Tetris (Game Boy)
1989 · Puzzle · Game Boy
Overview
The Game Boy version of Tetris — bundled with the hardware at launch — is the game that made the Game Boy a global phenomenon. The game's portability transformed Tetris from an occasional home experience into something played anywhere: on buses, trains, in school. It sold 35 million copies, making it the best-selling Game Boy game and one of the best-selling games of all time.
Deep Dive
The Game Boy Tetris was ported by Nintendo R&D1 from Alexey Pajitnov's original design and included a two-player competitive mode via the Game Boy Link Cable — two players raced to clear lines, with cleared lines sending garbage rows to the opponent. The link cable multiplayer transformed Tetris from a solitary score-chase into a competitive social game. Bundling with the hardware was Minoru Arakawa's decision at Nintendo of America, overriding the Japanese preference for Super Mario Land — a decision that proved commercially definitive.
Developer Story
The Game Boy version of Tetris was ported by Nintendo R&D1 and launched alongside the Game Boy hardware in Japan in April 1989. The decision to bundle it with the hardware rather than Super Mario Land was made by Nintendo of America and proved to be the single most commercially important game bundling decision in the platform's history.
Did You Know?
- Nintendo of America's Minoru Arakawa insisted on bundling Tetris with the Game Boy rather than Super Mario Land — a decision against the Japanese office's preference that proved commercially correct.
- The Game Boy Tetris's two-player link cable mode transformed Tetris into a competitive game — opponents sent garbage rows to each other's playfields when clearing multiple lines simultaneously.
- The Game Boy Tetris is one of the three best-selling video games of all time — 35 million copies, exceeded only by Minecraft and GTA V in overall sales.
- The music in Game Boy Tetris — Music A, commonly called the Korobeiniki theme — became the definitive Tetris music and is one of the most recognised pieces of game music in the world.
