A few months after releasing the famous Game Boy version, Nintendo dropped NES Tetris. While that handheld classic eventually got a color upgrade with Tetris DX and even made its way to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, NES Tetris never saw a formal reissue—until now.
Yet, despite the lack of reissues, NES Tetris has built quite a legacy for itself and carved out an unexpected niche in the esports community. Over the years, it has become the go-to choice for competitive Tetris tournaments. What’s even more fascinating is a new wave of young gamers who are smashing records and reshaping the gameplay strategies of this decades-old title.
The tale of how Nintendo secured the rights to Tetris back in the late ’80s is nothing short of legendary. It involved a tricky dance with Soviet bureaucrats and some sneaky British media operators. The crown jewel for Nintendo was obtaining the handheld rights, ensuring Tetris became a flagship title for the Game Boy’s launch. However, they didn’t stop there; they also secured console publishing rights in various markets, except Japan, where their partner Henk Rogers had already introduced it for the Famicom.
Nintendo has been fiercely protective of its Tetris rights. This protective nature was evident as both the NES and Game Boy versions of the game were missing from the recent Tetris Forever compilation. Despite that, if the Game Boy rendition is hailed as the most critical version of this timeless puzzle game, the NES version certainly has a strong claim to being the next in line.
