Tetris

April 13, 2023Sega Genesis

Tetris

Console:	Sega Genesis
TV Standard:	NTSC-J
Country:	Japan
Developer(s):	Sanritsu
Publisher(s):	Sega
Release Date:	1989-01-01
Players:	2
Co-op:	No
ESRB:	Not Rated
Type:	Puzzle

Tetris is a 1988 Sega System 16 game developed and published by Sega. It was licensed from Atari Games (credited as Tengen) and Mirrorsoft, who held the rights to produce Tetris arcade games at the time. A less powerful version was also released for Sega System E hardware. Both versions are unrelated to Atari's arcade version, released in the same year under the same name.

Sega bizarrely also released versions on Taito's B-System and H-System arcade boards in Japan. The B-System versions were released as upgrade kits for Taito's Nastar and Master of Weapon; the H-System version appears to have been sold on modified boards that previously held Taito's Go for the Gold (released overseas as Recordbreaker) rather than as an upgrade kit.

Sega attempted to port the game to the Sega Mega Drive, however sales were blocked by Nintendo who owned the home console rights to the franchise (they had taken Atari's home console division, Tengen to court over a similar incident on the NES). As such, only about 10 cartridges were produced, all of which were only released in Japan. This version is now a rare collector's item, being sold in auctions for up to US$16000. Because Nintendo had no authority over the arcade versions, the Sega Mega Drive port was brought to Mega-Tech hardware in 1989.

Tetris

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