Tetris: The Grand Master/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Contested Sequel: Tetris: The Grand Master 4 would have introduced some controversial changes to the gameplay mechanics, as well as a Lighter and Softer graphical interface.
  • Crowning Moment of Awesome: Getting the Grand Master rank in any of the games is a CMOA for the player, though the awesomeness tends to be greater with newer games as they tighten the requirements for GM rank.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: Even if most of these games lack "Korobeiniki", they still have some pretty awesome music.
    • TGM ACE has an awesome remix of "Katyusha", heard only in Another Road.
  • Default Setting Syndrome: World Rule in TGM3, particularly amongst those who haven't played any of the TGM games prior to it.
  • Fan Hater: Having someone watch you play at 20G drop speed will get you called superhuman at best and some loser who takes Tetris too seriously at worst.
  • Friendly Fandoms: You can expect a lot of TGM players to also be Bemani or Shmup players.
  • Misblamed: It was believed that TGM4 was canceled due to the Tetris Company's meddling, but it was revealed on December 5, 2010 that Sega refused to publish it and that Henk Rogers and the Tetris Company actually like this series. There are still some details left to speculation, but the troubles related to clones are no longer the only point of contention.
  • Most Annoying Sound: The REGRET!! sound in TGM3. Not only is it an indicator that you're going too slow, but it also means you've just lost one grade.
  • Most Wonderful Sound: The grade-increase sound. Daaaa dadada daaaaa!
  • Older Than They Think
    • 20G has appeared previously in an obscure Tetris clone for the Sharp X68000 computer known as "Shimizu Tetris".
    • For the more astute Tetris players reading this, the rotation system and piece colors for the TGM series is the same as the one in Sega's 1988 version of Tetris, only with the ability to rotate in more than one direction, and a mechanic that shifts the current piece to the side if you try to rotate it but normally can't due to a wall or piece obstructing it.
  • Porting Disaster: TGM ACE, thanks to massive amounts of Executive Meddling via the Tetris Guideline.
  • The Scrappy: There's an unlikely one in TAP's T.A. Death mode. It's the I piece. Due to it being the only piece that can't kick, simply setting up a one-cell-wide hole on either the far left or right isn't enough to set up for a Tetris; you also have to set up a slightly wider opening for the piece to slip through.
  • Scrappy Mechanic: Firm drop for some players, which has led to many a misdrop (and is possibly why players in some regions stick to World Rule, which offers standard hard drop).
  • Sequelitis: TGM ACE. A good Tetris game, but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who would regard it as a great game by TGM standards.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: TGM4's version of the Arika Rotation System would have had, instead of step reset (in which the timer for a piece locking resets only on a piece moving down), use move reset (in which you only need to move the piece). This has not sat well with some fans.