Super Tetris

Overview

Super Tetris is a falling-block puzzle game developed by Sphere, Inc. and published by Spectrum HoloByte for PC (both DOS and Windows), Macintosh, and Amiga computers in 1991-1992.

A variation of the classic puzzle game Tetris, Super Tetris builds on the idea that the playfield is a water well by having rows of garbage blocks (known as "rubble") float upward to the middle row (or "water line"), and having players work to excavate the rubble from the well (by clearing them in lines and using special "Bomb" pieces).

Similar to Spectrum HoloByte's other games in the "Tris" series, Super Tetris features a heavy Soviet theme, with background imagery taken from pictures of the Moscow Circus. It was often sold alongside Wordtris and Tetris Classic and was later included in the 1993 compilation Tetris Gold.

The game is unrelated to other games bearing the "Super Tetris" name (such as Super Tetris 2 + BomBliss, which utilizes the common practice at the time of putting "Super" in the name of SNES releases).

Gameplay

Super Tetris plays similar to the traditional game of Tetris, with the rotation system of the studio's earlier adaptations. However, there are a few key differences between this and standard Tetris variants:

• The game uses a taller 10×28 playfield (known in the manual as the "Pit"), with the bottom 14-row half being comprised of garbage block rows ("Rubble") that float upward towards the mid-point (the "Water Line").

• The objective of each Level is not to clear lines above the Water Line, but to clear all lines below it. There are a set number of Rubble rows that floats from the bottom of the screen, after which the floor rises with it. Players also have a limited amount of pieces (starting at 50) that can be dropped, which can only be replenished by performing line clears, clearing Levels, and activating specific Treasure blocks.

• Clearing lines grant drops of cluster "Bomb" pieces, used for cleaning up faulty block drops and activating special Rubble blocks known as "Treasure". (See Bombs & Treasure)

• Each Level has one of several pre-determined Rubble patterns. Shown in the bottom-left of the screen is a "Thermometer" that shows the rubble rows cleared, which helps show this pattern.

• Players can disable the Next Piece display for a +25% score bonus per line clear.

• Both multiplayer modes utilize the same playfield, which is widened to 16×28. (See Game Modes).

Bombs & Treasure

After a line clear, players are given a special "Bomb" piece drop, consisting of multiple Bomb tiles that destroy blocks (along with themselves) when they touch them. These pieces can be manipulated like any other piece, even when Bomb tiles are detonated. Larger line clears grant larger Bomb pieces (from 2×1, up to 2×2, then 4×2, and finally 4×3).

Along with clearing troublesome blocks, these can also be used to detonate Treasure blocks that appear in the Rubble. Unlike most Tetris variants with power-up blocks, these can only be activated by using a Bomb tile on them directly, and clearing lines with them in it removes them with no effect.

• Point Block - Adds 5, 10, or 15 to the Piece Limit.
• Long Block - Changes the next piece into the I-block.
• Lightning Block - Clears the entire row.
• Detonator Block - Clears all tiles surrounding it.
• Bomb Block - Changes all tiles of the next piece into Bomb tiles.
• Green Bubble Block - Creates a bubble that floats upward, destroying all blocks before reaching the Water Line.
• Red Bubble Block - Creates a bubble that floats upward, filling all empty spaces with blocks before reaching the Water Line.

Certain Treasure, such as the Bubble Blocks, do not appear in earlier levels.

Game Modes

Along with the standard stage-based Single Player mode (with 10 total Levels), the game includes bonus Timed modes (at 5-, 10-, or 15- minute intervals) and two multiplayer modes: Cooperative and Competitive.

Regardless of the multiplayer mode, both players share the same playfield (which is widened to 16×28). In Cooperative, both players share the same Next Piece, score, and level, while in Competitive, each player has their own. Also, in Cooperative, the starting Piece Limit is upgraded from 50 to 100.

In the DOS and Macintosh versions, the game includes a "Head-to-Head" option for LAN and modem-based competitive multiplayer.

Scoring

For each line clear, players are scored based on the number of lines cleared at once (7 for singles, 14 for doubles, 28 for triples, 56 for Tetris), multiplied by the current Level. If a player manages to clear more than four lines at once (a difficult feat that makes use of Red Bubble Blocks), they get 15 points for each line, multiplied by the current Level. Turning the Next Piece display off adds an additional +25% bonus.

At the end of each Level, players earn an additional bonus based on the number of pieces left (multiplied by 4, then by the current Level) and on the amount of empty space above the Water Line (multiplied by the current Level).