Gameboy Tetris wasn't the first Tetris I played (that was Mirrorsoft Tetris on the ZX Spectrum, with its spooky AY theme music), but it is the Tetris I always go back to.
For such an early GB game, it feels almost perfect. A compelling combination of apparent simplicity and hidden depth, it was (and still is) ideal to pick up and play for five minutes at a time. I think it is fair to say that the GB wouldn't have done half as well without Tetris.
Sure, it lacks features that modern Tetris implementations have - like hold, or being able to rotate infinitely in place, or fancy flashing backdrops - but it seems somehow better for that. Tetris in its purest form, just one more go, for ever and ever.
What are your memories of GB Tetris? Do you still play it? Do you think it holds up? What is your go-to Tetris?
I loved the original but - and you may hate me for saying this - I think Tetris Effect is basically perfect. Amazing visuals, incredible music, the gameplay is classic but the holds and t-spins make it all the more fun.
I tried to go back and play the gameboy version reasonably recently and the lack of a bag system (where the available pieces go into a bag and are pulled out randomly, then once they're all out they get put back in and the cycle repeats) means that the game is slightly less random and slightly more understandable.
It's a classic whatever format it's in though :)