Original Tetris

When a non-enthusiast refers to "the original Tetris", it is likely that they are referring to one of the games below. Although of them garnered large amounts of recognition and caused a national/worldwide phenomenon early in the history of the game, none of them are the true "original" Tetris version.

• Tetris (Game Boy) Arguably the most famous version worldwide, and the one most "nostalgia" or "original" ports or modes are based off of.
• Tetris (NES, Nintendo) This version of the game was also widely played in western regions. However, due to licensing terms between BPS and Nintendo, this version was not released in Japan (as BPS's version had already been released for the Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES).
• Tetris (Atari) The first notable western Arcade version of Tetris
• Tetris (Sega) Japan only; caused a sensation in arcades one year before the debut of the Game Boy version. Often referred to as the one "with the monkey". This description usually works, but does not single out this particular game completely, since some later games such as Sega Tetris (1999), Tetris Collection, and Tetris Online Japan also feature a monkey as their primary in-game characters.

Original in the strict sense of the word

The "original" version in the strict sense, however, would be:

• Tetris (Electronika 60), the very first implementation of the Tetris game ever to be developed on an electronic device.

• Tetris (IBM PC), the IBM PC version. Although it is not the first ever, it is the first version to run on a platform popular in Western countries.