Tetris Effect: Connected (Switch)

Nintendo’s Game Boy was a revelation.

Those of us who were hardwired to a television were able to finally delight in gaming on the go. I received the original Game Boy on my sixth birthday as a final gift from my father who had passed away a few weeks prior. As a young child, I was already keen on the bright colors and addictive platforming from the likes of Mario and Ninja Gaiden. But I knew the allure of a portable device to play video games on. During a car ride. Before and after church. A quick moment in school after pulling it from my backpack. I wonder how many batteries I went through in those years…

Eventually I owned Tetris on the NES. First, however, I experienced it through that backlit greenish grey on a screen a few inches wide. And yeah, I was terrible at it.

Tetris Effect somehow transcended the bonds of perfection. How does a developer evolve the immaculate? That puzzle was solved in a synesthesia paradise of artistry. As much as I wish I could describe the magic of the game, Eric Layman, who originally reviewed Tetris Effect, says everything far more eloquently and masterfully than myself in his review.

Tetris is as much a “perfect” game as something as seminal as Pong. The simplicity of its rules and the vast gulf of possibility allow for a playpen of infinite, evolving challenges. As much as my young self may have wanted to be good at Tetris, I just never had the patience or the grasp of skill. But damnit, did I love hearing that music. Yet despite my limp attempts at clearing four lines at a time, I had a lot of fun. Even my mom would pick up the Game Boy from time to time and play.

Throughout the years, the many iterations and evolutions of Tetris have attempted to throw many a wrench in the formula to spice it up for this audience or that. I recall Tetrisphere from the many pages of Nintendo Power and hesitated to wrap my brain around the consequences of clearing layers of a sphere rather than from a well. When I first saw the trailers for Tetris Effect with Hydelic’s Connected (Yours Forever) playing to the pulsing beat of colored tetrominoes, I lost my mind. I had to have this game, despite not touching Tetris in god knows how many years.

While Tetris Effect allowed players the chance to experience simple Tetris in a few permutations, nothing compared to the Journey mode. Playing Tetris with an evolving difficulty was one thing. It was unlike anything else to watch the pieces and scenery and music and visuals shift and change as more and more lines were cleared, taking players on a figurative journey that often crescendoed in emotional ways. I have an intense soft spot for games featuring music that changes with the ebb and flow of gameplay, NieR:Automata and the Bit.Trip Runner series being ones that come closest to mind. Tetris Effect neatly wedged itself into that harmonious spot between my ears.

For many weeks after Tetris Effect‘s release, I spent time playing the game in virtual reality on the PlayStation VR where I was able to be submerged in the experience. Acclimating myself to dropping blocks with little to no thought and feeling like I had become more of an expert, at least by my standards at the age of six. Eventually I fell off for whatever reason but to this day, the landscapes of Tetris Effect have lingered with me and I can recall so much about the game with clarity.

The appropriately named Tetris Effect: Connected, released last year for the Xbox and PC and introduced multiplayer modes to the game. The Connected mode, is the premiere addition to this new part of the experience. In it, you and two other players work together to topple an AI-controlled opponent. Working together, three players are tasked with clearing lines in their individual wells to drop junk lines into the “boss” opponent as the AI works against the other players with often crippling effects. The AI may cause the perspective to switch and shift around to disorient players or cause tetrominoes to fall at a faster rate. Eventually, all three players will fill up a version of the Zone ability carried over from the main game, causing all three wells to combine to create a massive playing field. Each player will take a turn dropping a block into the larger well, inspiring moments of pause and collaboration to ensure the maximum amount of junk lines get deposited into the AI opponent’s well.

As a multiplayer concept, the Connected mode is incredibly unique when framed against the world of shooters and sports games. But it is a surprisingly apt extension of the message Tetris Effect was going for upon first release. Connected urges players to enter a state of calm and connectedness with the actions on the screen, not allowing stress or panic to create a ripple effect. But it also captures the intensity of clutch moves or the divine blessing of a much-needed piece that will bust up a few lines.

Additionally, there is the Zone Battle mode which acts as a simple versus mode where two players compete against each other, clearing lines to create junk lines for the other player. Here, players can take advantage of the zone mechanic to slow down time to take off some of the pressure or get a leg up with a few well-placed insertions. A Score Attack and Classic Score Attack remove junk lines and the zone mechanics, where the Classic mode strips the mechanics down to the absolute basics. Those wanting to latch on to the purely competitive nature of Tetris will delight in these modes, especially considering that the Switch version allows for cross-platform play, meaning that finding matches is easier. However, because the game is over a year old on other consoles, it feels like finding a Switch player is more common. I went through a few long lobby waits but nothing terrible as I’m not much of a competitive Tetris player.

Playing on the Nintendo Switch, players should expect at least a bit of a compromise in terms of graphical fidelity. Playing on the launch Switch’s small screen or in Docked mode doesn’t compare to Tetris Effect on a 4K television. Graphically, it’s more similar to playing on PSVR but without the immersive tech. I can’t speak to how the game looks on the new OLED Switch but I’m sure it does make the colors and deep blacks pop a lot more. The Switch version features a very consistent framerate which I think is more important than optimized visuals, as Tetris Effect isn’t necessarily a graphics-intensive game. Plus, the JoyCon’s HD rumble takes advantage of the game’s music and shifting of pieces, causing details and well-timed vibrations to echo through the controllers.

Tetris Effect: Connected is an exceptionally wonderful game on the Nintendo Switch, however. Certainly the game was already quite a godsend upon its initial release but there is a specific, nostalgic thrill to playing Tetris in this way on this console decades after it originally came out. Tetris Effect is effectively a portable game now because of the Switch. It may be affected by the limitations of the console or not evoke as much delight as VR but in the end, there is no wrong way to play Tetris Effect: Connected.