Tetris (series)

This article is written from the Real Life point of view

Tetris is a puzzle video game franchise originally created by Soviet engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. Pajitnov holds the rights to the Tetris franchise through the Tetris Company, which he founded in 1996. Three Tetris games released for Nintendo consoles have featured Metroid content.

Tetris (NES)[]

In the 1989 Nintendo Entertainment System version, Samus appears playing the upright bass after the player wins a B-type game of level at least nine and height at least 2. She appears along with multiple other Nintendo characters. In this appearance, Samus has two arms without the Arm Cannon.

Samus once again plays the upright bass in WarioWare: Smooth Moves's Opening Night microgame, in reference to this scene.

The scene can be viewed here.

Tetris DS[]

Tetris DS features Catch Mode, which is based on the original Metroid.

The purpose of the game mode is to collect tetrominoes into contiguous blocks, by using a single solid block. The tetrominoes fall from the top in various positions, and only the solid block can be rotated. Once a large block has been collected, it will detonate, destroying everything in its path. Several Metroid larvae in capsules similar to the baby's also fall from the ceiling; destroying them in detonations will net a bonus. The capsule sprite is original to Tetris DS. The player loses a small amount of health if the blocks hit the bottom of the screen. Colliding the collected blocks with the Metroid containers will cause a big health loss and destruction of some collected blocks. The game is over once the player loses all health.

The play area is a shaft resembling Brinstar's blue-tinted and gold-colored shafts, but with a more realistic, bat cave-like background. The longer the player lasts in Catch, the environment begins to turn a purple and then green color, palettes that do not exist in Metroid. Numerous sprites from Metroid can be seen in the background in different poses. These include Samus aiming up at a Ripper, in Morph Ball, on a ledge in front of a Blue Door, jumping and aiming at a Zoomer on the bottom of a ledge, Spin Jumping from one ledge to another, and a Ripper and Zoomer alone. Once all sprites have been displayed, it cycles over.

The theme is a remix of the classic Brinstar theme, which can be heard here: [1]. When the detonation block activates and before it explodes, a faster remix of the Brinstar theme is heard.

Level 12 of Marathon Mode is also Metroid themed. The level features Mother Brain in the background of the touch screen, and a rapidly rotating sprite of Samus that moves when points are accumulated. The Brinstar remix plays here as well. On the top screen, Samus can be seen jumping around in the starting point of Brinstar, but the Morph Ball is missing and the background is colored red, a contrast to the blue rock scenery of Brinstar. Two Zoomers are present on the midair structures above the starting point, as they are in Metroid.

Finally, Samus appears on the Title Screen, running around and shooting tetrominos.

Marathon Mode level 12.

Tetris 99[]

On October 26, 2021, it was announced that Tetris 99 would cross over with Metroid Dread, introducing a Dread-themed Maximus Cup event and board theme, titled in-game as Special Theme 19. The theme was available between October 29th and November 2nd, and players who racked up 100 event points could keep it.^[1][2][3] The Dread board returned as part of a new Maximus Cup event, along with other past Nintendo themes, from August 5 to 10th, 2022.^[4]

The board features Samus (in her Power Suit) and E.M.M.I.-02SM in the background. The tetrominos have the Screw Attack symbol on them. The countdown to a match features the Chozo numerals for three, two and one, followed by the Chozo words BASH and SIDUR, meaning "ready" and "go" respectively. Additional Chozo text appears on the margins of the interface, including KOHANA ("hold"), MUSH ("next"), and LAVIN ("place", as in "first/second/third place"). The word GARMA also appears when being targeted by another player; its exact meaning is unknown, but it is used equivalently to the phrase "watch out!" in other Tetris 99 skins. The Theme of Samus plays on the board, changing to the Cave 002 theme when 50 players are left, and the Emmy Chase theme when 10 players are left.

The ranks on either side of the board use Metroid larva sprites from the original Metroid. Upon successful completion, the Item Acquisition Fanfare from Dread plays. If the player loses, the Game Over jingle in Dread plays.

A trailer for the crossover can be viewed here.

Nintendo News[]

Play the 26th MAXIMUS CUP online event and you could earn an in-game collaborative theme!

"Suit up, bounty hunters! We've got a mysterious transmission coming in...

By participating in the next Tetris® 99 26th MAXIMUS CUP online event, players can earn an in-game theme inspired by the Metroid™ Dread game. During the event, collect 100 event points by playing matches in Tetris 99 mode to unlock the in-game theme.

The event will be:

10/29 (Fri.) at 12:00 a.m. PT to 11/1 (Mon.) at 11:59 p.m. PT

You can learn more details at tetris99.nintendo.com.

Good luck, everyone!

Tetris 99 x Metroid Dread trailer thumbnail.

Event poster

The Dread board before the round begins.

Event poster in-game.

The in-game menu during the Dread event.

Points counter at the end of every round.

In-game notification when the Dread theme has been unlocked permanently.

The theme in the Customize menu.

Maximus Cup - Second Chance Edition promotion on Twitter.

Nintendo Switch Online - Game Boy[]

Both the Game Boy version of Tetris as well as Metroid II: Return of Samus were among the launch games for the Game Boy module for Nintendo Switch Online.

References[]