There’s already a Tetris DS game that was published by Nintendo. It had different modes and themes based off their flagship series (Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, etc). Overall for a Nintendo DS title, the game received mostly positive reviews from critics. But that’s not the whole story.
THQ was going to have a Tetris DS game first, according to a user named Xkeeper. He wrote about it on Tumblr and Reddit, giving the backstory to this almost lost game. They linked a 2005 financial report from THQ, which stated that The Tetris Company breached license agreements with THQ, preventing the March 2005 release of the game.
Xkeeper walked through all the game modes in their post. Classic Tetris was the mode that the defined the original Tetris game in the first place. Hotline Tetris was a variation on the Tetris Worlds concept. Goal points are only scored when clearing marked lines. Tetris Draw had you draw game pieces on the screen and drop them in, having you race against randomly generated pieces that rose from the bottom on their own. Tetris Warning took place in a 48 blocks tall playing field, with random Tetraminos falling at preset time. Tetris Trash had two play areas – one with a standard 10 by 10 square in which playing outside of would result in a game over. But pushing Y would reveal a second playing field where it’s only limited by gravity. Clearing lines on either of these fields would break apart Tetraminos on the bottom field, which could potentially cause a chain reaction of scores.
If you wanted to download the game and check it out for yourself, they include a link at the bottom of their Tumblr post for those who are curious. Do it at your own risk, of course.
