Now wait just a second; A speedrun of Tetris? The thing with the blocks and the shapes and the rows? Yes, the very same. The Tetris Grand Master games were developed by Akira, with the first one arriving in 1998 and the third in 2005. In these games, the level increases each time a block is dropped, rather than when rows are cleared. The exception is every X99 level, in which a row must be cleared before progressing. This week’s speedrun features multiple runners showing off the various modes of all three Grand Master games.
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The first segment is a four-way race on Tetris Grand Master. To get the highest rank, all 999 levels must be completed in about 12 minutes. The next three plays are all on TGM2, first with a two-player race, then a death match. The final showcase is a doubles race. The second game in the series extends the classic gameplay with additional rank requirements and a credits survival challenge wherein the pieces turn invisible after a few seconds upon landing. Grand Master 3 tightens the ranking conditions even further and introduces a Sakura (puzzle) mode and Shirase mode.
In Shirase, there are 1,300 levels, garbage pieces are added, and the blocks become empty outlines after a certain point. Runner Kevinddr makes it up to level 1,230 before a mistake costs him the rest of the game. An excusable loss as that late in the game, players have a mere eight frames to place their pieces.
There’s one last surprise: a blindfolded run of Tetris Grand Master 3’s Sakura mode. In Sakura, the player must clear all of the colored gems from the board to advance. This is possible while blindfolded because the layouts and falling block orders are set, requiring only memorization by the runner to succeed.
Hype enough for you? There’s plenty more awesome game coverage at The Nerd Stash. Don’t forget to comment and let us know which run you’d like to see featured next!
