The story of Tetris is long and convoluted enough to fill an entire book, and those wanting to know the full story about the tangled legal mess that the game’s home rights turned into are encouraged to check out David Sheff’s Game Over: Press Start to Continue. It has all the details about the litigation and underhanded plays that occurred as multiple entities and people tried to cash in on the Russian phenomenon. One company that was caught in the crossfire was Sega, which tried to release a version of Tetris for the Mega Drive, only to find itself slapped down by the legal issue. Few copies were actually released, and a slew of pirate versions have since cropped up, fetching ridiculous prices on eBay.
Tag: Puzzle
Mickey’s Ultimate Challenge
Mickey Mouse had a long run on the Genesis, with some games being better than others. You mostly hear people talk about Castle and World of Illusion or Mickey Mania when the good ones are mentioned, and Fantasia usually tops the list of the bad. However, no one ever really mentions Mickey’s Ultimate Challenge. I wonder why that is? Isn’t it good, or is it a total stinker?
Great Waldo Search
Children everywhere know about Where’s Waldo and its lanky star. Between the ton of books, posters, and other merchandise bearing the brand, it’s kind of hard not to find Waldo, and he even popped up on 16-bit consoles. Lamentably, there’s nothing fun about searching for a guy who looks like an overgrown Christmas elf and spends his time hiding in public places. It’s especially not fun when it takes longer to read the manual than it does to complete the game.
Junction
Junction is a game few people remember and even fewer actually played. Part of Micronet’s line up for the Genesis, it was a neat little puzzler that had players guiding a marble around a tiled stage. The complete lack of marketing caused the game to die a quick retail death. It’s a good thing then, that we’re here to remind you of why you need to give this one a try!
BlockOut
The early ’90s saw a flurry of console developers hopping on the 3D bandwagon. As games like Electronic Arts’ Block Out demonstrate, sometimes adding an extra dimension isn’t a good idea. Read our full review and do yourself a favor, stick with Tetris.
