Shrink Mode

Original game : Tetris

Platform : NES

Author : Zohassadar

Release date : 03 March 2024

Category : Complete

Patch version : 1.1

Modifications : G, P

Downloads : 374

ROM Information

Database match: Tetris (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20210216-231042)
File SHA-1: 77747840541BFC62A28A5957692A98C550BD6B2B
File CRC32: 6D72C53A
ROM SHA-1: FD9079CB5E8479EB06D93C2AE5175BFCE871746A
ROM CRC32: 1394F57E

Hack description

This is Shrink Mode, a romhack of Kirjava's romhack TetrisGYM.

Choose between Small, Medium or Big.

Big mode, inspired by Tetris: The Grand Master, doubles the width and height of each block, reducing the playfield to a mere 5x10.

Small mode is like big mode, except the pieces are smaller. The reduced size of the pieces increases the playfield to a massive 20x40.

Medium mode isn't very different from vanilla gameplay (see limitations below) and exists simply to provide a size option between big and small.

Prefer to play all three at once? Try the Shrink mode challenge. Start the game in big mode on level 9. Advance levels every 10 lines and if you can survive 100 lines the board will convert to medium. Survive another 100 lines and the pieces shrink again to small at level 29 where the speed and size stays stable for the rest of the game. How far can you make it?

Other features:

* Seed. Not a playable option but any seed selected will apply to any mode. This is included mainly for any competitions involving big mode where RNG can make the most impact. To quickly clear a seed, press A+B.

* DAS. Defaults to the vanilla gameplay with setting G (16). Reduce this value to increase the speed in which the pieces automatically shift when left or right are held. Like Seed, this is also not a playable mode and instead will apply to any mode.

Known limitations:

* The logic for line clearing had to be rewritten to accommodate different size playfields and does not include the top row bug from the original game.

* Also missing from the original game are ceiling blocks. In this version any block that locks above the visible playfield will disappear into the ether.

Changelog:

v1.1:

* Fixed bug that didn't return to correct menu after end of shrink game

Contributions

Contributor	Type of contribution	Description
Zohassadar	Hacking
Kirjava	Original Hacking

Reviews

A Small Mode hack bundled the best Big Mode ever	duo_decimus	2024-01-16	Version 1.0
This is billed as Tetris Shrink Mode, but what's important to me is it's bundled with the best version of Big Mode I've ever seen. It feels absolutely perfect, I played it for hours today. I've always wanted a version of Big Mode I could truly feel at home with and this is it. And best of all I can play it on my NES! I love how it's very forgiving on the top row, which lets you pull awesome comeback maneuvers and keep the game going. This is what I've always wanted. For those who don't know, Big Mode is a variant of Tetris where the pieces are twice as big. Everything is crowded and intense, and it's an incredibly interesting challenge. I found out afterwards that this author has also made a separate Big Mode hack that I missed because it seems it wasn't posted to Romhacking. However, this Shrink Mode hack has extra features like DAS setting, SRAM high score saving, and level select that make it a much better Big Mode experience. If this had Hard Drop like the NES hack Tetris Excel has, then it would be the last Tetris game I'd ever need. As for the main attraction, the Small Mode, I tried my hardest to play it but it makes my eyes hurt. I'm sorry, I really tried. If this rom had Ghost Piece then I think that would fix my issue. Also, the pieces are very small and take a long time to drop, so Small Mode feels sluggish without Hard Drop. Sure, you can turn up the game speed as a workaround, but I still think Hard Drop would make Small Mode shine. I have a feeling programming Ghost Piece into NES Tetris might be more complicated than it's worth, so I'm not explicitly demanding it. As far as things stand, this rom serves as the Big Mode Tetris game I've always wanted, so if this hack never got updated, I will still play it for years to come. I'm very satisfied with what's here already. I have a few minor suggestions: SRAM save for the DAS setting so you don't have to set it every time you turn the game on A way to abort a game in progress and drop to the menu would be great (button combination while paused, perhaps) Thanks for the great work, I feel so lucky that what I always wanted finally exists.

GuestLog in