Retro gamers were shocked to discover that Nintendo had planned to release a Tetris Game & Watch system in the 1980s. This isn’t just one of those re-released Game & Watch systems Nintendo made for Mario and Zelda, as this appears to be the original model system made decades ago.
A post from Twitter user @vectrex0904 reveals one of these Tetris Game & Watch systems in action and it’s a sight to behold. From what can be seen, this system uses both screens and even has Game & Watch characters throwing the blocks. It’s genuinely shocking to see this system working.
Unfortunately, this Tetris Game & Watch system was never released. That’s a real shame as the system was considered a major success at the time, with an impressive amount of battery. We did get a version of this hit title on Game Boy, with many saying it's one of the best ports of the classic.
Game & Watch is still a brand that Nintendo has some love for, as the recent Mario and Zelda editions have shown. In addition to those products, some of these games were also re-released as compilations on Game Boy Color and Nintendo DS. Kingdom Hearts 3 even paid tribute to this with some of its mini-games, though some feel those were closer to Tiger Electronics.
Tetris itself is still one of the most popular games out there, with various re-releases still available to this day. We have Tetris Effect, a gorgeous version of the game readily available on most modern systems. There’s also the exclusive Tetris 99 via the Nintendo Switch Online service, which sort of makes the game a battle royale.
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Still, now that we’ve seen this Tetris Game & Watch in the wild, one can’t help but think “what if?” when it comes to this edition. Although most of the Game & Watch models are a bit outdated to this day, this edition would have stood the test of time, given how addictive the puzzler still is.