(These new segments to the blog will be posted when I add games to my collection.)
While I was out and about Sunday afternoon, I stumbled across a copy of what’s become a very rare title for the Nintendo DS:
Tetris DS.
Yup. I scored a Tetris, and that makes me happy. You rarely can go wrong with Tetris, and the DS version is one that I’ve always enjoyed playing. Sure, the NEStalgic (pardon the pun) aspect of the game has a lot to do with my love of this version, but I also like the variety of gameplay modes included. Catch may be weird to some, but I’ve always felt right at home with it. Push is interesting as a diversion. The Mission Mode is great for thinking on your feet; you have to do the shape-shifting in your head a lot to figure out how to set up the board to remove two lines with one piece– or three lines with one piece.
Then, of course, there’s the standard game. I realize that the level of difficulty in Tetris DS is considerably more forgiving than in other versions. Hell, I remember thinking that getting 100 lines on Tetris for the original Game Boy was an achievement… but here, many moderately-skilled players can pull this off. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It leads players to think that they’re pretty good at the game and generates prolonged interest in the game for many players.
That is until you play in Wi-Fi mode against other players who school you pretty good.
In any event, it’s unfortunate that Tetris DS has gone out of print and has become such a difficult find. It really is one of the best games for the unit. It can be a quick diversion, always tests your eye/hand coordination, and is accessible and playable by just about anyone. The price I paid for it was a bit steep ($35 preowned), but the rarity of the game made it impossible to pass up.
I’ve also added some PS2 titles to my library recently:
- Persona 3: FES
- Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks
- Mortal Kombat Annihilation
- Kingdom Hearts
- Kingdom Hearts II
- Midway Arcade Treasures
Plus I scored some cheap sports games, like ESPN NFL Primetime 2002 for $2, ESPN NBA 2K5 for $1.50, NBA LIve 2005 for $2, and NCAA March Madness 2005 for $1. Hey… say what you want about old sports games, such as losing their value and being outdated; rosters can always be edited and they’re simply cheap additions to expand your library.
I did see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 & 3 for the PS2, but they were $20 and $15 respectively. I thought about going for them because they have the two TMNT coin-op games playable, but I believe I remember reading that the games themselves were frustrating. If I’m gonna drop $35, I want to be able to play these games.
That’s it for this Addition segment, but there’ll be another one later this week as NHL 09 (PS3), Yakuza 2 (PS2), and NHL 2K9 (PS3) will all be in my hands by week’s end. Score!!!
