Secrets of the Tetris Grandmasters
by Kyle Orland 
{ Jul 3rd 2007 at 6:50PM }
You ever see those videos of people playing an insanely fast version of Tetris? You know, the ones where the block drops to the bottom of the screen literally in the time it takes to blink?. Ever wonder what the hell was going on there?
The answer is laid out in incredible detail in a new, extensive gameplay essay on Tetris: The Grandmaster. Originally developed for Japanese arcades by minor developer Arika, the Grandmaster series has become the standard for high-level Tetris play. Besides the unbound dropping speed, Grandmaster has been tuned for high-speed play with graphical and audio cues, a more balanced piece randomizer and a rotation system that lets you turn a piece before it starts to drop.
Want to join the ranks of the experts? Check out TetrisConcept, a wiki and forum set up to discuss high-level Tetris strategy. This is not stuff for the weak-willed. Check out this jargon-filled sample passage: "[The] T-Spin Double Triple, or DT, is a Back-to-Back T-Spin setup that utilizes the T-Spin Triple wallkick in SRS." Once you can say that three times fast (and actually understand what you mean) you just might be ready for the big time.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BPM @ Jul 3rd 2007 7:11PM
When the blocks just appear at the bottom of the well like that, it's called 20G. Means "20 gravity." The reason? The well is 10 blocks wide, and 20 blocks tall (in most variations of Tetris, at least). The "gravity" describes the amount of blocks a Tetrimino falls in one frame. 20G means it drops 20 blocks in one frame.
Tetris DS's Marathon mode eventually reaches 20G speed, but isn't nearly as hard as TGM (Tetris: The Grand Master), due to having infinite spin (as long as you keep rotating the peice, it never locks in place) and the now-standard but somewhat odd SRS (Super Rotation System), which The Tetris Company now mandates all Tetris licensors use.
TGM used to use the Sega Rotation System. However, since TTC's mandate, I believe the latest entry in the series (TGM Ace for 360) also used SRS.
The different rotation systems (and there are quite a few of them!) dictate the rotational behavoir of each Tetrimino.
fischju @ Jul 3rd 2007 7:23PM
Tetris DS marathon is easy, I got 18,000,000 points easily, I just quit it because I was bored. Infinite spin makes it too easy
waldopepper @ Jul 3rd 2007 7:48PM
This was six years ago - he's got a lot better since.
Rubang B @ Jul 3rd 2007 7:47PM
Yeah I maxed out Tetris DS too, but it just didn't feel right. In the original Tetris, without infinite spin, 20G was madness, so I just played Mode B all the time, so I could pass 9-5 and get all the homies jamming.
steve @ Jul 3rd 2007 11:29PM
and to think i was happy when i got to level 12 on tetris for the original gameboy....
well i guess i got some more playing to do
Leonidas @ Jul 4th 2007 12:27AM
I can get to level 30 on phone tetris with infinite spin. Does that make me an expert?
bobartig @ Jul 4th 2007 1:35AM
The tetramino distribution is *way* too even in the linked youtube video. That makes this game significantly easier. Being able to handle 5 Z pieces in a row, or going 45 tetraminos without an I piece is what tetris is all about!
Digital @ Jul 4th 2007 4:47AM
Whatever comforts the game provides, it takes away in others. In other words, the features present in modern tetris games serve to push players to even further heights unachievable in older games.
Rubang B @ Jul 4th 2007 5:54AM
bobartig's right. True Tetris should drop the pieces in a true random "pattern," or lack thereof.
PetitPrrince @ Jul 4th 2007 8:29AM
Yay ! My baby was posted \o/
bobartig > actually, that's a game feature [ http://bsixcentdouze.free.fr/tc/tgm-en/tgm.html#random ]. The TGM series uses a randomizer that favorize even distributions, but maintain yet some level of unpredictability, and is not as predictable as nowadays Tetris Guideline compliant Tetris [ http://www.tetrisconcept.com/wiki/index.php?title=Random_Generator ].
Needle @ Jul 4th 2007 10:37AM
It all depends on what people perceive as features and what as annoyances. Both the designers of Tetris The Grand Master and the Tetris Guideline considered uneven piece sequences as a nuisance rather than a challenge, while some people consider it as a challenge to overcome.
Regardless, never bash a game or dictate what a game "should" do without playing it yourself! When you're playing you won't even notice it's there :D
Jeebou @ Jul 4th 2007 12:16PM
my favorite spinning technique was the one in The New Tetris for N64. The game itself was amazing too. I spent so much time playing that game. Damn I should have brought my Nintendo to China... I miss that game!
stelvis @ Jul 4th 2007 2:24PM
At about the 4:19 mark in the attached video an orange L piece is squeezed into a space that would require the piece to be made of sponge. Is this to do with this "rotational system," because i've never played a version of tetris that would allow that move.
drew @ Jul 5th 2007 5:40PM
Good catch stelvis...there's another one of those placements at 2:07. Is rotation allowed regardless of brick vicinity during that small time the blink is still blinking?
This tetris playing is incredible.
Air Gear @ Jul 4th 2007 10:33PM
As a note to bobartig's comment about the piece distribution: The best argument for the randomizer used here (as in against a truly random set of pieces being sent) is the fact that this is an arcade game. Getting 5 Z's or 45 pieces without an I isn't that bad if you're playing the game at home, but if you put in 50 cents for a game and get that, you'll probably get annoyed. It's perfectly fine for a home version to have a memoryless randomizer, but in the arcade, it can be pesky.
Mattie Shoes @ Jul 5th 2007 1:16AM
The New Tetris was my favorite Tetris of all time. Marathon mode took way too long like all the other versions of tetris, but ultra and sprint mode were insanely challenging. I think I managed 41 seconds in Ultra and in the low 600s in sprint.
I've seen people get 29 seconds in Ultra and 860+ in Sprint. My brain just doesn't work that fast!
herc @ Jul 5th 2007 5:55AM
if you dare to try out that instant falling 20G tetris mode, i suggest you to try this fabulous flash browser tetris game, that is very close to these grandmaster series (TGM) games:
http://www.gdward.plus.com/site/flash/tetris/
and, - shameless plug - if you enjoyed Blockout, the 3D version of tetris, check out my
http://www.3dtris.de and the corresponding community: http://www.blockout.net
Blockout is extremely mental challenging, especially the "Out of control" mode. try it out with Blockout II, the currently best Blockout clone (can be downloaded on blockout.net) Blockout was also found to increase spatial capabilities in 14 year old childrens ( a master thesis in german only: NOSS, A. (1994))
kotetsu213 @ Jul 5th 2007 6:27PM
I'll try to explain this:
At 4:19, a wallkick was utilized. If a piece rotates and something is in the way, it will "wallkick" by moving after rotating. If the wallkick fails, it will try different wallkicks until there are no more left, if that happens then the piece won't rotate.
At 2:07 there was no wallkick, that's how the piece naturally rotates in this game.
Because of wallkicks, in Tetris DS and other recent games (but not this one), it is possible to clear 3 lines with a T, S, or Z piece.