While we’re really enjoying this latest version of Tetris, it has made us ask ourselves some fundamentally deep questions about Xbox Live Arcade. Or more specifically, some fundamentally deep questions about what should qualify as an Xbox Live Arcade release as opposed to a standard 360 release.

You see, as much as we admire THQ for releasing its latest spin on Tetris for a paltry 20 notes, we still have to ask ourselves why it couldn’t have just appeared as a Live Arcade download (especially when you consider the ridiculous cost of Lumines). Of course, it’s far too late in the day to moan about THQ’s pricing policies, so we’ll simply look at how much of an evolution this new Tetris actually is.

Marathon mode features a neverending amount of falling tetriminoes for you to line up, Ultra requires you to line up as many falling tetriminoes as you can within a strict time limit, Score sees you having to score a specific amount of points by, hey, lining up as many falling tetriminoes as possible, while… Okay, so we’re clearly extracting the urine, but we have to give credit to Moss Media for at least coming up with seven variations of what is essentially the same thing. Purists will argue that if it ain’t broke you shouldn’t attempt to fix it, but with Tetris Evolution offering a bigger variety of modes than its Live Arcade peers, you can see why the developer has added so many options for you.

Being able to play in teams with up to nine other players is certainly nothing to sniff at, and the stable servers and wealth of options ensure that the gameplay remains fast and furious.

Yes, it should have been a Live Arcade release, but its price, plethora of game modes and the fact that the original tune is included, means puzzle fans should definitely give it a whirl.

Darran Jones