Super Tetris 3

Super Tetris 3
Developer(s)	Tose
Publisher(s)	Bullet-Proof Software
Platform(s)	Super Famicom
Release	JP: December 16, 1994
Gameplay info
Next pieces	1 (Tetris / Sparkliss), 3 (Magicaliss)
Playfield size	10 × 22 (1-player), 7 × 19 (Familiss)
Hold piece	No
Hard drop	No
Rotation system	BPS rotation (SRS predecessor)

Super Tetris 3 is a game for the Super Famicom developed by Tose and published by BPS. In addition to regular Tetris it contains two new modes, Magicaliss and Sparkliss, as well as the franchise's first four-player mode Familiss.

Tetris Classic

Standard Tetris. Two modes are available, Endless or Standard.

Endless

Endless is a marathon mode. The game level increases at (level + 1) × 10 lines. The levels after 29 are notated as S0 to S9.

Standard

Standard is based on Tetris (BPS). There are 6 rounds of 10 stages, and there are 25 lines to clear to advance to the next stage, with the screen cleared after each stage. Each stage has increasing gravity, while each round has increasing garbage height. Standard also gives the player three lives, allowing two top outs without ending the game.

Scoring is the same as in the original BPS version. Standard additionally only adds to the score at the end of each stage or after a top out, as in the BPS version.

Magicaliss

In Magicaliss, each piece has a colour, either red, green or blue. The colour of a piece can be changed by rotating 4 times in the same direction. In addition, there are also flashing "almighty" blocks, which count as all colours, and smaller pieces made of silver blocks, which are never removed in a line clear. Clearing a line will clear all non-silver blocks in the line and blocks above will fall based on sticky gravity.

A single colour line clear is referred to as a "Magicaliss". It removes all blocks of the same colour as the line clear. It is possible to achieve a Magicaliss with any colour, including silver.

If the Magicaliss was not silver, all silver blocks on the field will be converted to the colour of the Magicaliss. If the Magicaliss consists purely of almighty blocks, then in addition to converting silver blocks, all blocks on the field will cascade as if they are unattached.

After a Magicaliss the piece falling speed will temporarily increase until the start of the next level.

Endless and Standard are available, and levels work in the same way as Tetris.

In single-player the player can also activate Beginner mode, in which colours can be changed using the X and Y buttons. However, scores will not be saved.

Sparkliss

This plays very similarly to Bombliss, except that the "bombs" explode Bomberman style, only erasing in their column and row. This, naturally, makes the playfield harder to clear than in the original Bombliss. Any square surrounded with explosions will also vanish. This has contest mode, and a puzzle mode, where you have a fixed sequence of limited pieces to clear the starting pattern.

2-Player

Each mode can be played in 2-player mode. Selectable options are as follows:

• Tetris and Magicaliss:
  • Level
  • Height (0, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12)
• Sparkliss:
  • Level
  • Stage

Tetris

Tetris uses individual piece queues. The pieces in each queue are the same.

Garbage is equal to the number of lines cleared. The garbage is single aligned gap with the gap changing every 10 lines.

Magicaliss

Magicaliss uses a common piece queue.

Garbage is equal to the number of lines cleared and is purely silver blocks. A Magicaliss will send random blocks that fall from the top of the opponent's playfield.

Sparkliss

Sparkliss uses a common piece queue.

Players can win by clearing the playfield of blocks. Garbage details are under investigation.

Hidden game modes

By holding X, L and R when pressing Start on the options screen, the player can access an alternate versus mode.

• Tetris: The game will cycle Tetris -> Magicaliss -> Sparkliss after each round.
• Magicaliss: Garbage duplicates the bottom row instead of being single hole grey blocks. Any Magicaliss will induce a cascade.
• Sparkliss: Clearing the playfield no longer counts as a win.

Familiss

Mode for 2 to 4 players. If you try to only start one player, it will tell you to go get your family, and refuse to start. A multitap is required for 3 or more players.

There is a target display at the bottom of each player's playfield. When lines are cleared the corresponding number of lines will be added or subtracted to the indicated player or players based on the target display. Garbage duplicates the bottom row.

Engine notes

The game uses BPS rotation with I, J, L and T spawning in the same orientation as SRS, and S and Z spawning in the opposite orientation to SRS. As with the previous game it uses step reset, and has smooth fall and rotate animation.

The randomiser will reroll if a piece would appear three times in a row. This behaviour is also seen in Tetris Plus.

External Links

• Japanese Wikipedia