Can someone elaborate on the game play differences between the Nintendo version and the Tengen version? I've never played the Tengen cart.
A few differences of note:
Randomizer: NES uses a system that works with the player such that is it constantly deciding what the next piece might be but if it is the same as the piece prior it "re-rolls" whatever the piece is up at the exact moment of lock down, is yours (I think I'm wrong on part of this, i just forget which part). The counter starts from the moment the system is turned on and if you are reading between the lines yes, it DOES mean if you time everything exactly and always place everything in the same place with no push down, you could know what is coming! Tengen is more close to perfectly random which can be ok, but leads to near constant feeling "rivers" (4+) of any given peice
Max speed: In NES tetris we call level 29 the "kill screen" although it has been survived and is sort of not. In the NES PAL version level 19 is almost kill screenish, but easier than NTSC lvl 29. In Tengen max speed is significantly lower and to me at least "feels" like NES level 18.5.
But "speed" in tetris is actually a little complex because it really is comprised of a few possible factors: actual fall speed, lock delay, line clear delay (primarily). In NES there is a neat feature that increases lock delay as you get higher on the screen, yeilding what ends up feeling like a more equal speed. Tengen lacks this so if you havent already got that sneaky feeling playing Tengen, it will "feel" FAST near the top of the screen!
All in all, Tengen is certainly marathonable. It is both virtue and vice. I suppose its a fun challenge to see you far you can go, but it also sorta kills the game from a competitive standpoint. NES is beautfully tuned, by luck or otherwise to be pretty hard to max from any starting level.
Modes: Tengen does have more. The programmers actual had nearly completed a head to head component in NES which was not done by release and can be pulled out with a game genie (although its ugly). What a missed opportunity!
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