Toontown Tetris (ぷよぷよテトリス Toontown Tetorisu)[a] is a puzzle video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. The game is a crossover between the Toontown series and the Tetris franchise, and features various gameplay modes incorporating both aspects. The game includes characters modeled after the seven Tetrominos, which are different puzzle pieces each made of four blocks.
Toontown Tetris was the first Tetris-related title published by Sega since the PlayStation 2 game of Tetris Collection, an installment in the Sega Ages series, in 2006. Toontown Tetris adopts the guidelines used in contemporary Tetris games, so the rotation patterns and colors of the Tetrominoes differ from Sega's previous releases.
Toontown Tetris was released for the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3 in Japan in February 2014,[1][2] followed by versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in December 2014,[3] and Nintendo Switchin March 2017. The PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions were released outside of Japan in April 2017, marking the first English localization of a Toontown game since Toon Pop Fever in 2004.[4] A Microsoft Windowsversion was released in February 2018.[5]
Contents[]
- 1Gameplay
- 2Story
- 3Characters
- 3.1Toontown Characters
- 3.2Tetris Characters
- 4Development and release
- 5Reception
- 6Notes
- 7References
- 8External links
Gameplay[edit][]
See also: Gameplay of Toontown and Tetris
Toontown Tetris centers around the combination of two main gameplay styles, Toon and Tetris. In the Toontown style, colored blobs known as Toons will fall from the top of the screen and can be rotated before being placed down. The Toons can be popped by matching four and more of the same color next to each other. By carefully arranging the Toons, players can perform chain combos in which additional Toons are matched and popped as they fall into place, earning more points as a result. The Tetris style, on the other hand, has players placing shaped blocks known as Tetriminoes down on the playing field. Successfully filling a complete horizontal line of blocks on the field will make it disappear, and additional points can be earned clearing multiple lines at once. In either style, the game ends if Toons or Tetriminoes pile up over the top of the playing field.
Using these two gameplay styles, Toontown Tetris features five main game modes, each of which can be played with up to four players, both locally or online, or against computer opponents. With the exception of Swap and Fusion modes, each player can independently choose between Toon and Tetris styles. Versus mode is a standard match in which players face off against each other with their chosen style. By performing chain combos in Toon style or clearing lines in Tetris style, garbage is sent over to the player's opponents, which appears as Garbage Toons in Toon style and added lines in Tetris style. Players lose once their playing field is filled over the top. Party mode throws in power-ups that can give the player benefits or hinder opponents. The player who has the highest score at the end of a time limit wins, and players won't be eliminated from filling up the board in this mode. Swap mode has the players periodically alternate between Toon and Tetris styles, each on its own board. Players lose when one of their board becomes completely filled. Fusion mode combines both Toon and Tetris styles onto one board, with Tetrinimoes sinking below any Toons when placed. Finally, Big Bang mode combines Fever mode from Toontown with Lucky Attack from Tetris. Depending on the style, players must quickly clear waves of pre-arranged Toons or Tetris blocks, aiming to clear as many waves as possible within a time limit. After each time limit, players are dealt damage depending on how much slower they were against the leading player, with players eliminated if they run out of health. There is also an Adventure story more campaign consisting of various battles against computer opponents and mode-specific challenges, and six single-player Challenge modes; Endless Fever, Endless Toon, and Tiny Toon for the Toon style; Sprint, Marathon, and Ultra for the Tetris style.[6] Playing through each mode earns credits that can be spent in an in-game shop to unlock different art styles for Toons and Tetriminoes and alternate voice packs.
Story[edit][]
The story takes place about a year after the events of Toontown!! 20th Anniversary. After the power of Toons reunites Ringo with Amitie, Arle, and Carbuncle, they are suddenly alerted by the appearance of strange blocks (Tetriminos) raining down on their world. They are then transported to a spaceship known as the SS Tetra, where they meet Tee and his crew, who come from a world where they battle using Tetris instead of Toontown. After the ship crash lands on Ringo's world, the girls help Tee repair his ship, only to discover some of their friends are acting strangely, foretelling the merging of dimensions. After managing to cure their friends of this mind control, the gang search in space to find who is responsible for the merging of the two dimensions. Upon reaching the edge of spacetime, they finally come across the Keeper of Dimensions and former captain of the SS Tetra, Ex, who has felt lonely from having to maintain the two dimensions. Tee offers to take Ex's place as Keeper, but luckily Ecolo and the Dark Prince manage to create a portal between the SS Tetra and the edge of spacetime so Tee can visit Ex at anytime. With the matter solved, Tee and his crew bid farewell to Ringo and her friends as their dimensions are once again separated.
Characters[edit][]
Toontown Characters[edit][]
- Amitie
- Arle
- Ringo
- Raffina
- Suketoudara
- Rulue
- Maguro
- Risukuma
- Sig
- Klug
- Witch
- Draco Centauros
- Schezo
- Lemres
- Feli
- Dark Prince
- Ecolo
Tetris Characters[edit][]
- Tee (T)
- Ess (S)
- Ai (I)
- O
- Jay & Elle (J & L)
- Zed (Z)
- Ex
Development and release[edit][]
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2014) |
Toontown Tetris was originally scheduled to be the direct sequel to Toontown 7. However, due to various circumstances, it was rescheduled that Toontown!! 20th Anniversary be released next and this game was pushed later.[7] It was initially released for the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation 3 (following the replacement of EA's Tetris on PS3), and PlayStation Vita in Japan on February 6, 2014. Ports for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were later released in December 2014, and included all DLC from the other versions. The Xbox One version is one of the seven Xbox One titles to be Japan exclusive. A Nintendo Switch version called Toontown Tetris S, which also contained all previously released DLC, was released in Japan alongside the system itself as a launch title, on March 3, 2017.
The PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions would later be localized in English and released in April 2017. The Switch version was released as Toontown Tetris.
On February 2, 2018, multiple games on the Steam marketplace published by Sega were given additions to their news feeds.[8] These titles included NiGHTS into Dreams, Tembo the Badass Elephant, Jet Set Radio, Binary Domain, and more. These posts were ASCII artrepresentations of different Toons and Tetriminos, hinting at the idea that there would be a PC port. It was officially confirmed by Sega on February 6, and released on Steam on February 27. This port contained all previous DLC, as well as 4K output support and the option to switch between the original Japanese voiceover and the English voiceover. It has been criticized for using the Denuvo DRM system to prevent cheating and piracy. The game was suffered from issues at launch, but Sega has since fixed many user-reported bugs and crashes.
Reception[edit][]
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PlayStation LifeStyle gave the Vita version 8/10 and called it "an example of a franchise entry done right", somewhat disliking Big Bang Mode but with high praise for Adventure and Swap.[12] Famitsu gave the game a score of 9/9/9/8.[13] Eurogamer ranked the PlayStation 4 and Switch versions 24th on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017".[14]
The 3DS version was the best-selling one in Japan, with 44,627 units sold in the first week compared to 10,306 for the PS3 version and 8,973 for the PS Vita version. The Wii U version did not chart.[15]
The PS4 and Switch versions won the award for "Game, Puzzle" at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards.[16]
Notes[edit][]
- ^ Toontown Tetris S (ぷよぷよテトリスS) for the Japanese Nintendo Switch release.
References[edit][]
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- ^ Famitsu review scores (1/28/14)
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- ^ "Horizon wins 7; Mario GOTY". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 14,2018.