Ok so we all know the long drawn out history of how the worlds most addictive puzzle game came to be so I'm not going to patronise everyone by attempting to pad out this review with lots of unnecessary overzealous information detailing the roots of Tetris. I'll sum it all up into a nice, neat paragraph or two instead…

A man called Alexy Pajitnov (read : some Russian guy) created a game of falling blocks on his PC, he called it Tetris (Tetris meaning Latin for "four") it's popularity spread across computers all over Russia about as fast as it was duplicated. Then some companies seeing the addictive quality (amongst other attributes) decided to purchase the license to make their own versions to sell and bring Tetris to the masses!

There were a couple of versions of Tetris dated B.N (Before Nintendo) released in the eighties which went by the moniker of "Tetris : the soviet mind game" then there was some legal stuff upon release of the game on Nintendo consoles between Tengen (the "current" license holders at the time) and Nintendo who also owned rights to the game. Nintendo took legal action, Tengen stopped making "Tengen Tetris", 98% of the cartridges were burned, Nintendo then went on to make their versions of Tetris for the NES then the GameBoy and the rest as they say, is history.

Right, now that's out of the way, back to present day, the year in which Nintendo has decided to resurrect, recreate and remake Tetris for a new generation. After all it has been nearly 20 years since the original smash hit GameBoy release and while it has had a couple of official Nintendo developed sequels, which include some decent versions in their own rights, never were quite as good as the original. Fortunately, Tetris DS is every bit an equal sequel, and then some.

Starting with the basic fundamentals elements of the formula, those being the blocks which are the very foundations of the game play, we have all of the original blocks with no nasty variations or deviations spawned from the hordes of mutant Tetris clones. For your ease of mind the blocks included are; the square, T-shaped, both L & thunderbolt shaped blocks and of course the all important long / straight block.

You can still rotate the blocks in both directions; make the blocks drop quickly by pressing Up on the D-pad and even move the block at the last second before it settles. All is well and good then… well to an extent yes. There are a couple of niggles but they are so very trivial and don't affect the game play too much. The first of which is that blocks start dropping a little above the screen so there's a split second delay until you see the next block descending. This can be devastating when its blocks near the top and sweaty palms time. Also you can rotate the block before it's placed for an indefinite period of time and it is suspended in the air while you do, if you spin it fast enough that is… hmm.

However, these negatives don't matter too much when you're playing the actual game. The aforementioned niggles are the games only "real" faults, and any other negatives such as the Nintendo themes not being to everyone's taste are purely nitpicking. Personally I think the retro themes are well implemented and while they don't actually enhance the core game play they help to distinguish between the myriad of modes available and the classic speed increase when you're about to lose intensifying the action is still present.

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Marathon mode is where all the classic Tetris action takes place. Initially you start off trying to reach what may seem like an impossible goal of 200 lines; impossible… if you are new to the game at least. However, for Tetris veterans this is an easily achievable goal and once this milestone is met you will then be able to play marathon mode how it was originally intended, with no line limit. With that said, the original mode is undoubtedly the best mode the game has to offer, I mean, it's a no-brainer really, it's been the best mode since the original was conceived and that fact rings true to this very day. It's also been made that extra bit special by showing the next five blocks to fall and letting you 'store' a falling block you want to keep in reserve, shown on the left hand side. On the other hand, i dont recall seeing a high scores table in this version, only the highest score is displayed. Personally i find this damaging to the game; one of Tetris's original pulls was to get a good spot on that table! It's to this latest versions credit though that it's the best faithful recreation in over a decade, and while a look at the extra alternative takes on the classic formula serve mostly to reinforce this fact, Nintendo should at least be commended on the wealth of quality that's been made available.

Newly implemented modes comprise of Mission Mode which sets scenarios for you to complete against the clock such as clearing a set amount of lines simultaneously using the most awkward block possible. This mode is very enjoyable... in comparison to the other included modes that is. Puzzle mode fills the grid with nearly complete lines and then "challenges" you to clear the screen by using three, four or five specifically selected blocks. It's ok and there's also a touch variation but it's of limited enjoyment; what starts out to be a brain teaser becomes incredibly hard and annoying. Catch mode is quite literally hit and miss, partly due to the mode involving the player rotating a mass of bricks in order to catch falling blocks which stick to the mass on contact and then disappear in a widespread four – way explosion destroying any blocks and Metroids (yes this mode has Metroids, something Metroid Prime: Hunters could have done with including) which get in the way.

So Catch Mode is passable then, Push Mode is quite decent where the whole screen is used as a playing area with a Donkey Kong backdrop prominent. You play against the CPU or another player and try and clear lines which push the blocks towards your opponents "Game Over "line. It's Inventive yes but certainly not flawless. If you leave space for the infamous straight block, whoever covers the gap is effectively helping their rival by providing them with a solid base to build blocks on.

Then there's the multiplayer! This is what this version of Tetris is all about and it's where all the real Tetrimino based action is at. Up to ten players (yes, as in the same amount of countable digits on two hands) can play via local wireless connection simultaneously! It's nice that Nintendo has included wireless support for this many players and even if you're not likely to get ten people playing it at the same time, if you do, you can expect it to be one hell of a block party.

The Nintendo WFC is where you'll be spending most of your time however, with two and four player supported online. There might only be three modes available which are Standard, Push and Standard with the added twist of items. Standard is for two players head to head, Tetris to the death, simple as; Push is the push mode except it's online and is take it or leave it really. Finally Standard with items is the four player variation which is hectic even playing against novice players, but get a quartet of Tetris addicts together and it becomes a block dropping, banana blitzing, thunderbolt throwing, red shell rolling, boo bombing and generally all-absorbing, immersing experience unlike any other.

All of the offline modes have their pros and cons, but online, Tetris will hold your attention for ransom and refuse to return you to reality for considerable periods of time; that "one last go" that you told yourself five minutes ago ain't gonna happen for at least another hour and a half, and even then you'll be questioning whether you should quit or not. It's this addictive quality that Tetris has always had and it's simply amplified tenfold by its online element which is effectively a black hole for any spare time which you might have had before purchasing it. Why do you think this review is so overdue? Yep, I can say hand on heart it was all down to trying to catch falling blocks from the sky...