Tetris The Grand Master 4 -Absolute Eye-

[To Far Away Times]

Tetris The Grand Master 4 recently got a Steam page and is scheduled for release on April 3rd, priced at $34.99 USD.

It's a miracle this game is coming out. TGM4 was first unveiled back in September 2009 and it appears we are finally at the finish line. If you have even a passing interest in Tetris or Japanese arcade games you really should check this series out. TGM4 will the first time the series has had a western release, not counting decades late Hamster ports.

Steam Page

What makes TGM special? Why would I play this over any other Tetris version?

The TGM series is designed for skillful and speedy play coupled with an addictive grading system that tracks your progress across multiple play throughs. Players can reach certain requirements and take promotional exams to climb in rank. Progressing in the game is not just about clearing lines. The TGM series has a level system where you drop pieces or eliminate lines to gain levels. The goal is to reach level 999. Rounds can take less than 10 minutes to complete if you're fast enough. As you climb up in level the pieces drop faster and faster, until they no longer have any time to drop and will simply appear on the ground. At that point you have a very short window to drag the piece before it locks. You also need to start pre-rotating pieces before they drop so they don't get stuck. The game continues to get even faster, and the truly elite players can unlock invisible Tetris.

Why would I ever want to pre rotate my pieces?


Images shamelessly stolen from PetitPrince’s article.

The TGM series has a better piece randomizer.

The TGM series attempts to give the player a more even distribution of pieces. Pieces given to the player are still random, but the game checks against the previous pieces and decreases the likelyhood of receiving the same piece over and over again. You won't be getting four S or Z shaped pieces in a row like you would on GB or NES Tetris.

The skill ceiling in this series is insane.

Achieving the Grand Master rank is a truly rare feat and probably equivalent to 2-ALL'ing a CAVE game. In the last 20 years of high level TGM3 play, there have only been 24 Grand Masters with classic rotation rules and 32 Grand Masters with world rule rotation rules. Here's what the final promotion exam looks like:



Let's see how high we can climb.

[BIL]

Day 1 thats what I'm sayin (*'ω' *)

PetitPrince’s article.

Oho thanks, I have never heard of TGM before and it sounds so cool, I will give this a read! (｀w´メ)

Being an arcade game, playing TGM is not a trivial task. You can't expect to have it readily sold in your local game shop for your nextnext-gen console. Except if you are rich enough to buy the actual arcade PCB (depending on which TGM version your want, prices may varie from "that's a little pricey for Tetris" to "eh, I'd rather buy myself a new car")(and you may add to that cost the price of an actual arcade cabinet/supergun), you'll play to play TGM is via your computer.

This man led a hard life. Happily, here in the far-flung future world of 2023, you can play TGM1 and TGM2 on your PS4, PS5, or Switch right now! Curious punters might be enticed to hop into the new game, now they don't have to sell their car to check out this timeless series.

Also I'm very happy for Mihara, he looked so happy in that one photo. ;w;7

Spoiler

Great job Mihara-san (｀w´メ)

[mycophobia]

petitprince's tgm article contributed to me getting into the game, all those years ago.... like fr almost 20 years now, sheesh

[Sumez]

The skill ceiling in this series is insane.

While it's definitely an appealing property of the series, shilling TGM on its skill ceiling has always been a pet peeve of mine.
There's a video somewhere on YouTube where a guy who obviously just learned about TGM and watched all the videos where KevinDDR talks about the game, but pretends to teach newcomers about the series. And when he tries to paraphrase what the difference is between the three main entries into the series, he basically just goes through the GM requirements for each game.

The thing is, save from TGM1, a GM grade is going to outside of the reach of most common TGM players, and although you should strive to always improve your grade and do as well as possible, enjoying TGM is not about going for GM. Even at a complete beginner level, I still find TGM (TGM2 in particular) to be a much more immediately satisfying and enjoyable version of Tetris than any other version available out there!
What truly sets it apart is all the little tiny details in the controls which makes it incredibly intuitive and immediate to control your pieces. You have all the tools you need at your disposal, and most of the time you will be able to get a piece exactly where you want with just a quick flick of the wrist. People are able to play TGM incredibly fast, not just because the game is fast, but because TGM makes it easy to control the pieces fast!

For a game famous for being so incredibly hard, I think it also deserves recognition for how easy it is to simply play it. TGM doesn't want you to second guess where anything lands - you're always free to focus on the next piece rather than the one you are actively controlling. And to me, that's what makes it feel so great to play. The actual challenge comes entirely from the time pressure, and the pure puzzle aspect introduced by the way the highest level of gravity restricts your available options.

The TGM series attempts to give the player a more even distribution of pieces. Pieces given to the player are still random, but the game checks against the previous pieces and decreases the likelyhood of receiving the same piece over and over again. You won't be getting four S or Z shaped pieces in a row like you would on GB or NES Tetris.

I think there is more to this than that. GB/NES Tetris isn't the best comparison, because compred to both earlier and later versions of Tetris, they actually *did* use a similar method to even out the piece distribution. The TGM method is a direct iteration on what NES Tetris does, but it has a higher memory of recent pieces, and will reroll more times.

However if you're comparing TGM to just about any official Tetris release within roughly the past quarter century, you'll see the opposite tendency. Since the official Tetris guidelines has a piece distribution method that IMO is way too "fair", guaranteeing you exactly one of each piece type for each seven pieces you are given.
The problem is that, at least to me, Tetris is a game that is all about preparing for the unpredictable - and getting punished when you are unable to do so and the game decides to not give you what you wanted.
The randomizer *needs* to be rough enough to punish such mistakes. What you don't want is pure randomness potentially affecting your performance negatively in a way that you couldn't have done anything about - and TGM in my opinion probably comes as close as you can realistically get to a perfect balance between the two.

I am a big fan of Tetris as a survival game (which is exactly why I greatly prefer TGM to any modern guideline release), so I also really appreciate the NES randomizer for being a more vicious version of the same randomizer, but it makes the game less capable as a pure score attack game, since your scoring potential is gonna straight up depend on your luck.

[Sumez]

petitprince's tgm article contributed to me getting into the game, all those years ago.... like fr almost 20 years now, sheesh

I got into the game from this very forum. It's funny, I could actually find the exact post where I first learned about TGM 14 years ago now

viewtopic.php?p=691687#p691687

Looks like the PetitPrince article was what convinced me, also

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Even at a complete beginner level, I still find TGM (TGM2 in particular) to be a much more immediately satisfying and enjoyable version of Tetris than any other version available out there!
What truly sets it apart is all the little tiny details in the controls which makes it incredibly intuitive and immediate to control your pieces.

100% this. It always saddens me that there's a lot of Tetris NES fans who have missed out on or overlooked the arcade entries, when even someone like me who's not terribly good at Tetris can see TGM is a masterfully refined version of Tetris. The controls are amazingly responsive, and it's an exceptional puzzle game experience.

[D]

tgm1 can be play on the playstation as well.
There's an unofficial port floating around which is most probably really arcade perfect as it technically is the arcade version

I hope tgm4 has 4 player (or more!) multiplayer and that it comes out for consoles.
Strange how they would focus on steam

[To Far Away Times]

Livestream just wrapped up.

Release date April 3rd, 2025.

$34.99 USD

[NairobiNantucket]

tgm1 can be play on the playstation as well.
There's an unofficial port floating around which is most probably really arcade perfect as it technically is the arcade version

TGM1 was on the Playstation-based ZN-2 and the PSX conversion is also the preferred way to play on a MiSTer.

Strange how they would focus on steam

Quoting TGM3 superplayer (and CTWC 2022 champion) EricICX verbatim:

TGM3 is a game for the Taito Type X platform, which is basically a PC running Windows XP Embedded, and as such this is basically a Windows game. I own a Taito Type X, but since I'm at college, I can't really play it that often.

This run was played on a hack that allows the game to run natively on Windows, and I played it on keyboard. (The game data was legally ripped, of course)

So PC continuity makes sense since that's what (primarily non-Japanese) TGM players are on and Mihara knows this.

Winner does not use the emulator and never clone.

@miharasan Is it not enough?

@KitaruTC 今後、この写真をお気に入りにするクローンプレイヤがウザいねw
(my translation: Only after I went to "like" this photo did I realize it's a god damn clone player lol) TLN: Kitaru is another Tetris superplayer.

Either way, would be surprising if it doesn't come to the as yet unrevealed Switch 2 eventually. Maybe if they ever figure out the online portion.

These days, "online-only" seems to be the norm, but obtaining a license that includes online functionality is extremely challenging due to conflicts with other content. As a result, we decided to move forward with an offline-focused release for Steam, where we could secure a license.

While it’s true that having online support for TGM4’s versus mode would be ideal, we want to start by releasing it as a content-rich offline experience.

This is also probably the better official answer to your question.

Livestream just wrapped up.
Release date April 3rd, 2025.
$34.99 USD

All mode preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsmqJKbkLtk. 4/4 release date in JST. Big fan of the textbook feature, good in-game documentation is my preference for making games more accessible. If this isn't my most played game of 2025, it's only because I'm either locked up, dead or it doesn't run on a Steam Deck.

[Sumez]

tgm1 can be play on the playstation as well.
There's an unofficial port floating around which is most probably really arcade perfect as it technically is the arcade version

TGM1 was on the Playstation-based ZN-2 and the PSX conversion is also the preferred way to play on a MiSTer.

Did you try that yourself? I've tried the PS1 port only on a friend's MiSTer, and it has a pretty glaring issue where it starts slowing down insanely. I think I recall it being during that moment of silence near the end of the 400-500 section. Also inputs would some times get eaten as the game stutters a bit. Being used to the PCB myself, it kept throwing me off.

I wasn't sure if it was a problem with the port itself or introduced via the MiSTer emulation. But if it's possible to play on MiSTer without these issues I'm sure my friend would be delighted to know it. And I would too whenever he asks me to GM on it

Either way, would be surprising if it doesn't come to the as yet unrevealed Switch 2 eventually. Maybe if they ever figure out the online portion.

Tetris licensing is supper hellish due to the clutches of The Tetris Company. Acquiring a console license is a completely different thing from a PC license due to how they work. And licensing is exactly the thing Arika have been struggling with ever since they first started thinking about TGM4.
I think it would have to do exceptionally well on PC for a console port to happen unfortunately. But it's possible.

[D]

@NairobiNantucket, you might be on to something.
I just always feel like windows systems are doing strange stuff at strange times that could interfere with gameplay and cause hickups or something.

I have it on my wanted list now. Thanks for setting me straight

[NairobiNantucket]

I wasn't sure if it was a problem with the port itself or introduced via the MiSTer emulation. But if it's possible to play on MiSTer without these issues I'm sure my friend would be delighted to know it. And I would too whenever he asks me to GM on it

No MiSTer of my own, but I never found it as unplayable as you're describing. I just had a quick credit on Duckstation to level 608 (I'm more out of shape than I realized) and I can verify it's not the conversion itself. With such significant IO issues, could it be the speed of the storage media?

[Despatche]

So PC continuity makes sense since that's what (primarily non-Japanese) TGM players are on and Mihara knows this.

It's a bit more complicated than that. He was very bitter about Heboris UE, which was just as popular in Japan as anywhere else, and I imagine he's still at least somewhat bitter. "I certainly would be", I say, as I fire up TGM2 in MAME yet again...

Putting TGM4 on Steam is more about getting the game out at all, this may have even been a stipulation from TTC. There's also more Japan presence on Steam than people realize. I don't think ZUN would have dropped all his games untranslated otherwise.

[To Far Away Times]

Played some rounds tonight.

Not a fan of forcing TGM controls with the TGM mode (world rule is my preferred controls), but the TGM mode is otherwise quite nice.

[Davey]

Even at a complete beginner level, I still find TGM (TGM2 in particular) to be a much more immediately satisfying and enjoyable version of Tetris than any other version available out there!
What truly sets it apart is all the little tiny details in the controls which makes it incredibly intuitive and immediate to control your pieces.

100% this. It always saddens me that there's a lot of Tetris NES fans who have missed out on or overlooked the arcade entries, when even someone like me who's not terribly good at Tetris can see TGM is a masterfully refined version of Tetris. The controls are amazingly responsive, and it's an exceptional puzzle game experience.

Yes, playing TGM (especially as the series progressed) just feels so... natural. Those subtle refinements let you translate instincts into inputs so much more smoothly than Tetris games of old. It really heightens the feeling of becoming one with the machine.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the popularity of Classic Tetris in the competitive scene is strange to me. I mean, I get it to a certain extent, NES Tetris is an iconic version of the game. There's an allure to pushing the boundaries of a well-known game and doing things that nobody thought was possible. But god damn, when I see videos of hypertapping and rolling techniques I can't help but think: you guys know there are versions where you don't have to do this, right? From the outside you'd think they're trying to break Track and Field, not Tetris. But hey, to each their own.

As for the randomizer, I stumbled upon this article a few years ago. Pretty interesting for anybody looking for more details about how different ones work, and the tradeoffs they have:
The history of Tetris randomizers

One thing I'm disappointed about in this release is the multiplayer. It's local only, and it doesn't have the traditional TGM garbage system, which is unique and highly strategic.

The first time I saw PvP TGM I thought it was a gimmick for casual players because the crazy items gave me a Mario Kart kinda vibe. But when I read about how the garbage works it was like whoa, this is amazing. And on top of that, the items have more play to them than I initially gave them credit for.

Here's a guide for anybody who's interested:
TGM Versus Mode Guide

So yeah, if you like TGM but haven't tried out PvP, I highly recommend it. TGM2 is semi-active on Fightcade, that's where I play (and resident TGM expert colour_thief)

[Sumez]

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the popularity of Classic Tetris in the competitive scene is strange to me. I mean, I get it to a certain extent, NES Tetris is an iconic version of the game. There's an allure to pushing the boundaries of a well-known game and doing things that nobody thought was possible. But god damn, when I see videos of hypertapping and rolling techniques I can't help but think: you guys know there are versions where you don't have to do this, right? From the outside you'd think they're trying to break Track and Field, not Tetris. But hey, to each their own.

"Classic tetris" gets thrown around so oddly these days. The term is meant to separate it from the pre-existing competitive "modern tetris" scene, ie. TTC Guieline games. But since it was used to promote the NES Tetris competition, people tend to equate the two. But for my money, TGM1 and 2 absolutely qualify as "classic tetris" - and I know a tleast one of the CTWC organizers agrees with me.

Either way, I get it. It's easy to hate on NES Tetris. It's awkward, scoring is super RNG dependent, and its most important control quirk is definitely more of a byproduct than an intended challenge.
But it's a good game. It's a brutal version of single player Tetris, and seemingly by coincidence it just ended up remaining an incredibly strong competitive game even when played at a very high level, which is honestly hard to say about any other iteration of Tetris from the time, or even years later.
The fact that its survival single player mode works so well in a competitive format is brilliant. And compared to many newer versions of Tetris (*including* the TGM games) it's a lot more audience friendly, because the gravity is slow enough that casual audience members can easily follow what's going on. The lack of lock delay means it's still an incredibly fast game, however. Don't be deceived! NES Tetris on Level 19 is comparable to some levels of Death Mode in TGM2.

I agree that "hypertapping" and "rolling" makes the game a lot less interesting. Because stacking aside, the physical ability to push buttons fast enough becomes a way too important factor. But keep in mind that even though that dominates the current competitive scene (and I lost interest for the same reasons tbh), competitive NES Tetris was originally built on the game's unique system of DAS control, to the point where stacking strategies were designed to take the limitations of that system into account. That was IMO a much more interesting puzzle-oriented version of the game to watch - and lots of people agree. Thus, DAS-specific NES competitions are still being held, such as the annual Jonas Cup, or CTWC DAS.

[Klatrymadon]

I'm having a blast with this, and definitely finding it beginner-friendly in spite of its big ask ("play Tetris really quickly while somehow making smart decisions about everything, right now"). I've been meaning to get into TGM in earnest for years, and always assumed I'd probably have to go back and get used to a much older, slower, consumer-market Tetris just to get used to playing it properly, but the baptism of fire has been both far more exciting than doing that and far more effective making me a better player. I'm still nowhere near achieving basic competency, but it's amazing how quickly you go from finding any speed above the 'level 0' speed unworkable to comfortably reaching level 100, then 150, 200, 300 (my best so far)...

It's also just really nice to have a game I can always play a 'full run' through regardless of how much time I have to play (usually very little these days) - the extreme challenge and brevity of it are what make it meaningful and also consonant with my own life at the moment.

[Davey]

the baptism of fire has been both far more exciting than doing that and far more effective making me a better player

Playing Death Mode for the first time was brutal, and I'm still not *great* at it, but doing so made me a much better Tetris player overall. I probably plateaued several years before playing it (not that I played regularly, or very competitively) but it definitely helped me level up my skills. I'm not sure if it's the speed, or just that it lets you get so many reps in in a short amount of time. Maybe it's having to adapt to the constraints of 20G; that probably helped me break out of some old bad habits too, since it requires a different way of thinking despite being the same game (sort of).

[Klatrymadon]

Cheers, I'll keep that in mind! At the moment I mostly play the 20G sicko modes for fun without expecting to last more than 30 seconds, but maybe I should use them as a training tool when I've developed a bit more stacking skill, muscle memory, etc.

[D]

The music great
Pretty hefty prices tag, 34 euro's
No game modes are missing
Great to have gaint mode and it is also improved. It shows the recomended placing position
game is fully customizable including controls.
Playing this with a hori ps4 joystick
And I even paired a ps4 controller on my windows 11. Really easy, press and hold these 2 buttons while in the bluetooth new devices window:
-Share
-PS button
Then it will just work in-game. Good idea actually to have button
left 1
left 2
right 1
right 2
In there, especially for controllers

If the developers are watching this thread. I have 2 wanted features. One is pretty easy to implement, the other not so easy
The easy one:
Why not have TATE mode for one player mode.
Imagine how much media coverage it would get!
It would be a dream for me. The first ever tetris game to have TATE (if you exclude the wonderswan release)

The hard one:
4 (or even more) player mode. The name TGM4 kind of already implies a 4 player mode, right?

[Sumez]

Imagine how much media coverage it would get!

None at all?