Tetris game surely has enjoyed a long journey from its releasing year 1988 to the present times. There were multiple publishing brands, numerous variants, sequels, versions, and even adaptations of the game. Some are even unofficial that got popularity at the online gaming community. But if you really want to understand what was the opening years of this popular Tetris game coming to the world, you need to see all those variants release back then,so here are we with all those early variants.
Tetris ( 1988)
Tetris was first released in 1988 on platforms like Amsterdam PCW, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64 where it was published by Mirrorsoft. The ports were developed by Rowan Software. But that was just the beginning as multiple variants of the year released on different platforms. They weren’t much different but more unique as per their platforms and some basic changes. It further got adapted to Amiga, Apple, II, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Mac OS, IBM, Apple IIgs, IBM PC, and more. Then, it was further adapted to family computers, arcade, and more.
Tetris ( Atari Arcade)
Atari Arcade version of the Tetris game released in the same year is actually the most popular version ever. It was developed by Atari games, originally released for arcade gaming in 1988. The gameplay for Tetris was the same as what was made for its computer editions. It gained huge popularity after being adapted on the Atari arcade.
Tetris (NES)
Atari variant of the Tetris retro game was further ported to the NES in the year 1989 itself under their Tengen brand. It was titled Tetris: The Soviet Mind Game. After some legal issues, Nintendo gave up for the rights to publish the console version, and only Atari owned rights for the arcade version. But eventually, Nintendo introduced their own versions for Gameboy as well as for NES, and both were commercially successful.
Tetris ( Gameboy Video Game)
One of the most popular variants of the Tetris game, probably even more than arcade, is the GameBoy video game version. It was also released in 1989, a portable version of the original Tetris. It was bundled in North American and European releases. It was also the first game that was compatible with Game Link Cable. There was also a colorized remake of the game entitled Tetris DX released in 2011.
Welltris
It was designed by Alexey Pajitnov and develop by Doka.Pieces. The game was also developed and released in 1989 but not for arcade or Gameboy version and for PC. It was published by Spectrum Holobyte. It was actually the first Tetris sequel. The gameplay is the same with the falling block puzzles but it further extended the pit into 3D where the block remains 2D. The blocks can be rotated, turned left or right. So slightly upgraded but still the iconic gameplay the same as Tetris.
Tetris (Microsoft).
Tetris is the game released in 1990 published by Microsoft Windows. It was part of the Microsoft Entertainment Pack. In year 1990, if you buy Microsoft computers, these games were the part of the in-system applications and games. It further took the games to household gaming amongst youngsters, become much more accessible and available.
Hatris
Hatris released in 1990 on the platforms like NES and Game boy, published by Bullet Proof software. It was designed by Alexey Pajitnov. The gameplay was very similar to the original one were with this game variety of hats were supposed to fall into stacks of five identical hats. It has other versions such as arcade and PC-engine.
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