Tetris Plus 2

Tetris Plus 2
Developer: Jaleco Publisher: Jaleco Platform: Arcade (Jaleco MegaSystem 32 / Tetris Plus 2 hardware) Released in JP: September 1997 Released in US: October 1998 This game has hidden developer credits. This game has revisional differences.

The sequel to Jaleco's Tetris Plus, which introduced the digdown-esque Puzzle Mode.

Developer Credit

At 0x2DC7 of the audio CPU in the MegaSystem 32 release is a developer credit:

 [[ Programmed by H.Uchida ]] [[   Licenced by JALECO   ]]      

(Source: tikal.)

Revisional Differences

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: What is different between the unique hardware revisions?

Tetris Plus 2 was released in two different hardwares; an earlier revision was created with the MegaSystem 32 in mind, while newer ones use then-unique hardware.

Music

• The MegaSystem 32 revision uses sequenced music, while the unique hardware revisions use prerecorded audio streams, which are also differently arranged. While it would normally mean a higher audio quality, gimmicks such as the increasing speed in the Endless Mode background music became no longer.

Graphics

In a perhaps ironic twist, the newer hardware is actually inferior graphic-wise compared to the MegaSystem 32, not supporting effects like scaling, transparency and rotation, and it also seems sprites can no longer move too much vertically. Some tweaks were done to accomodate this hardware change, and are noticeable in the game's title screen, how to play screen, and perhaps more notoriously in the gameplay.

Title Screen

• The beginning of the Assistant's section in the Intro was cut down; the animation now starts when she's halfway through the screen.
• The title logo instantly appears on the top half of the screen before bouncing a little, instead of appearing from above it like in the MegaSystem 32 revision.

How To Play

MegaSystem 32	Unique

• There is no transparency in the play field; this is also true for the Endless Mode gameplay.
• The Tetrimino blocks to be deployed are no longer scaled down.
• The English text spacing is a little wider.

Puzzle Mode Gameplay

MegaSystem 32	Unique

• There is no transparency in the Treasure display box.

Puzzle Mode Stage Clear

MegaSystem 32	Unique

• All of the text zoom animations were removed, leaving the text only plainly appearing on-screen.

Endless Mode Intro

MegaSystem 32	Unique

• The obscured background picture no longer zooms to the screen.
• The "START" text no longer gives the impression of bouncing when moving upwards.

Endless Mode Gameplay

• There is no palette cycling in the obscured areas of the background picture.
• The bars on the sides of the playfield are always full. As such, the only way to determine when a level up will occur is via the flashing lights above them.

Endless Mode Stage Clear

MegaSystem 32	Unique

• The "Chapter Clear" and "Bonus" graphics no longer zoom to the screen, leaving a rather... sloppy animation.
• The "Level Down" graphic no longer moves upward.
• The revealed background picture no longer moves to the left after the level amount is decreased.
• The playfield suddenly appears on-screen instead of appearing from outside of it.