Mr. N64's Summary of Tetrisphere's Story and Play Mechanics

Story:


N/A


Play mechanics:


Tetrisphere is the latest spin-off of the classic puzzle game Tetris. Like most Tetris spin-offs, Tetrisphere has little in common with the original Game Boy classic. Tetrisphere’s puzzle pieces may be shaped the same, but that's where the similarities end.

There are several modes of play in Tetrispehere, but most of them have the same goal. You must clear a path to the core of a sphere of Tetrads (Tetris shaped pieces). How you clear this path is actually rather complex. In fact, even though I've played the game quite a bit, I'm not sure I can accurately tell you the basic rules of clearing pieces. The best I can do is say that if you drop a Tetrad on top of a Tetrad of the same shape that's sitting next to another Tetrad of the same shape, all three Tetrads will be removed. For example, if there are two square Tetrads lined up next to each other, dropping a square Tetrad on top of one of these will clear them out. When the cursor is lined up for a good drop, the cursor will have a white outline.

In addition to dropping pieces, you can slide pieces around to line them up. Special Power Pieces can be slid up or down levels of the sphere in addition to sliding around to the sides. Power Pieces are created by destroying three or more Tetrads with one drop. Lining up several Tetrads before a drop increases points and the likelihood of gaining one of the game's "magic" items that quickly eliminate many Tetrads.

Gameplay is not as simple as removing pieces. If you take too long, the sphere will fly at the screen and cost you one of the three bad drops you're allowed. There are also different robot characters to chose from, each with different dragging and dropping abilities (I recommend using the robot named Wheels).

The following is a detailed description of Tetrisphere's Play Modes and Controls:

Play Mode Description
Practice Set up the sphere of your dreams to practice on.
Rescue Open up a large enough part of the core for the character at the center to escape.
Hide and Seek This mode consists of several different sets of levels. In each set you will be given spheres with unique goals (such as uncover four pictures and arrange them into one big picture). At the end of each level set, there's a one level game of rescue.
Options Change the sound, view the controls, erase player data and view scores.
Puzzle 100 challenging brain teasers. Clear each puzzle with the given number of slides and drops.
Time Trial Rack up the highest score you can in 5 minutes.
Vs. Play against a friend. The first one to uncover a part of the core wins. If you play well, you will dump pieces on your opponents sphere.
Vs. CPU Play a Vs. Game against the CPU.

Button Action
Control Pad (note that the Control Stick does not function) Move Cursor
A Drop the current piece
B Hold and use the D-pad to slide pieces around. Power pieces can be slid up a level as well.
Top C Reset a Puzzle in Puzzle Mode
Bottom C Use a magic item.
L Zoom in on a Puzzle in Puzzle Mode
R Zoom out on a Puzzle in Puzzle Mode.
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