Tetris The Grand Master 4 The Masters of Round

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This page is about the cancelled version of TGM4, for the newly announced version, see Tetris The Grand Master 4 Absolute Eye'
Tetris The Grand Master 4 The Masters of Round
Players play testing TGM4 on location
Developer(s)Arika
Platform(s)Arcade
Gameplay info
Next pieces4
Playfield size10 × 20
Hold pieceYes
Hard dropClassic rule: Sonic Drop
World rule: Standard hard drop
Rotation systemClassic rule: ARS with floorkicks
World rule: SRS

Tetris The Grand Master 4 The Masters of Round is an unreleased sequel to the TGM series created by Arika. It was announced in 2009 by Arika vice president Ichiro Mihara, and unveiled at Sega's Amusement Machine Show the same year.

The game's release was in limbo for many years, citing various problems reaching an agreement with publishers or The Tetris Company. In December of 2024 it was revealed that a new game would be released as TGM4 called Tetris The Grand Master 4 Absolute Eye.

Gameplay

Similar to TGM3, the game first asks you for Control Type before selecting a mode: World Type uses SRS and shows level and score during gameplay, while Classic Type uses ARS and shows level and completion time. The game modes are split into two categories: Worlds (formerly Master in the 2009 version) and Rounds are Standard modes, while Kamui and Konoha are Time Attack modes. Tetrominoes now spawn above the play field, where the Next piece preview is. As a side effect, the I-piece no longer drops instantly to the bottom of an empty play field at 20G.

Worlds

Described as being similar in speed to TGM2's Master, the mode has torikans at levels 700, 800, and 900. Like TGM3's Master mode, the mode doesn't show the player's grade until the end of the mode. This mode has a blue field border.

Rounds

TGM4's equivalent to Death and Shirase, the mode starts at 20G and the delays decrease as further sections are cleared. Starting at level 300, every other section will be a "frozen" version of the previous section, with the bottom half of the playfield not clearing lines until the section is passed. The background of these "frozen" sections are the same as the previous section but with colours inverted, so for example the section starting at 300 has the same circular bricks background as 200, and then 400 proceeds to the rainbows background that normally follows the 200 background. When a frozen section is passed, the formerly frozen lines that clear do not count towards the level. This mode has at least 1400 levels. Has a red field border.

Kamui

Kamui is the only mode that has yet to be revealed. It was also a locked mode in the TGM3 prototype. Has an orange field border.

Konoha

The goal of this mode is to get to the highest level as possible in Big mode under a time limit, starting at three minutes. S and Z pieces do not appear. The ARE is fixed at 26 and Line Clear is fixed at 11. The gravity curve appears to follow the usual speed curve until around level 80, where it stalls out until 120 and then rapidly increases to hit 20G at level 20.
Levels given for line clears are as follows:

Level Bonuses
Lines cleared Level advance
1 (single) 2
2 (double) 4
3 (triple) 6
4 (tetris) 12

Extra time is obtained by performing certain clears:

Time Bonuses
Clear Type Time Awarded
Triple Line Clear 1/3 of a second
Tetris Line Clear 2/3 of a second
Single All Clear 5 seconds
Double All Clear 8 seconds
Triple All Clear 11 seconds
Tetris All Clear 15 seconds

At level 1000 and above, the bonuses change. No time bonuses are gained for normal line clears and All Clears now give much less time:

Time Bonuses
Clear Type Time Awarded
Single All Clear 0 seconds
Double All Clear 1 second
Triple All Clear 2 seconds
Tetris All Clear 3 seconds

Whenever the game detects that a perfect clear can be performed, a small fox character is shown beside the level counter, and when the next piece or held piece is able to All Clear, the "Go" sound effect is played. Instead of earning an All Clear medal, the number of All Clears performed is tracked and shown every time one is performed. All Clears also cycle through what is shown in the background of the play field, from a silhouette of a character, to the character partially shown, then the character fully shown. Every cycle also changes which character is shown, from a total of 13. This mode has at least 1299 levels. Has a pink field border.

Development

2009 unveiling playtest

TGM4 2009 promotional title screen image
TGM4 2009 first promotional ingame image, showing Classic Master mode on the left
TGM4 2009 second promotional ingame image, showing World Master on the left and Classic Rounds on the right

2015 playtest

TGM2015 title screen
TGM2015 ingame

External links