1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789 Tetris DS - Marathon Guide [1] Introduction Hi, and welcome to my guide for Tetris DS. This guide deals predominantly with Standard Marathon (although some strategies can be used in other modes), with A short section on Line Clear mode. ---------- [2] Contents [1] Introduction [2] Contents [3] Scoring [4] Stacking for T-Spins and Tetrises [5] Coping in high gravity and Other Tips [6] Endless Marathon [7] Line Clear Mode ---------- [3] Scoring Okay, so as you hopefully know, this game rewards you point for clearing lines, and the more lines you clear at a time, the more points are awarded. You are awarded points for dropping the piece at a faster rate than usual: two points per line of hard-dropping (pressing up) and one point per line of soft-dropping (holding down on the d-pad). This means that if you are starting Marathon on lower levels then you'll want to hard drop each piece as soon as possible for more points. Okay, so here is a list showing how many points you get per standard line clear, as well as which pieces can be used to achive it. If a piece is followed by an asterisk (*), then that means it has to be soft-dropped and rotated to achive this line clear. This is recorded at Level One. Single - 100 points - S, Z, L, J, O, I, T Double - 300 points - S, Z, L, J, O, I, T You can already see that clearing more than one line at once gets you more points; clearing two lines with one piece gets you 100 more points than simply getting two single line clears. Triple - 500 points - S*, Z*, L, J, I, T* Tetris - 800 points - I There is also a points bonus for getting two Tetrises in a row with no other line clears in between (you can place as many pieces as you want inbetween though). Tetris with Back-to-Back bonus - 1200 points - I So those are the standard line clears on level one. And here is how much they increase at Level Twenty. Single - 2000 points Double - 6000 points Triple - 10000 points Tetris - 16000 points Tetris with Back-to-Back bonus - 24000 From this you should be able to see that to work out how many points you get for each level, you simply multiply the points on Level One, by the current level. So what does this section tell us? Well, imagine you're on Level Twenty and you have ten lines to clear to finish Marathon. Clearing ten singles would net you 20000 points, which is fairly unimpressive. However, what would three Terises get you? Well, you'd earn 16000 for the first, and then 24000 for the second two (due to the Back-to-Back bonus). Therefore you'd earn a much more impressive 64000. So, as a general tip: get Tetrises and lots of them! "And how do I do that?", I hear you cry. Well, it's simple. Unexperienced Tetris players simply try to clear lines whenever they can. But, if you stack your pieces on one side of the well, and leave one column open on either the left or right of the well, I-pieces can be placed in this gap for successive Tetrises. So, in summation: nine rows will be occupied by random pieces, and one will be left open. Here's a picture if you're confused! http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab203/IsaacMBrown/TETRISdemo.jpg However, there's still something to introduce: something which can get you more points than a Tetris, while always clearing less lines. What is this miraculous creation? Well, let me introduce the T-Spin. Since this game uses a slightly weird algorithm to detect T-Spins, you may have seen 'T-Spin' flash up and not known what it meant. Well, let me explain. If you create a T-Shaped hole in the matrix, with an overhang of one block, it is possible to soft-drop a T-block and rotate it into place. A T-spin can clear up to three lines! Here are how many points it gives you. T-Spins also have a Back-to-Back bonus and even better, Tetrises and T-spins both count towards Back-to-Back, and do not interrupt eachother's Back-to-Back. Therefore, if you get a Tetris and then a T-spin, the T-spin will be Back-to-Back. Once again this is at level one. T-Spin (no lines cleared) - 400 points T-Spin Single - 800 points (1200 Back-to-Back) This actually gives you the most points for any move. T-Spin Double - 1200 points (1800 Back-to-Back) T-Spin Triple (explained below) - 1600 points (2400 Back-to-Back) So, if you're confused, here's a basic T-Spin Double set-up: http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab203/IsaacMBrown/TSPINdemo.jpg Now, a T-Spin Triple is slightly different; you need to create a vertical T shaped hole in the matrix, with an over hang so you can rotate a T-block in. That's hard to explain so here's a picture: http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab203/IsaacMBrown/TSTdemo.jpg So there you have it, a T-Spin Double gets you more points than a Tetris, while taking half the lines off the 200 needed to finish. Therefore it is very useful. ---------- [4] Stacking for T-Spins and Tetrises Due to the seven-piece bag system of TDS, it is impossible to get 200 T-Spin Singles. T-Spin Doubles are the same: Tetrises are needed to get as many T-Spin Doubles as possible. However, T-Spin Triples are technically possible to unbrokenly maintain over 200 lines. However, high gravity makes this very difficult. Okay, there are a number of ways to create lots of T-Spin oppurtunities. One of these is called 'ST Stacking' or 'ZT Stacking': placing Z blocks rotated vertically on the right side of the well, while using all the other pieces to create a stack with ridges in to allow successive T-Spins and Tetrises. It's very hard to explain with just words, so I put it in a video, with a few other spins too... Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QQcgloUZR8 Another way to do it is like this. Remember I told you to stack on either side while leaving one gap for I-Blocks? Well, if you put that gap in roughly the middle of the matrix, then creating T-Spin oppurtunities is simple! Here's a picture: http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab203/IsaacMBrown/tspindoubledemo.jpg Those are the best methods in my opinion. I recommend practising T-Spins under low gravity first, then when you have that down, try on higher levels. NOTE: T-Spins which don't clear lines (or T-Spin 0s) are a great thing to spam in this mode, as they earn you points but don't make your 'lines to go' count go down. While stacking for Tetrises, just put regular T-shaped gaps on top of the stack. --------- [5] Coping with High Gravity and Other Tips So, by this point you should hopefully be fluent in Tetrises and at least getting a few T-Spins. To get any sort of high score, you'll want to be starting on Level Twenty. Before starting on Level Twenty (or whatever the highest level you've reached is), you should be able to clear 200 lines easily from Level One. If that's still difficult, you'll need to practise high gravity some more. So, here are some tips that will help you survive 200 lines on Level Twenty: - When a piece touches the stack, it has a certain amount of time before it is locked into place. Pressing rotate or shifting the piece both reset this time limit; therefore it is possible to rotate the piece for an infinite amount of time. This is useful for looking ahead and planning what you will do, and also spamming rotate makes it easier to move the piece about. - Try to keep the stack in a vaguely pyramidal shape. This makes moving pieces to where you want them far easier. If you're struggling to get a piece to where you want, and are spamming rotate, try rotating the other way. This sometimes helps. - Make good use of the Hold function and do not use it wastefully - if a piece is stuck and will make a hole and rotating will not help, you can hold it. This is not possible if you've already used hold for the previous Mino. - If you feel you stack is getting too high and an I-block isn't coming up soon, you should skim: skimming is using non-I blocks to clear a few lines using the I-block gap. It's best if the gap is left clear after the line clear. Just remember: don't hold out for an I-block if it means you're going to top out. Don't be afraid to use other blocks. I find the L and J blocks are good for this. Sometimes it's impossible to do this without leaving a block over the gap, but if you're doing that make sure you can clear that line with one of the next few minos. Otherwise when you get an I-block you won't be able to use it and you'll be likely to top out and lose. - When you get to the last few lines, don't just get rid of them as soon as possible. If you have four lines left, rather than getting, for example, two T-Spin Doubles, you can get one T-Spin Double, a T-spin Single, and then another T-Spin Double. This only works at the end though, not between levels, as the cleared lines are transferred to the next level. You're technically able to clear a maximum of 203 lines in this mode. - If you have to create a hole in the Matrix, try to do so at the side rather than in the centre. In my experience this makes it easier to fix. - Learning to rotate both ways is useful to be able to put pieces where they need to be more easily and quicker. - Remember to look at the piece previews, at least at the next piece. You can do this with your peripheral vision due to the Minos' bright colours. - Don't just play on Level Twenty, sometimes you should practise setting up spins on lower levels. Practice makes perfect, as they say. - Sometimes a piece can be either shifted or rotated into place. Look for these oppurtunities and remember: just because it looks like a piece won't fit somewhere, doesn't necessarily mean it won't. Experiment. - Have fun! Aim for certain high scores, such as over one million. It's very satisfying when you finally get there. ---------- [6] Endless Marathon So, you feel happy with Standard Marathon mode; clearing 200 lines is no challenge at all under any gravity settings, and you have a respectable score. The challenge some people choose to undertake at this point is 'completing' Endless Mode. Obviously completing it in the sense of getting a 'Complete' screen is impossible, but there are various things you can do, in order of how long it takes. You can clear 999 lines, at which point the game stops the line counter, you can get to Level 999, which takes a very long time; you have to clear almost 10000 lines! Or, the longest and most impressive tasks you can undertake: maxing out your score. This game counts your score up to 99,999,999, just under 100 million. Unfortunately, this game has a glitch which means it does not record any score above this figue. As such, you may wish to either get some sort of evidence for your achievement or perhaps deliberately end the game at some point under this number. So, how do you do this? Well, it's actually surprisingly easy once you're used to high gravity. Just look ahead, remember skimming, and utilise the infinite rotation. All the tips in the previous section apply to this mode. I will say it's best to do this in sections. If you attempt to do it all at once, you'll get tired of looking at the screen and will be more prone to make mistakes. Keep your DS charged when you're not using it and remember to leave it on. Once you've been doing it for a while, it basically becomes second nature; feel free to do it while watching TV or whatever. But this can be dangerous. I was happily clearing lines one time, way past Level 999, when someone started to talk to me. The process had become so mechanical that I just stopped and looked up. It was only a few seconds later that I realised I'd topped out. If you need to scratch your nose or whatever, just keep on tapping A. Remember that, and playing forever is easy. When you're done for the day and need to charge your DS, I find it's best to pause during the line clear delay. It's quite long in this game, so when you unpause you'll have a bit of time to study your stack and piece previews before the next piece comes. If you have access to another Tetris clone and haven't played the paused game for a while, I recommend having a few goes on the clone before you return to the game; if you're not used to Tetris you're likely to make mistakes. All in all, if you keep your concentration up this is pretty easy. Don't worry about getting T-Spins - this can create holes if you mess up. Getting singles and triples is completely fine too, but I find it's easier if you maintain the stack shape you would in normal Marathon; you'll be good at recognising where each piece can go by now. ---------- [7] Line Clear Mode My personal favourite mode, this game sees you trying to get the highest score possible in just twenty-five lines. Once again, starting on Level Twenty is recommended. However, there is also an option to increase the height. This makes random garbage fill up a certain amount of the well, depending on what you set the Height to, with five being the maximum. How this affects scoring is, the level used to calculate scoring is essentially Level plus Height. So, Level Twenty and Height Five gives multiplies the Level One scoring (which can be found earlier in the guide) by twenty-five. However, starting this high is fairly difficult and in my opinion the optimum is a Height of two. Sometimes the garbage is even beneficial; often it makes it easier to set up a T-Spin. I recommend ST stacking as a strategy in this mode. It is actually possible to get thirteen T-Spin Doubles this way, with out needing any Tetrises. If you want your stack to be slightly lower (thereby making the maintaining of the ST Stack easier), you can start with an L or a J, depending on which side of the well you're getting T-Spins on. Another strategy I sometimes use is to get a T-Spin Single and then use a back-to-back T-Spin Triple set-up. This is good because they are the two best scoring moves in the game, and you get a back-to-back bonus for both T-Spin Triples. I will say this leaves you with a rather unappealing stack, however. Try not to get too many Tetrises in this mode; after all, they do take a lot lines away. And once again, remember to go for T-Spin 0s for free points. [7] The End Well, hopefully you have in some way improved your playing by reading this guide. If not, I apologize. Feel free to complain, or make any comments on this guide by contacting me at the following e-mail address: isaac180296@hotmail.co.uk Thanks for reading! Copyright (c) Isaac Brown 2010. This guide is currently only allowed to be shown on GameFAQs.com.