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TETRIS® THE GRAND MASTER 4 -ABSOLUTE EYE-

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T:Jenks Apr 3 @ 11:49am

Noob questions here.

I only played tetris on the first gameboy so i have a couple of questions.
Are there more gamemodes in the newer tetris games?
Whats the difference between this one and the previous 1-3?
Can you play coop?
What makes this game better than playing any other tetris game in the browser?

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Showing 1-6 of 6 comments

Kris

has TETRIS® THE GRAND MASTER 4 -ABSOLUTE EYE-

Apr 3 @ 4:07pm

To try and answer each question respectively:
1: Most Tetris games since around 1995 have had multiple gamemodes. For the TGM series, the second game, Tetris The Absolute The Grand Master 2 (more specifically its PLUS rerelease) released in 2000, added multiple modes beyond what was initially available in the first Tetris The Grand Master game. For the wider Tetris franchise and licensed games, Tetris Worlds released in 2001 introduced the main Marathon-Sprint-Ultra gamemode trifecta, with other modes being game dependent or being added over the years.

2: Primarily the gamemodes and content it offers. The first game was rather barren for content, you had one primary game mode, a VS. mode when two players are at the cabinet, and cheat codes to change the experience, to make it easier, to make it harder, to change how the game is played more fundamentally, or just for fun (Uki Mode my beloved). TGM3 introduced "World Rule", now renamed to the Standard game type, which introduced the rotation and kick system of modern Tetris games since Tetris Worlds (have you seen people play Puyo Puyo Tetris? it's basically that), alongside a slightly altered version of the first two games' rotation and kick system, called "Classic Rule" (now the TGM control type). I'm unsure of what's different on a technical level with Standard type in TGM4, but TGM type now has the same form of "move reset" (i.e. the lock delay, the delay before a piece locks into place on the ground of the board) as Standard type, where shifting or rotating the piece resets the lock delay, which differs from previous games. The gamemodes are detailed in the Steam description and in the online manual.

3: Yes! Well, sort of. Two players can play Tetris The Grand Master 4 at the same time, either two separate singleplayer sessions or in Versus Mode (kind of like linking up two Game Boys to play 2-player Versus in Tetris on the Game Boy). This game does not have the Doubles mode that Tetris The Absolute The Grand Master 2 has.

4: This game is descended from multiple arcade games that are vastly different in design philosophy to the modern-day Tetris you can play in the web browser. Tetris The Grand Master 4 specifically is designed to help the player learn and truly get better at Tetris, both in general and more specifically for TGM. It's not designed to inherently go on forever like the modern Marathon modes in modern Tetris games like the game on the Tetris website or in other paid standalone games like Puyo Puyo Tetris or Tetris Effect. It's not necessarily easy too, but don't let that deter you, especially not when this game gives you all the tools you need to succeed.
However, at the same time, I feel like it's wrong, or otherwise a disservice to compare TGM4 to Tetris web browser games. Not because "TGM4 is better" or whatever, but because they're inherently seeking out different audiences and purposes. They are not the same Tetris as each other, even if they may share the same brand name.

I sincerely hope these answers are satisfactory. No matter what version of Tetris you play, I hope you just have fun playing Tetris. Happy gaming!

Kitaru

Apr 3 @ 5:11pm

Originally posted by T:Jenks:
Are there more gamemodes in the newer tetris games?

Yes, there will be a variety of modes. The TGM series in particular has a new set of modes and challenges available in each release, and are also often pretty different than the typical modes included in other standard Tetris games.

Originally posted by T:Jenks:
Can you play coop?

Not in TGM4, at least not in what they've advertised for launch. However, you can play local co-op (Doubles mode) in TGM2 which is available on Switch and PS4.

Originally posted by T:Jenks:
Whats the difference between this one and the previous 1-3?

I think explaining _all_ of the modes and changes of the series from the start would be a wiki's worth or video's worth of info in one forum post, but to start I can try to summarize some of the main things that come to mind.

One big difference you'll find between games Game Boy Tetris and TGM is the max gravity of "20G." The TGM series follows from a different "classic," Sega's arcade Tetris, which features time after a piece lands before it locks into place. Since lockdown is more lenient, this also allows the gravity to be increased much higher without becoming impossible. Whereas the max gravity in the era of games like GB, NES, and Sega was making the piece fall one row every frame (1G), the TGM series features a max gravity where the piece falls _all 20 rows_ of the playfield instantly (20G). This adds a new dimension of challenge to the puzzle action: not just how to stack the pieces to fit together, but also how to stack the pieces so that future ones will still be able to slide across the surface to their destination.

While TGM1 and TGM2 have only the "classic" Sega-style rotation rules and a single piece preview, TGM3 and TGM4 also include some rules from more "modern" Tetris games. Players will be able to select between both the traditional TGM rotation rules (only slight modernizations, in the form of slight wallkicks to slightly nudge the piece into place if rotation would overlap), and the Standard rotation rules of other modern Tetris games (feature more powerful wallkicks that allow pieces climbing and fancier twists such T-Spin Triples). It will also have features common to other modern games, like multiple piece previews and the Hold feature (re-order pieces by swapping the current one away for the contents of the Hold box).

Here's a rundown of what modes we know will be available in this game at launch:

Marathon - The basic 150 line score-based mode featured in other modern Tetris games. (Only available when playing with Standard rotation rules.)
Normal - Similar to the "Master" modes of previous TGM games, a speedrun mode starting from low gravity and scaling up to the max. The designer has compared the difficulty level as roughly similar to TGM1's main mode. (Only available when playing with TGM rotation rules.)
Konoha - Based on the cult classic "Big Mode" from previous TGM games; aim for Perfect Clears while playing with pieces that are doubled in size.
Asuka - A time-limited max gravity mode for intermediate level players. Features an "undo" button called Backstep to go back after mistakes, but without restoring seconds to the game timer. From the promo videos, it seems the endgame challenge is an invisible playfield, as seen in TGM2 Master and TGM3 Master modes.
Master - A max gravity mode for expert level players, a sequel of sorts to TGM2 Death and TGM3 Shirase. Many of this game's challenges have not yet been revealed, and the creator of the game estimates that no one will clear this mode in the first two weeks following release. The special mechanic we have seen, Pikii, is a frozen mist that prevents the bottom ten rows of the playfield from clearing away until the end of the section. The next special mechanic is still known by name only: Cyclone.
Plaver vs. Player - A local 1v1 battle mode. Seems to generally follow the rules of other modern Tetris games, with some adaptation for TGM. Clear one-or-more lines to send garbage to your opponent's playfield. Some actions also send bonus lines, like t-spins, clearing consecutive tetrises/t-spins ("back-to-back"), or clearing lines with multiple pieces in a row ("combo").
Shiranui - A Vs. AI battle mode with progressively higher tiers of difficulty to face (I think Levels 1 to 100, with some secret difficulty tiers also hinted). This may be good practice for battling against live opponents as well.
Practice - Allows you to practice in a variety of ways. Get hints from the AI, with different focus modes of tetrises, t-spins, perfect clears, or overall versus play. Learn how to do Standard rule spins and TGM rule special techniques in a collection of preset maps. Race against a previous replays using the same piece sequence. It also seems like there might be settings to practice mechanics you have seen in the main modes of [play.

Originally posted by T:Jenks:
What makes this game better than playing any other tetris game in the browser?

For me, the main draw is the single player speedrun/challenge aspects which haven't usually been a focus in other Tetris games. TGM players have been waiting for this sequel for this sequel for over a decade, with only limited opportunities to test out its new challenges at location tests in 2009 and 2015. It seems like this may be a pretty good entry to get into the series, with a handful of modes and difficulty options before ramping into the intermediate/expert level challenges. Additionally, it looks like it should be a solid fast-paced game for 1v1 as well, and is including ways to train not seen in other games like a strong Vs. AI and the Practice mode assistant features.

One drawback is that it won't have full online features at launch, likely due to licensing/budget/time constraints, just local multiplayer and Steam Play Together for remote play. But for what it will have at launch, it's a type of Tetris you won't really find anywhere else. (They also have said there is a possibility of adding more features after launch, so hopefully it does well enough to justify a type of "Connected" update like was the case for Tetris Effect.)