- NA release: 11th August 1997
- PAL release: February 1998
- JP release: N/A
- Developer: H2O
- Publisher: Nintendo
- N64 Magazine Score: 69%
If you thought that Tetrisphere is a Tetris-like game that is played on a sphere then, surprisingly, you would be wrong. It didn’t even start out as a Tetris licensed game, but rather a game called Phear on the Jaguar, before ended up going to the N64 instead and published by Nintendo with the Tetris branding.
I remember playing it as a kid and being confused, but the tutorial explains the game quite well and it’s quite simple. You’ll see a shadow of your next piece. You have to line it up so it connects to two or more matching pieces, they’ll disappear – get rid of large amounts and you’ll get power ups. There are different modes, but the general goal is to clear enough of the inner sphere.
While the starting pieces need lining up exactly, the more complex just seem to need one part touching a matching piece, which ends up making them much easier to score combos with. The power ups come in different types, but seem to be just different animations for removing large amounts of blocks.
To help with combos, you can also drag pieces around by lining them up with the shadow and holding B. Tetrisphere is quite relaxed for a puzzle game, and the failure state is making three mistakes, although the shadow showing your target handily shows if your placement is good or not.
It’s an entertaining puzzle game, although while it has a lot of modes, they all still feel like the same game. The game doesn’t mix things up enough, so ends up feeling a little bit basic.
Fun
It’s in no way an essential purchase, but it has a strange lure about it – hypnotic almost, which is probably enhanced by the eye-glazing tempo of the acid house dance tracks.
Steve Jarratt, N64 Magazine #13
Remake or remaster?
A re-release is fine for Tetrisphere.
Official ways to get the game.
There is no official way to get Tetrisphere.
Europe
Japan
North America
N64 Games by Date
1997: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
1998: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
1999: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
2000: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
Another one I always wanted to play, but couldn’t find in stores.
Tetrisphere is a fine enough puzzle game, but it ended up coming across as underwhelming at its release because the console was running on absolute fumes at this point, and people were desperate for a meaty, good quality action or RPG title. Unfair expectations, true, but expectations nonetheless. It’s a decent puzzle game, but it was the wrong game at the wrong time for the console.
Man, Tetrisphere was such a cool game. Creative concept, trippy aesthetics, proper difficulty curve (I do remember some late-game challenges being daunting)…
It’s a perfect candidate for the NSO.
More like Tetrisfear.
I have a special fondness for Tetrisphere. My dad came back from a business trip one time, and he said he had bought me a game at the airport on his way back.
I got really excited, since he never really took an interest in my gaming hobby, and this was the first and only time he had ever bought me a game on a whim.
I am ashamed to say that 14 year old me was disappointed when I saw that he’d bought me Tetrisphere. I’d never heard of it, and it looked like a lame puzzle game. Nevertheless my sister and I played the game and had some fun with it. It was pretty satisfying destroying blocks (you get certain rocket and bomb power ups that can blast away large areas of blocks at once).
It ended up being a weird addition to my very limited N64 library. I only had 7 games for the console.
Goldeneye
Ocarina of Time
Mario 64
Banjo Kazooie
Smash Bros
Micro Machines 64
Tetrisphere
All classics, I think you’ll agree.
Looking back, I’m really quite touched that he went out of his way to buy me something nice at the airport, and I’ll always look back at the game positively because of it.