Tetris 99

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Tetris 99
Developer	Arika
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch
Release date	Nintendo eShop: Template:ReleasePhysical release: Template:Release[?]
Language(s)	English (United Kingdom) English (United States) French (France) French (Canada) German Spanish (Spain) Spanish (Latin America) Italian Dutch Russian Japanese Simplified Chinese Traditional Chinese Korean
Genre	Puzzle, battle royale
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Everyone PEGI: - Three years and older CERO: - All ages ACB: - General RARS: - Six years and older
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Input	Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Pro Controller

Tetris 99 is a puzzle battle royale game for the Nintendo Switch. It was originally available only to Nintendo Switch Online members, but later made available to anyone. It was released on the Nintendo eShop on February 13, 2019, and later received a physical release bundled with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription and the Big Block DLC on August 9, 2019.

The game features a selection of themes based on various Nintendo games, including several based on the Super Mario franchise. New themes have periodically been added since release, usually of newly released games.

Gameplay

Tetris 99 is a multiplayer puzzle game in which 99 players play against each other at the same time, with the aim to be the last player remaining. As with the traditional Tetris formula, players rotate and drop shaped bricks known as Tetriminos onto a board. Players can clear Tetriminos by completing rows across both sides, whereas players will lose if Tetriminoes overflow off the top of the board. As with modern Tetris rules, players have the option to store a Tetrimino piece to swap out at any time. By clearing multiple lines or performing continuous line clears in a row, players can send "Garbage" to other players, which will appear on their board unless they can quickly clear lines in response. More Garbage can be sent by completing combination moves in succession of making a "Tetris" (matching 4 lines at once) or performing a "T-Spin" (squeezing the T-Tetrimino into a position it would otherwise not fall into by rapidly rotating it).

During gameplay, small grids representing the other 98 players are displayed at the sides of the main board. Players can either choose to target individual players, or have the computer automatically target other players based on one of four criteria: random players, those who are targeting the player, those who are close to being defeated, and those who possess badges. Badges are earned by knocking out a player with Garbage (or gray lines), which earns them a piece of a badge, along with any other badges or pieces that player had. The more badges a player completes and possesses, the more lines they can send to other players at a time (up to a 100% boost). At the end of a game, players will earn experience that will increase their level.

In May 2019, paid downloadable content (DLC) was released for the game, named the Big Block DLC. The DLC adds 4 offline modes in total: Marathon, the traditional single-player Tetris mode where play continues until the stack reaches the top of the well; CPU Battle, where players battle 98 bot players; Local Arena, where up to eight Nintendo Switch players play in the same arena via local wireless; and Two Player Share Battle, where two players share Joy-Con and play the same game in local co-op.

Themes

Theme no.	Title	Image
1.	Default Theme	File:Nocoverart.png
2.	Galaxy	File:Nocoverart.png
3.	Fancy	File:Nocoverart.png
4.	Scary Castle	File:Nocoverart.png
5.	Elegant	File:Nocoverart.png
6.	School	File:Nocoverart.png
7.	Treasure	File:Nocoverart.png
8.	Toy Blocks	File:Nocoverart.png
9.	Super Mario Bros.	File:Nocoverart.png
10.	The Legend of Zelda	File:Nocoverart.png
11.	Donkey Kong	File:Nocoverart.png

Super Mario-related special themes

Several special themes released during Maximus Cup events feature games from the Super Mario and Wario franchises. These themes could be obtained by playing in each event or purchased in the in-game store.

Special theme No.	Image	Game	Music	Maximus Cup no.	Maximus Cup duration
5		Luigi's Mansion 3		8th 16th	October 25, 2019 - October 29, 2019 August 17, 2020 - August 19, 2020 (round 2)
10		Paper Mario: The Origami King	99-51: "Red Streamer Battle" 50-11: 10-2: "Boss Fight" Win: Battle cleared fanfare Lose: Game Over	15th	July 31, 2020 - August 4, 2020
11		Super Mario All-Stars		18th	December 3, 2020 - December 7, 2020
13		Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury		20th 30th	March 4, 2021 - March 8, 2021 August 5, 2022 (round 1)
15		Mario Golf: Super Rush		22nd 30th	July 9, 2021 - July 12, 2021 August 7, 2022 (round 3)
17		WarioWare: Get It Together!	99-51: Title theme 50-11: Character select theme 10-2: Potty Pursuit (2nd phase) Win: Poseidon (success) Lose: Delivery Center (failure)	24th 30th	September 17, 2021 - September 20, 2021 August 9, 2022 (round 5)
20		Mario Party Superstars	99-51: "Come On, Chop-Chop!" 50-11: "That's All of It" 10-2: Win: "You're the Super Star!" Lose: Minigame victory fanfare (Mario Party 2), minigame results	27th	December 9, 2021 - December 13, 2021
28		Super Mario RPG	99-51: "Battling Monsters" 50-11: "Battling Strongish Monsters" 10-2: "Battling a Weapon Boss" Win: "Victory!" Lose: "Shock!", "Elegy"	36th	November 9, 2023 - November 13, 2023
29		WarioWare: Move It!		37th	November 30, 2023 - December 4, 2023
30		Super Mario Bros. Wonder	99-51: Welcome to the Flower Kingdom! theme 50-11: Welcome to the Flower Kingdom! Wonder Effect theme 10-2: Dark Mario Wonder Effect theme Win: Royal Seed fanfare, world clear fanfare Lose: "Lost a Life", Poplin house theme	38th	December 14, 2023 - December 18, 2023

Gallery

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  The game's logo

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  Logo with key artwork

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  Nintendo eShop Icon

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  Japanese box art

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  Russian box art

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  Dutch box art

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  Luigi's Mansion 3 in-game background

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  Mario Golf: Super Rush in-game background

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  WarioWare: Get It Together! in-game background

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  Mario Party Superstars in-game background

Staff

Main article: List of Tetris 99 staff

Tetris 99 was developed by Arika, which also developed games in the Dr. Mario series and would go on to develop Super Mario Bros. 35, another game with similar battle-royale mechanics. Ryuichi Nakada served as the director for Tetris 99.

References in later games

• Super Mario Bros. 35: The game ran on the same engine used in this game. As such, the gameplay concept was similar to the one in this game, and various UI elements appeared to be a modified version of this game's UI. Players would reach Level 1★ after Level 99, and Level 1★★ after Level 99★.