Tetris vs. Columns

[Gapporin]

Tetris. Columns. One deals with blocks. The other deals with stones. One requires you to make lines. The other requires you to match three in a row. One's made by Nintendo. The other's made by Sega. In a no-holds barred, steel cage match of puzzle gaming superority, which one would win?

Lock in your votes. Right...now.

[Jibbajaba]

Tetris. Not even close. I wasn't that into columns, although it is a decent puzzle game, and a good Tetris substitute for the Game Gear. Tetris is the king of all puzzle games, IMHO.

Chris

[petewhitley]

Dr. Mario. The only puzzler devoted to pill-popping. Must be played will under the influence of a pill. Preferably Scheduled pills.

[XxMe2NiKxX]

Puyo Puyo is the king of all puzzle titles, but I voted columns, becausde I'm not a very big fan of tetris... didn't have as much replayability as columns, and was too slow.

[Richter Belmount]

columns cause of the music and gameplay , you can really get into the game gear columns

[slip81]

It was a very tough decision for me. I love Columns, but in the end Tetris' simplicity is perfect. Now if Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo was on the poll, things would be different.

[imanerd0011]

Tetris all day !!! Considering it's one of the best selling games of all time, and addicting as hell. Although personally I like Dr. Mario more, out of these two games Tetris wins in a first round TKO

[tyranthraxus]

If you like the style of game they all have their advantages. Tetris is the
ground breaker and I think is in many ways the best. But Dr Mario has its
own type of panic, I think with DM at the high high levels you feel you at
least have a chance at beating it where Tetris just eventually becomes
impossibly fast.

But right now I have been enjoying Klax thanks to the Midway set. Its got
a lot of different combinations and tricks that makes it its own game. But I
think I like the games little touches the most, like the polite applause and the
tag line "its the 1990s and its time for Klax!" ;)

[whoisKeel]

i never really got into columns, and i enjoy puzzle games. on the other hand, i never tire of tetris, tho it was never that great multiplayer.

but then again, i don't like the mulitplayesr solo that much (bust-a-move, puzzle fighter)

[tholly]

tetris.....it destroys columns....but, if dr. mario was up there, thats where my vote would have went

[Perkar]

there is definitely no contest here. tetris all the way.

since we're adding all these "buts" though....

but if super puzzle fighter was on that list, it'd get my immediate vote! best puzzle game EVAR.

[alexkidd2000]

It should have been Tetris vs Puyo Puyo.

Puyo Puyo is Sega's great puzzle game, not Columns.

[Fuyukaze]

While I dont enjoy tetris as much as I did when it was first released, it was no contest as to which I enjoyed most. coumns was fun, but it just didnt feel the same. I have to agree, puzzel fighter would have been a good pick as well. Actualy, alot of things would have been good as well. While I'm thinking about, wasnt tetris released by more then just the big N? I remember reading somewheres that it was released on PC before the GB was released and that tengen had released it on the NES (though later considered a bootleg).

[HC Andersson]

Columns anyday!
It's 2-player battle mode is fantastic and the flash-mode is great. Graphic wise Columns beats the crap out of Tetris too.

[Jasoco]

Tetris all the way.

[chrisbid]

i always liked columns on the genesis, it served as good inspiration for Dr Mario, and its large sprites and soothing music were what made the genesis so special to gaming in 1989 (though few people were paying attention)

but i would have to say tetris is a more timeless game. but if you are talking versions, what about tengen tetris being light years better than nintendo tetris

[Push Upstairs]

Dr. Mario. The only puzzler devoted to pill-popping.

More evidence that Mario is a drug fiend!


I'd say Columns because of that soothing music and the fact that I could get to like level 85 on that game.

[NESaholic]

Tetris most def., simplicity rules!

[soniko_karuto]

tetris kicks ass. Colums is kinda awkward. but puyo puyo kicks it in the beaner, while puzzle de pon puts them on their four, magical drop, ermh, makes the drop on all of those!

[Iron Draggon]

Columns over Tetris for sure! Columns is alot more mindless than Tetris is, you really have to think when you're playing Tetris, it's almost like an IQ test. I suspect that's why most people prefer Tetris, but with Columns, you can literally just set down stacks of jewels and never even cycle through them to change their order and still make matches and keep playing for hours. In fact, sometimes I like to challenge myself by not allowing myself to cycle through their order, and rely only on where I place my stacks to make my matches. Kinda like not allowing yourself to rotate your blocks in Tetris, which would never work, and you'd soon lose. So that's yet another reason why Columns is better, you can make up your own rules for playing, you can't do that with Tetris. Columns allows endless variations, as evidenced by it's many sequels, but Tetris is just Tetris, just about the only way to change it is to change the graphics, although I do realize that it has had many sequels and spinoff games too. I like both games alot, and most other puzzle games that I've played, but Columns is still my favorite, and always will be.

other favorites:

Block Out (3D Tetris, although I don't own it)
Bust A Move (I don't own it either, but it's cool)
Junction (imagine Marble Madness as a puzzle game)
Klax (kinda difficult, but very kampy kool)
Trip'd (3DO - best puyo puyo I ever played)
Zoop (strange and difficult, but uniquely different)

[anagrama]

Puyo Puyo is Sega's great puzzle game, not Columns.

Puyo Puyo was developed by Compile, not Sega. (Sega licensed it as Dr Robotnik's MBM, but so did Nintendo as Kirby's Avalanche).

And in my view, Tetris Attack (aka Panel de Pon or Pokemon Puzzle League) is the finest well-based puzzler out there. Puyo Puyo and Baku Baku Animal are close runners-up.

[klausien]

Both games had their best incarnations on portable systems with GG Columns and the original GB Tetris, but it is definitely Tetris all the way. It just may be the best videogame ever. Perfection in simplicity.

[Xexyz]

It may just be the SEGA love calling from within me but I always seemed to enjoy Colums a tad bit more than Tetris.

[rpepper9]

Tetris all day !!! Considering it's one of the best selling games of all time, and addicting as hell. Although personally I like Dr. Mario more, out of these two games Tetris wins in a first round TKO

Probably because it has been on about 100 different systems, with little or no differance between each one. LOL

[Kejoriv]

I like Tetris better. I also like Dr Mario better than Columns.

[Jasoco]

Oh, God. Tetris Attack is kick ass! I love it and could play for hours. Tetris and Tetris Attack are first, Dr. Mario second, Columns way at the end of the long line of my fave puzzles. It's too simple. And not fun at all IMHO. Tetris 2 is cool as well, but I haven't played it since I stupidly traded in many of my SNES games.

[Jorpho]

It is a telling sign that games like Columns include pieces that will eliminate all blocks of a particular color. If you have to throw in such a powerful random element, something is off in your gameplay balance, methinks.

So, try Triptych (http://www.chroniclogic.com/index.htm?triptych.htm) yet?

[Icarus Moonsight]

Columns vs. Tetris eh?
I'd have to say in this match-up Tetris has the mainstream edge with it's simple and addictive "from Russia with love" design. However, Columns gameplay is deeper with a wider scope (ie Flash mode, multiplayer modes). Tetris appeals to everyone whereas Columns appeals to the hardcore puzzler. Both excellent games, but Columns wins out IMO.

Everyone was Puzzle Fighting - HUH!

[Iron Draggon]

It is a telling sign that games like Columns include pieces that will eliminate all blocks of a particular color. If you have to throw in such a powerful random element, something is off in your gameplay balance, methinks.

So, try Triptych (http://www.chroniclogic.com/index.htm?triptych.htm) yet?

I don't think that element had to be thrown in, it was thrown in by choice. They wanted to make the game last longer than a game of Tetris, so the magic blocks were thrown in to accomplish that, and very nicely I might add. Without the magic blocks your game ends sooner, which is a testament to just how challenging it really is, not some sort of design flaw in the gameplay.

[Jorpho]

But in a 2-player game, does the magic block not tend to cause a massive combo that does serious damage to your opponent?

[FantasiaWHT]

As much as I love Columns, Tetris is a much better game.

Columns was just way too easy... the cap on speed was too low, at the point where you can easily play infinitely in that came.

It's actually hard to kill yourself in Columns... most of the time just dropping blocks randomly you still make matches hehe.

It's a great meditative experience tho, especially with the music, but Tetris just works better as a game.

[DigitalSpace]

Columns is cool, but Tetris is the best imo.

[Icarus Moonsight]

The majority found Columns easy? Or at least easier than Tetris? O_O
I don't get it... oh well, jewels or blocks, stack 'em up!

To address the magical block issue in Columns I refer to my experience playing these games. In Tetris when your field is stacked 3/4 up or more your pretty much stuck in a war of attrition which eventually, unless blessed with the right piece at the right time, led to your demise. In Columns the magical block gives the player with a full play field of gems a fortunate turn of events back into control. So the magical block is actually the games representation of luck. Call it a come back, a rally, or snatching success from the jaws of defeat. Philosophicly speaking, Magic Block = Hope. :D

[Icarus Moonsight]

It is a telling sign that games like Columns include pieces that will eliminate all blocks of a particular color. If you have to throw in such a powerful random element, something is off in your gameplay balance, methinks.

In the Magic Blocks defense I'd have to say that it is only a "random" element when utilized in a random fashion. It's effect can range from marginal to board clearing dependant upon whether it's used haphazardly or strategicly.

For comparison's sake, look at Tetris and Columns on an even keel by how most people experienced Tetris. I don't think anyone can dispute that Tetris was mostly experienced on the NES and GB. While Columns got heavy exposure on the Genesis. If you compare the 8-bit versions and the portable versions of each (NES vs Master System & Gameboy vs Game Gear). I see Columns as the better game. Though I enjoy them both.

Kudos to Sega for Columns, at least they didn't have to purchase it from a Russian Mathematician...

[Jorpho]

To address the magical block issue in Columns I refer to my experience playing these games. In Tetris when your field is stacked 3/4 up or more your pretty much stuck in a war of attrition which eventually, unless blessed with the right piece at the right time, led to your demise. In Columns the magical block gives the player with a full play field of gems a fortunate turn of events back into control. So the magical block is actually the games representation of luck. Call it a come back, a rally, or snatching success from the jaws of defeat. Philosophicly speaking, Magic Block = Hope. :D

I disagree... In Tetris when your field is stacked that high you can still get out of it most of the time with enough skill. And in a stacked playfield without the maximum number of colors in use, it is difficult to see how a Magic Block could not have great effect.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I will admit, If you're playing Columns on Easy diff. the Magic Block is a game breaker. You can just stack-up the sides to the top leaving your drop column empty... wait for the magic block and boom 20-25% of the field is cleared not mentioning the chain reactions this no-doubt would set off. Wanna see the merit in the Magic Block? Play her in Hard diff :D

[Balloon Fight]

Tetris, mainly tetrinet. I've been playing that like mad ever since Perkar gave me the link. (www.blocktrix.org for the newest version).