XBox 360 Rally

Gameplay. It’s Tetris. However, more so than just the straight up classic mode of play, this does offer 8 different game types (single player) along with other multiplayer modes (ranked as well as unranked play). The newer single player modes are ones I have never seen before in any Tetris game, such as “Go Low” (the lower the blocks are when clearing a row = more points) and “Hotline” (clear specific marked lines on the grid to get points).

Graphics. I can say everything is extremely crisp on an HD set, and looks ahead of any other Tetris game I have played on a SD set. Lots of customizing is part of the strong points of the game. See the pic below:

(Yes, worst photoshop arrows ever, I know)

1) The backgrounds. A cool part of this game is the videos playing as backgrounds, at no point do they become intrusive of gameplay.. but hey, don’t feel the same way, don’t worry, you can set backgrounds to be a set pic rather than a video.
2) Avatars. They have more to choose from than anything else in this game. Where I didn’t find the reason they had so many at first, I quite understood when going into online mode, where you want to stand out more individually than of course in one player modes.
3) Boarders. Just another cool customizing you can do. Make the boarder match your Avatar/Background, or don’t! Either way, another feature to help differentiate yourself when playing multiplayer.

Music. Ahh.. music choice 3/C in the Gameboy Tetris, one of my favorites.. cannot be found in this game, but what I did find, was new favorite songs. Like the video backgrounds, they are meant to be just that, in the background, not intrusive, I can’t wait to find the soundtrack for this game because of the variety of ambient music it has, along with the classic Tetris theme that has a nice new breakdown. The music in my opinion is definitely one of the highlights of the game.

Controls. When first jumping into this game, the first, and only worry really, was how was the Xbox 360’s D-Pad going to handle this title, as this is a no analog stick event. Rest assured, it plays perfectly. If you have a different opinion on this matter, I notice some people plunking down a little extra cash to get one of those cheap-o Mad Catz controllers, that surprisingly have a regular d-pad you’d find on other controllers. If you love Tetris that much, it might be worth looking into.

Storyline. It’s Tetris.. c’mon. Though after playing this title, and reading the instruction booklet, I can say I know more about Tetris verbiage than I have before (”Matrix” “Blocked Out” “Tetriminos”)

Multiplayer. The biggest highlight of the game. I pretty much stick with ranked one on one battles, which are played in only the classic mode where you clear a line, it shows up on the other persons screen. As of me writing this, I am ranked number 55 IN THE WORLD!! Anyways, you can also play many of the custom games in unranked mode as well, up to 4 players. No online, no worries, you can also plug in some extra controllers for some Tetris fun. Hours can pass by easily playing these multiplayer battles, the only thing that actually gets me back into the one player modes right now is….

Achievements. 1000, divided up into 40 different ones. Out of a difficulty rating of 1-5, I would give this a stern 3. Within the first few hours of playing, you will have a nice handful of achievements, but as you progress and see what other ones you need to get, you will be finding that you are not the Tetris master you once thought you were (I am still a Tetris master, but I am talking about you!). There is a good range on what you have to get, most making sure you explore the other modes of play other than just classic, and some even requiring a certain amount of strategy (”T-Spin Deluxe” ” Dirty South Style Back to Back”).

Extras. The leaderboards. Not only in multiplayer, but just in the one player mode, see the top ten people with their top scores, and not only that, but watch the full videos of their winning scores! A neat extra feature that I felt had to be mentioned, as I haven’t seen/read about this anywhere else, it’s worthwhile to check the number 1 player’s video to see what he/she did to get to that point, so you can learn some pointers on the way.

Downsides. No Live Vision Cam support with multiplayer. I want nothing more to see the faces of my opponents as I fling a Tetris and watch the blocks pile up on their screen, or to be able to flip them off if they do me wrong. This is one of the games that would really benefit with the support of the cam. No more than 4 players, though 4 is great, 6 would have been the perfect number to shoot for.

Total score 8 out of 10

A big factor in the score, is the price. $28 (with free shipping). Those who want to think this is best as an XBLA title, need to consider the comparison to Lumines. On XBLA, to get the full game with all its modes and features, is a little over $30. For the same price, you not only get a better game, but a physical disc, which is important for any game you want to trade/sell (.. actually, more than important, necessary).