When NES Tetris launched, it did so in the shadow of its more celebrated counterpart—Nintendo’s Game Boy version of Tetris. The handheld iteration went on to receive a colorful facelift with Tetris DX and eventually made its way to the Nintendo 3DS through Virtual Console. In contrast, NES Tetris didn’t see an official reissue until very recently.
Despite this, NES Tetris has carved out an impressive legacy and has found a niche within the esports community. Over the past few decades, it has become the cornerstone for competitive Tetris enthusiasts. A new wave of players has emerged, shattering old records and redefining the strategies that drive this 35-year-old classic.
The story of how Nintendo secured the rights to Tetris in the late ’80s is as thrilling as any game plot. Navigating a maze of Soviet bureaucracy and dealing with canny British media players, Nintendo aimed for the top prize: handheld publishing rights, ensuring Tetris could launch with the Game Boy. At the same time, they clinched the console publishing rights for markets outside of Japan, where their partner Henk Rogers had already introduced it on the Famicom.
Nintendo has remained fiercely protective of these rights, so much so that NES and Game Boy Tetris were conspicuously absent from the recent Tetris Forever compilation. While the Game Boy version of Tetris holds the crown as the quintessential version, NES Tetris arguably stands as a close runner-up, cementing its place in gaming history.
