Tetris DX retrospective: Hue kid on the block | Game Boy Works Color  

"Sometimes a man needs a break from black&white puzzlers" *Next on Game Boy Works Color: A **_color_** puzzler*

Music aside, this is my favorite version of Tetris. And honestly, even though the music isn’t as iconic as the Game Boy version, it’s still pretty good.

The colour was a lot more muted on the actual GB Colour screen though. I have a huge amount of affection for this rendition of Tetris tbh - persistent leaderboards made a huge difference.

You guys should also check out the Gaming Historian's movie-length (almost) "The Story of Tetris" documentary. It's super interesting!

I was massively into Game Boy until about 1991, but left it behind at that point. Tetris DX was all it took for me to buy a GBC and jump back in with both feet.

Gameboy color works!? Uhh yeah, I sure hope it does!

I love the color you chose for the GBC thumbnails. That's the color I selected for my GBC when I got one in 1998 with a copy of Pokemon Blue, and it's how I learned people care a really weird amount about boys having pink things. Anyway, needless to say it's an inherently "GBC" color to me.

The only colors I want to see in a Jeremy Parish portable-gaming video are red, black, and several shades of pea green. This vibrant color palette may appeal to the sponsors, but it’s a slap in the face to longtime fans of the series. It’s like when Dylan “went electric” or Rod Stewart started recording disco music.

Tetris DX aged really well for 2023 and it looks really good in HD in retroarch and I grew up playing this game with the Gameboy color

I will admit, I was disappointed when I got Tetris DX, and it did not have the original's music.

The gameboy color was the first handheld I've ever owned, but I always found it a touch odd in how it dealt with colour... I mean, I'm not sure I really understand how so many games ended up looking the way they do. On paper, it's a 56 simultaneous colour system from a 15 bit palette. This gives it roughly the same range of available colours as a SNES, but with active colour choices more in line with an NES. Regardless, since colour was hardly an unfamiliar novelty outside of the handheld space, it's bizarre how poorly many GBC games used their colour choices. That's not to say it's all bad, but plenty of it is quite poor even compared to NES. Obviously the hybrid games typically don't make use of the full capabilities of the system, and are more often than not using 10-15 colours or the like. So, perhaps you're wondering where these weird numbers actually come from? Also, how come a GBC can display original gameboy games in more than 4 colours anyway? Sure, any arbitrary 4 colours should be possible, but plenty of games go further than that, and even some of the 'standard' choices for games that don't recognise the GBC also do more than that. Well, let's start at the beginning. The Gameboy obviously was a 4 colour monochrome system. Technically, as with most systems, sprites sacrifice one of their colours to gain transparent pixels, which helps them look better against a background. The gameboy color had to extend this without breaking anything. So, what they did is simple enough; They provided 16 four colour hardware palettes, and GBC native games can pick from those. But, you'll note 4x16 = 64 So how do we get 56? Well, much like the SNES, this isn't 16 palettes you can use for anything (Sega used that kind of logic, but Nintendo mostly didn't), but instead, it's 8 for backgrounds, and 8 for sprites. And as already noted, sprites only get 3 colours, since one value is reserved for transparent. (On SNES backgrounds also have a transparent pixel value, due to the multilayer parallax, but the GB and GBC only have a single background layer, so transparency is redundant.) So, 4x8 + 3x8 = 56 OK, fine. But what does that mean for the hybrid games or for those without GBC support? Well, the hybrid games can do a bunch of things, but generally they're just coded such that an older gameboy just ignores the palette specification data. Thus, everything uses a single palette. What about the more than 4 colours possible when playing games with no GBC support? Well, that's simply because it's possible for the system to distinguish several things that all gameboy games can distinguish anyway. Well, as it turns out, an original gameboy internally distinguishes 4 different things; General background data, 'window' data, and two different groups of sprites. As such, the GBC can set the colours for each of these 4 things independently. Again, the background and 'window' data are 4 colour, while the sprites have transparency. Leading to at most, 14 colours. (plus a general 'background' colour for what's behind everything else, most likely.) Many of the palette sets don't specify 14 unique colours, but it's theoretically possible. And of course, hybrid games can pull other tricks here even if they don't use a full 56 colour palette set. A game that demonstrates this really well being Pokemon Yellow. Which typically only distinguishes sprites and backgrounds, for about 7 colours per scene. But, which changes the palettes for each region. Leading for instance to Lavender town being largely purple shades, while pewter city is shades of grey. The GBC really did use colour in very strange ways all things considered. Especially the more half-hearted 'hybrid' games... But even when the full capabilities were in use, it never seemed to result in the kind of images you would expect from the supposed specifications...

OK these pun titles are outta control

I don't know how you work on multiple of these series for multiple consoles at the same time and not feel completely overwhelmed

The first GBC game is actually Dragon Warrior Monsters. It is released BEFORE the GBC itself.

Awwww yeah it's color time baby

"garish color" on a non-backlit hardware such as the gbc? you jest. youd be lucky if you could see the screen.

This was such a nice surprise to see. This is by far my favorite, or at least most played version of Tetris ever.

Been waiting so long for this one! I remember taking Tetris DX on a high school field trip and it was my main companion on the bus for many hours.

When are you going to start Pokemon Mini Works?

Awesome! Very excited to see this series unfold - the GBC was the first ever game console that I owned just to myself without sharing with siblings. So many great memories.

Hoh hoh hoh! Game Boy Works is back! I've been wistfully gazing out the window at the rain, praying for its return for months!

Ugh I only just now realized DX meant deluxe.

Great video! This is my all-time favourite Tetris game. I've been playing it daily for probably more than 10 years now.

Anyone else constantly screaming at at the screen whenever someone else playing Tetris? MAN NO NOT THERE! GOD DAMN IT TO THE LEFT! LEEEFT!!! Btw awesome video.

You can't run away from Game Boy Works forever, Jeremy.

Looks like somebody will eventually get to games that were made with young children in mind (i.e. games based off children shows.)

I just finished catching up on GBW and holy moly, yeah mix it up. Game Boy models are the spice of life.

The colors are definitely quite garish on a modern backlit display, but remember that the game was designed for a system with no backlight, which would have been much harder to see had they chose less vibrant colors

Observations after viewing: 1) I didn't realize "DX" meant deluxe. 2) The changes in music depending on how close you are to the kill line gets on my nerves, too. 3) Curiously, I didn't know about Tetris DX until a few years ago. But I have fond memories of playing it on my GBA SP shortly after buying it on eBay. 4) The debut of Game Boy Works Color was a pleasant surprise. I'm glad you started this series. I remember getting a turquoise Game Boy Color in the summer of 1999, playing games during my two-week diagnostic vocational evaluation's lunch periods. I still have it, along with my transparent purple Game Boy Advance, but I prefer to play GB, GBC, and GBA games on my GBA SP.

What makes Tetris DX so much better in my opinion is that they did away with the stereotypical Russian music. I like the late 90s ambient style way better. The graphics are also really good and not aggressive as it's been said in the video. I like the different modes that let me run the game in single player for hours.And I enjoy the specific ambient mode when the game is left running alone without player interaction. Tetris DX is my favorite version of Tetris in general. This is first place, followed by original GB Tetris and on third place NES Tetris. There will never be a forth or fifth place needed. It has remained this top three list since Tetris DX hit home with me.

I really love how laid back and well written your videos are; everything's all concise and informative just like in the creamy spinach Game Boy Works. Tetris DX was probably the first game I ever played back in 1999 at the earliest, and I still have the same cartridge and Game Boy Color to go with it. I enjoyed the original Tetris, too.

I wonder if the stealth Game Boy + Color hybrid game, Pokemon Yellow, will be covered. The versions outside of Japan actually have GBC colors, even though it's in a gray cartridge. It very likely wasn't marketed to be GBC compatible because the colorization is very limited. (For example, all Pokemon are colored one color, the overworld is one solid, but changing color, etc.) But either way, great work! I continue to watch the new videos every Wednesday.

I loved this version of Tetris. It did strike me as odd to have be backwards compatible since there was already a well-owned GB version.

...All this time I thought DX stood for Director's Cut. I never knew it actually meant Deluxe until this video.

I await the inevitable Game Boy Works Advance series.

I still own this game and play it usually a couple times a day on my GameBoy Pocket. Nice how it saves your scores and you can pause the game turn off the Gameboy and pick up right were you left off next time.

Plenty more fan service next episode? XD Love that ending music

Super excited for this new series!

Been a game for 35years+ and always been a big shooter/SHMUP fan, love playing in TATE mode the Flip-Grip is fantastic such a brilliant idea and cost me like £15ish, summit like that and when it arrived I was really shocked with how high quality a piece of plastic could feel, absolutely love it! And the GameBoyWorks Vol1 and 2 plus the NESWorks Vol1 and 2 are bloody fantastic, was about £90 for all 4 and there absolutely must haves for fans, the high quality photos are brilliant! M

I was right there at the launch of the GameBoy Color, but being a kid with a limited pool of money, Tetris DX _did not_ interest me. The built in pallets of the GameBoy Color made the original '89 Tetris look quite colorful to begin with, and having a near decade experience with the original GameBoy at that point, I felt puzzlers in general don't need color, certainly not Tetris. Nintendo would have been better off making a colorized version of Dr. Mario than Tetris. Anyway, I just recently installed a new backlit LCD into my teal GameBoy Color and man, it's amazing to play GBC game son the original hardware with a fully lit display. No more having to opt for the GBA SP or emulation. It's glorious.

This was the first gameboy game i've ever played

For me it's all about the Type A music. If you ask anyone to sing the Tetris theme song, they're going to give you the original Gameboy (USA) Type A song. To that end, Gameboy and SNES are the best versions. Music is super important to gaming.

Man am I glad to see this. Sorry, I watched your Virtual Boy works and it was fine but this is more like it. On another note it will be interesting to see who actually finishes one these chronological series. For instance the guy you emulated with Chontendo series I don’t think has released much in years at this point.

I like Tetris DX a lot better than original Game Boy Tetris because in Tetris DX, the game saves your high scores and your name entries. The original version of original Game Boy Tetris never had a save feature, which sucked.

WHOOOO GAMEBOY WORKS IS BACK!!!

That darn mainframe Tetris speaker beep! I thought my PC was going into meltdown.

Still play this exact one til this day.

Yaaaay, Jeremy is back with GB goodness! Thanks man, following closely. 👍

Jeremy, I love your videos and books! But I wanted to mention, remember when talking about the "eye searing colors" that while that may be true on emulators on bright monitors, Game Boys were not lit until the front-lit SP in 2003 and backlit upgrade in 2005, so it looks much more subtle in the original format. Unrelated conjecture: I'm not 100% sure if the same applied to GB sprites, but I know that on the NES, sprite coordinates were offset one pixel lower vertically than the background coordinate. This could be compensated for in sprite positioning, but most games used it to indicate depth for a character standing on the ground tiles on the background. That may account for the extra pixel the piece travels downward before converting them to background tiles once the blocks are placed.

I don't think you get to complain about Nintendo's color choices being garish while you've got *that* background for your logo. :-P

One of the best "Tetris" releases and a sigificant upgrade control wise! THIS is the true Gameboy Classic and definitive Version=)

I find it interesting the you mention Nintendo's practice of keeping development in-house while showing the original Donkey Kong where they had to bring in Ikegami Tsushinki Co., Ltd. to help with the programming and Nintendo was successfully sued over altering that code to make Donkey Kng Jr, hence why the only version available for the last several decades have been the NES ports.

Man, you had me worried that I missed the rest of Game Boy Works.

For me, the only Tetris soundtrack that competes with OG GameBoy would be Tetris DS.

Tetris DX colors are nice!

Superb video Jeremy!

Sweet! I thought we were going to have to wait until at least the 2030s for some GBC content.

You're not going to review every single gameboy color game...right?

Man I love this new series! Keep it up!

I disagree about sound, the tracks are solid, and the critical indicators in tone change keep you on track

The definitive version. The one I excel at.

You can't just commit to one console, can you? XD

Amazing review thanks

It’d be cool to see you talk about Tetris Plus!

Wide Boy 64? What’s your hardware setup for this series?

I like the term "Ted Turner-ized". I'm going to start using that.

Where can I find the ending song?

I'm not saying I like the color palette choices GBC games chose... but, considering the low-rez, non-backlit screen the hardware came with, I get why it was done. Developers were trying to make their games actually visible on such a low-tech screen.

Hey after the torture of Virtual Boy works which came to an end(and also the end of simple red and black colours) GBC is a welcome change and fyi I spell it colours as I do not live in America. Woe Nintendo for naming the system Gameboy Color, even if lots of places spell it properly. So hey my instinct of spelling it the alternate way kicks in. :P

Best tetris Version. Batterie Save is so fantastic. All good but music. The original Sound can be activate via cheat Code Devise

WHAT??!! How is it possible that I missed the classic theme for tetris 99!

The first game I ever played.

I've often wondered if I should pick this up as I love Tetris but that music really does ruin it for me. I guess maybe the Devs thought they best do more than just add colour to the game? So decided to change the music.

I think Tetris DX is one of the best versions of Tetris. It looks good. It has no silly backgrounds consisting of photos or pixel art e.g. Tetris 2 on the SNES. It's clean and while it doesn't have the original's music it has iconic tunes. Also it plays well too. Plus I like the look of the blocks themselves. Personally Nintendo make the best versions of Tetris when they are left to develop alone.

I love the Nintendo portable systems. I wonder if you will consider something like Shadowgate Classic, which I always revisit every fifteen years or so after I forget how to finish it.

I was wondering if the GBC would be included in Game Boy Works or not. Having a separate series is a good idea so we don't have to wait for the entire Game Boy Works to be completed to see these games. Though it might be weird for B&W Game Boy games that got a GBC version if the GBC video comes out first. Link's Awakening DX is probably going to show up before the original and it will be odd to see a video about a remake without the context of a video for the original version. Jeremy, what are you playing these games on? That doesn't look like a GB Player border and I can't imagine you using emulation for these videos.

"Next time we'll look at a puzzler that doesn't hold up quite so well." And you show Hexcite? :( I just tried that for the first time last year and got really addicted to it. It did take me watching a couple of videos and reading some reviews online to properly understand how to play the game, though (of course I didn't have the manual to go with it).

Who do you say it? Game Boy Works color? Or Game Boy Color Works?

"The Game Boy Color was a half step forward until its 32-bit ambitions could be realized. In other words, the system that suffers from 'middle-child' syndrome between the original and Advanced Game Boys." Just like the Wii U, I suppose.

Personally, my favorite tetris version

ah shit, here we go again :)

How are you capturing the footage of Game Boy Color software? It's not the Super Game Boy and I don't remember the Game Boy Advance Player on Game Cube having a GBC skin either.

Are NES and SNES works going to continue at a regular pace as well and, if you don't mind me asking, will Nintendo 64 Works ever be revived?

Hey who're you callin' a blockhead?!

NES WORKS Vol. III: 1987 (this year?)

What is the song you use for the "Next time on" or is it an original piece made for your show?

Always thought "tetronimo" was pronounced like "domino." Kind of tough to realign my world view after this revelation.

Should we expect a Super Game Boy Works as well?

If mine says DMG-ATEA-USA and has the Nintendo logo on the right, is it a fake or a first print? I saw one with DMG-ATEA-USA 1 that had the gold Nintendo seal on the right and the Nintendo logo on the left just under the rating. Anyone know if Tetris Dx first release was the exception to the Nintendo seal being absent (meaning if it’s missing it’s a fake)?

The only two color games I ever bought for my GBC were Heroes of Might & Magic and Lufia. Pretty bad picks...

It's stingy with the "I" block. 🥺

I wish you would have elaborated more about what the differences in the actual mechanics were, and what is no longer considered official Tetris.

😁

I will play tetris DX.😀👍🎮

also gba has no version of tetris that can stand up to this one as far as im aware, theyre plagued with gimmicks that get in the way. you wouldnt see a decent nintendo tetris again until ds.

So why are taking a break from game boy works?

Hue Kids On The Block Had a bunch of hits Chinese food makes me sick And I think it's fly When girls stop by For the summer For the summer I like girls that Wear Abercrombie and Fitch I'd take her if I had one wish But she's been gone Since that summer Since that summer

Ah, back when teenagers with enlarged heads screamed Play It Loud into a warped perspective lens. Out of all the 90’s marketing aesthetics, those were undoubtedly the most 90’s. Thanks, Gameboy Color. Seeing the Metal Gear Solid logo on a GBC cart is still a bit jarring. The Gameboy certainly had longevity on its side.

The worst thing of tetris dx: Panic Themes, glad there is a patch to remove them

I should like your reviews and in fact they are good but something about your voice makes my mind shut down after a few minutes and I don't follow anything any more :)