Review: Tricks of the Classic NES Tetris Masters (Book)

The great thing about a self-publishing platform like Amazon's CreateSpace is that it allows for the creation and distribution of wonderful little publications that might not otherwise see the light of day. "Tricks of the Classic NES Tetris Masters" by Brian K. Smith is such an example.

While Tetris itself is one of the most beloved video games of all time, dedicating an entire book to just one version might seem a little too niche. This book runs with that idea, however, and it's a great way to take what turns out to be a tremendous amount of information and focus it.

The book includes a well written single page introduction from Alex Kerr, a Tetris Grandmaster, that gives some insight into why the NES version of Tetris is special and later in the book the author discusses the Tengen version of the game that was taken off the market. There could have been more discussion about this version, although I understand why there wasn't.

I have loved Tetris since its inception and there are terms in here I didn't know or didn't fully understand like DAS, the Last Second Tap and the Extended Tap just to get started. I had no idea of the seriousness taken in terms of techniques and methods of play for something that, from the outside, appears to be a very simple game.

The book itself is full color with all pages created on a muted Tetris-like background and overall has more of a magazine style layout rather than a traditional book. Given the subject matter, that works perfectly fine. There are diagrams throughout to illustrate technical discussions and the book is proud of the fact that it was created entirely using open-source software.

You are going to buy this book if you are either a serious Tetris player (or one who hopes to become one) or you are a Tetris fan and collector. Either way, I don't feel you will be disappointed. The book treats the subject matter with respect and love, and at the end of the day isn't that all any of us can ask for ?

- Syd Bolton
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The Good
- Covers the subject matter with great detail
- Is very educational and entertaining with the "Did You Know" sections

The Bad
- Feels a little short at 42 pages
- Could have included more information about the history of the game and development of this particular version

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Syd Bolton surrounds himself in thousands of classic video games as Canada's top video game collector at the Personal Computer Museum (http://www.pcmuseum.ca) in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.