Tennis
PUBLISHER/DEVELOPER: Nintendo
RELEASE DATE: May 29th, 1989 (JP), Jul. 31st, 1989 (US), 1990 (EU)
Mario takes off his flashy red hero hat and dons a more subtle, sophisticated referee cap for the second time in Nintendo’s Tennis. The first time he did this was, of course, in Tennis for the NES. Mario looked very small there, almost smooshed down in his referee chair, not super at all, more mustache than man. The players in the NES version resemble ghouls with their beady eyes, absence of mouth, and spindly legs that skitter across the court. Here, on Game Boy, the players still lack mouths, but their large eyes and squatty stature make them considerably less frightening.
What should we expect from a handheld tennis game from 1989? Four difficulty levels and two-player simultaneous play with the Link Cable. No real players, no different types of court. Serving, volleying, and smashing have a surprising amount of depth. ‘A’ and ‘B’ are used to hit the ball, but if you want to get the one-up on your opponent, you must employ the Control Pad to steer it in your preferred direction.
My only beef with GB Tennis is how slow the players are. Say what you will about the questionable player designs in NES Tennis, they had a speed and tenacity that the GB players lack. In my time with the game, it wasn’t uncommon for my opponent to hit a ball relatively close to me and my player still not reach it in time before the ball bounced again. I acknowledge that I might just suck at GB Tennis, that I should better plan and predict where my opponent will hit the ball next. Even if this is the case, I still wish the players moved just a little faster.
Mario would later get his hefty plumber cheeks out of the referee chair and onto the court, but in 1989, he didn’t yet know that Nintendo would force him and his friends to play tennis for decades on end. No, in 1989, Mario was just a humble referee, and GB Tennis was just a tennis game, simple, pure, and completely content in its mundanity.
C
Tetris
PUBLISHER: Nintendo
DEVELOPER: Alexey Pajitnov (port by Nintendo)
RELEASE DATE: Jun. 14th, 1989 (JP), Jul. 31st, 1989 (US), Sept. 28th, 1990 (EU)
History
The story of Tetris on the Game Boy can be read in the opening credits…
“Original concept, design, and program by Alexey Pajitnov.”
Pajitnov made Tetris either in 1984 or 1985 (depending on the source) for the Soviet computer Elektronika 60, while working at the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
According to “The Bizarre History of Tetris” article by Mindy Weisberger, “Pajitnov was inspired by a puzzle game called “pentominoes,” in which different wooden shapes made of five equal squares are assembled in a box. …Pajitnov imagined the shapes falling from above into a glass, with players controlling the shapes and guiding them into place. Pajitnov adapted the shapes to four squares each and programmed the game in his spare time, dubbing it “Tetris.” The name combined the Latin word “tetra” — the numerical prefix “four,” for the four squares of each puzzle piece — and “tennis,” Pajitnov’s favorite game.”
“TM and ©1987 Elorg…”
Tetris was a hit within the Soviet Union. Bootleg copies were spread across the region and even into Eastern Europe, but there was a problem. Pajitnov may have created Tetris, but because he created it within the Soviet Union, the game’s copyright was property of the government. Specifically, Elektronorgtechnica or “Elorg” for short, a new bureau created to administer foreign rights of Soviet computer hardware and software. Only Elorg, not Pajitnov, could decide which companies could release Tetris around the world.
“Tetris licensed to Bullet-Proof Software… ©1989 Bullet-Proof Software.”
Enter Bullet-Proof Software and the company’s founder, Henk Rogers. Rogers was looking for games to sell to Japanese markets at the 1988 Winter Consumer Electronics Show. After playing Tetris there, he knew he had found his game. Atari Games subsidiary, Tengen, sold Rogers the rights to publish Tetris for the computers and for Famicom in Japan in late 1988. The Famicom version sold two million copies, which aroused the interest of Nintendo in the game.
“…sub-licensed to Nintendo… ©1989 Nintendo.”
Depending on the source, Nintendo of America President Minoru Arakawa either asked Rogers if he could secure the handheld rights for Tetris for Nintendo’s upcoming Game Boy, or Rogers went out of his way to pitch Tetris as a pack-in Game Boy game to Arakawa, who was skeptical. Either way, Rogers went to Elorg in Moscow for the first time, and after some lengthy discussions and even potential competition, Rogers was awarded the handheld rights for Tetris. In 1989, Rogers would also receive the console rights, which allowed Nintendo to make the NES version of Tetris.
There’s a lot of 1980s Tetris history I’m not going to cover here, including Robert Stein and his illegal acquiring of the Tetris rights, which he sold to Mirrorsoft and sister company, Spectrum Holobyte. How Tengen thought they acquired rights for Tetris and made their own NES version before Nintendo did. Also, how Sega made their own version of Tetris for the arcade and the Genesis in Japan, but would later pull it due to their own rights issues.
All these strands are fascinating, but for the purpose of article length, and the fact that we’re specifically discussing the Game Boy version of Tetris, I’m choosing not to go down these specific rabbit holes. Perhaps another time!
The Greatest?
Nearly 40 years after its release, many gamers, including Pajitnov himself, still consider Game Boy Tetris to be their favorite iteration of the game. Is this pure nostalgia or is this version really that incredible?
To be honest, I don’t know. Tetris on Game Boy certainly has a lot to recommend. The now-iconic Soviet folk-song soundtrack, buttery-smooth controls, and that classic falling-block gameplay millions of people know and love. One would think the gray and green graphics and lack of aesthetic frills would be an issue for gamers, but if anything, I think they only make Game Boy Tetris more endearing.
While modern versions of Tetris Effect draw gamers in with absorbing dreamscapes and ethereal music, Game Boy Tetris is just Tetris. Simple, straightforward, easy to pick up and play for five minutes or five hours, depending on your addiction level. Tetris, not Super Mario Land, sold the Game Boy to millions of consumers who might not have played a video game since the Golden Age of arcades. My grandma played it for hours at a time. Even my aunt - who could care less about video games - played it. And, of course, my friends and I played it. When I was a lad, Tetris was one of the few games I even cared to play on Game Boy. Not because it was my favorite game, but because it just works on the handheld. Good on Henk Rogers for pursuing the game as aggressively as he did. Tetris and Game Boy feel like they were meant for each other.
When Game Boy Tetris dropped on Nintendo Switch Online three years ago, I played it for hours longer than I intended. What started as a quick visit with an old friend turned into a rambling conversation, one that neither of us wanted to end. This is not normal for me. Usually when games drop on NSO, I try them for a bit, then move on when I see how poorly the game has aged. GB Tetris brought me back in, though, despite the game’s perceived inadequacies.
Yeah, it’s old. Yeah, it’s monochrome. And yeah, it offers nothing other than two modes of Tetris (mode B is very underrated). Really, though, what else do you need? Tetris is a full meal in and of itself. Future versions of Tetris are often weighed down with unnecessary content and complexity. GB Tetris’ provides Alexey Pajitnov’s creation in its purest form, and the result remains both refreshing and liberating.
A
*images courtesy of Propagandaworld Archive, Stache Cow, Wikipedia, and X
"‘A’ is used to hit the ball, but if you want to get the one-up on your opponent, you must employ the Control Pad to steer it in your preferred direction."
I chuckled.
I loved the seizures I got from the cosmic whales and DJ camels of Tetris: Effect, but when you break the gameplay down to its bones, you find the exact same game as the GB original. How insane is it to build such a timeless game as a GAMEBOY LAUNCH TITLE???