Tetris for the NES is one of the most popular
variants of the classic block stacking game, selling over 8 million copies in it's three
decade lifespan. Over that time, the game has been continuously played at a high level, with
elite players knowing the game inside and out. Feats that were thought to be nearly impossible
have become trivial since the game's release. Achievements such as a maxout score and level 30
were first proven to be possible by Nintendo World Champ Thor Aackerlund back in the 90s, but since
then the competitive scene has snowballed into seeing who can set even more insane benchmarks for
the gamemodes of NES Tetris. The popularization of the hypertapping playstyle just a few
years ago allowed for a new surge in records, with increased piece movement speeds from the
technique allowing for some absurd accomplishments, such as the first 1.3 million score, a
completed run on 19-5 in the B type mode, and a then level world record of 38, surviving
nine levels into what had previously been known as the level 29 kill screen. Just recently though, the
breakthrough of a third playstyle called rolling has allowed for a new wave of Tetris records to
emerge. The technique allows for piece movement speeds upwards of nearly 30 hertz, which has
allowed for high level play to improve across the board. Players are able to accomplish these
speeds with a fluid motion of five fingers on the bottom of the controller, which when combined
with the thumb pressure over the top of the d-pad allows the fingers on the bottom to translate
to individual button presses for piece movement. This complicated method of influencing inputs
has in turn revolutionized NES Tetris, with nearly every world record being wiped off the map in a
matter of months. The hypertap score world record of 1.4 million has been obliterated with a new 3.7
million. That level record of 38? it's now level 95. In just one year, the face of competitive
NES Tetris has changed completely, and for players who have put in countless hours
to master the new and overpowered technique, they've begun to set their sights towards even
more ludicrous achievements, and for one player, a seemingly impossible feat was found
to be viable in a surprising location. Fractal161 has been a high level Classic Tetris
player for several years, making the top bracket for the Classic Tetris World Championships in both
2020 and 2021. Out of everyone in the competitive Tetris scene Fractal's among the most all-around,
grinding some of the most difficult challenge categories in the game, such as the droughthack
ROM, which distributes much fewer long bars, a piece that's crucial for the highest scoring move of
a Tetris line clear. It was game modes like this that strengthened Fractal's stacking and endurance
abilities, which alongside piece movement speeds are crucial for competitive play at the highest
levels. Once rolling was made public in April of 2021, Fractal quickly jumped on the train of
players scrambling to learn the overpowered technique, but like with others he struggled
early on. Fractal knew that the potential of the playstyle was worth the tedious grind, so the
following months had him showing gradual signs of improvement. As a playerbase of new rollers began
to show definite progress during the Summer months, Fractal quickly followed, eventually rising to
the top as one of the most proficient rollers at the time. His first world record with the
playstyle backed that, up having reached 247 lines on a level 29 start in September of 2021.
By the time the 2021 World Championships rolled around in October, he was ready to showcase
his skills on the world stage. He showed off some dominant killscreen play, featuring piece
movement speeds done with rolling that would've been unheard of just a year prior. (Commentator) but this
is what rolling gives you it is the fastest, uh taps per second of any technique. In the end, that advantage alone wasn't enough for him to advance, with him losing a close best of five match in the
round of 16 to be knocked out of the tournament. From this though, a new challenge would emerge for
Fractal, and while he didn't know it at the time, it would be one that would go on to reshape what he
thought was possible in NES Tetris. The PAL scene is a heavily underlooked side of Classic Tetris,
but it too has a storied history. It's the most played version outside of the United States with
a strong presence in Europe, and they have their own variation of the World Championships.
despite PAL's version of NES Tetris being almost identical on the surface when compared to
NTSC, the differences between the two appear when factoring in how their respective frame rates
affect the speed at which pieces fall in game. The maximum speed that a tetrimino can fall down
the board is one row every frame, which works out to a duration of 0.4 seconds for PAL's 50 frames
per second, but an even faster third of a second for NTSC's 60. This difference means that while
NTSC's version reaches it's top speed at level 29, PAL's is achieved 10 levels earlier. Because of
this, you could consider PAL's level 19 to be the official dev intended killscreen, but the slight
change in speed means that it is playable to some extent for every playstyle in NES Tetris. With
this knowledge in mind, Fractal saw some untapped potential in the version, and when he was loaned
an AVS console by community member Vandweller, his grind ultimately began. To start, there was a bit of
a struggle adjusting to the difference in versions. The slight variation in frame rate between PAL
and NTSC led to magnified issues at higher speeds. Having accurate taps when performing moves such
as spins and tucks had Fractal a bit off rhythm, but given enough play, he was quickly
able to adjust to the differences. In the span of just a few days of playing the
version, he managed to take the record for the highest level reach from a PAL 19 start at a
mark of level 51 and 456 lines on October 26th. His progress continued at the same absurd pace,
having the first 500 line game two days later, the first 600 line game on November 1st, and just two
days after that, reaching an astonishing 893 lines. The score of that game was also the highest
reached in any version of NES Tetris at that time, but from that point onwards he was
only focused on the line metric, realizing that he had a potentially absurd
new goal that was actually within reach. To understand the goal in question, let's quickly
discuss how the color system of NES Tetris works. Each level from 0 through 9 has its own color
assigned to it, which is accomplished by the game checking for the ending value of a given level,
following that by corresponding the given value of a level with assigned colors for the level
endings 0-9. At level 10 and beyond, the game will repeatedly subtract 10 from any given level
number until it's back to a value of less than 10. This is why levels 0, 10, and 20 have the same color
scheme. Same as levels 5 and 15, 8 and 28, and so on. This system works for all intended playable levels,
and even operates normally into the killscreen, as other values such as the level counter quickly
begin to fail. However, this too reaches a breaking point. At level 138, the check to see if
the level number is less than 10 fails, which is a product of NES Tetris using "Signed
Number Representation" for level values in memory, a method which uses a range of values negative
128 to 127. This means that while the math works for every level through 137, the calculation done
at level 138 ends up defaulting to negative 128, which does fit the initial criteria of being
less than 10. This false positive leads the game to assume that level 138 does in fact have
an assigned color value, so it attempts to find 138 within the color table. One small problem
though, which is that the color table entry for level 138 doesn't exist, and instead points to
an entirely random portion of the game's code, and this is what is visually represented in game.
This happens for every value past 137, meaning that an entire sequence of bugged colors emerges.
This is fully explored in a video by community member GregBoomCannon, where his A.I StackRabbit
managed to storm through level 138 and beyond, and I highly recommend checking that out. Greg
also went out of his way to give a nickname to every level the bot encountered. My personal
favorites are "Squid", "Aquamarine", and of course "Greeeen". For a human player though, replicating
StackRabbit's feats is just a bit tricky. With the level being at a threshold of 1,320 lines,
Fractal had the realization that he was within striking distance, and with the slight advantage
that PAL's version had with a slightly slower killscreen, he had a definite shot at doing what
had never before been considered humanly possible. To bridge the 43 level gap though, he had to deal
with the insane pitfalls that NES Tetris provides. Things as simple as a bad piece sequence
can easily end a game on killscreen speeds, as well as mistakes such as snagging pieces
before they can reach either side of the board, closing off crucial sections and making Fractal
unable to burn lines. The wear and tear of killscreen games that were beginning to surpass 30
minutes in length at this point had proven to be incredibly challenging, but for Fractal, this
was all the more reason to continue grinding. (Fractal) I think 1,043 (lines). (Fractal) You'd think these aren't the new colors.
I was 30 lines off. Fractal was within 30 lines of reaching the bugged colors. The nerves/subsequent mental barrier proved to be difficult to overcome, so for a prolonged stretch,
Fractal would continue to get 1,000 line games, just for them to fizzle out in some incredibly
sad ways. Playing mistake-free Tetris for upwards of 40 minutes is such a difficult task, but Fractal
knew that it took just one game to break through. He had come so close, just for an unfortunate
spire of long bars to end his best run. His perseverance persisted though, and while it might have
taken a full two months from his near 1,200 lines game, he would get yet another shot at redemption,
only this time, things would go a bit differently. There's not much to say about the first portion of
the run, since Fractal isn't going for efficiency, instead opting for pure line out strats. He did
encounter some scary board situations early on (Fractal) I can explain, I can elaborate more. But he got out, continuing to
creep up the level counter. Fractal's ability to read the chat and play
at the same time can't be understated either. (Fractal) You might as well just take the shower,
like I'll still be playing, I'll still I'll still be playing by the time
you get back. At 900 lines though, Fractal buckles in. He asks his roommate
to close the chat. (Fractal) Can you do the thing? (Roomate) Bye chat. (Fractal) It's been fun! Takes a deep breath, and focuses on
clearing lines. After a few more scary situations, he finds himself within 100 lines once again.
Shortly after that, he surpasses his previous record, with just two levels separating him from
a screen that no human players had been able to reach up to that point. He still can't let his
foot off the gas, and at this point, the nerves are definitely evident. Still, Fractal would clutch
up at a time when it mattered the most. (Fractal) Oh my g- (Fractal) oh [ __ ] (Fractal) I did not realize I'd be this happy. Neon Night! It's so beautiful Which one's this one? (Roomate) "Spamton" (Fractal) No Spamton's later. I knew this was the one. Every other time, oh that's a bit hard to see.. After a grind spanning nearly five months, Fractal
had finally done it. He was the first to play a game of NES Tetris that not only broke the level
counter and score counter, but also how the game visualizes the level colors, with him playing
through four entirely unique color palettes. He had accomplished exactly what he intended to, and from
there, he was done. Naturally, this raises several questions for the NTSC version going forwards, with
it being the most popular of the two versions, it has more competition, but the extra increase in
speed for the killscreen has made it much tougher to see level 138 as a feasible goal. That is, until
just recently, with Eric's new score world record. In that, he accumulated a total of 895 lines, which
is reminiscent of the mark that Fractal set back in October, the game where he realized that the
bugged colors were actually possible on PAL. The new record in the NTSC version has prompted
several rollers to grind for the accolade, and honestly, it likely isn't too far off. Now, it's
just a matter of when, and how far the player can manage to storm past the unique color schemes. From
there, well, there are some pitfalls to consider. Some color schemes are incredibly tough to see on
a typical CRT or LCD screen. Levels like charcoal, or the infamous green. These will prove to be
tough for players once they reach those marks, but it goes without saying that this group of
incredibly elite players will find some sort of way to get through these obstacles. Does this mean
that the kill screen has truly been overcome? Well, not quite. At a certain point, the game struggles
to calculate any new point score values to such an extent that it'll straight up crash the game.
In Greg's StackRabbit video, this happened at level 237, but the level in which it crashes on
doesn't appear to be fixed to a specific point. Different game cartridges such as the tournament
allowed Tetris Gym cart do have a fix for this crash, but unfortunately it also patches out the
bugged colors, meaning that it might not be allowed for leaderboard accepted games that play past
level 138. That's a conversation for another time though, so we'll cross that bridge when we get
there, in a matter of like six months probably. Thank you so much for watching. Definitely
make sure to check out Fractal, his links can be found in the description. He's
beginning an entirely new challenge, where he himself made a ROM that allows the
player to start on all 255 levels in the game. In the end, his goal is to obtain a maxout score on each of those levels, so I'd especially recommend checking out his Twitch to
watch his progress on that. If you enjoyed this video, make sure to subscribe so you can catch
any future uploads. I'll see you again next time
