…before hitting the download button anyways and ending up playing this for hours. The game comes with gorgeous pixel art and a catchy soundtrack and adds a modern twist to the original Tetris formula. Besides that, the game’s “classic” mode is a very solid Tetris variant.

Scores in “From Below” are very comparable to the NES version, as it implements the same scoring system and seems to run at the same speed levels as the beloved classic. Nevertheless, “From Below” is easier, as it features less rigid game mechanics (longer lock delay, faster DAS) and a more generous transition rule in the higher levels. These changes make a significant difference: While anything beyond level 15 is out of my reach in NES Tetris, I could play “From Below” on level 18 consistently and beat my hard earned NES Tetris high score by about 100k in just a few hours.

The only minor flaw I found in the very enjoyable time I spent with “From Below” was that the board is still visible when the game is paused. Players might exploit that to achieve high scores by pausing frequently and planning their moves in advance. To avoid that, almost all games of the like hide the board when the game is paused.

As it turns out, you actually can’t improve NES Tetris, but you can still add your own flavor to it without breaking anything. Very well done!