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                                ZX TETRIS
               The Atari arcade Tetris (1988), one player
                for the ZX Spectrum 128K, +2, +2A and +3
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  Tetris ................. Alexey Pazhitnov, Vadim Gerasimov (1984)
  Arcade game ............ (C) 1988 Atari Games (Team Tetris)
  Music .................. Brad Fuller (Atari Games)
  Spectrum version ....... (C) 2026 namco/nexgen

  In 1988 Atari Games put Tetris in the arcades: St Basil's Cathedral
  under fireworks, a tower in the middle of the screen, Russian tunes,
  rounds with line quotas, and a Cossack dancer between them.

  ZX Tetris brings that game to the Spectrum 128K. The rules, the
  timings and the scoring are the arcade's own, read from its program and
  checked frame by frame against the original running under emulation.
  The music and the sound effects are the arcade's too: its sound driver
  was translated to the Z80 and plays the arcade's own tunes on the AY
  chip. The graphics were redrawn for the Spectrum's screen.


REQUIREMENTS
------------
  A ZX Spectrum 128K, +2, +2A or +3. ZX Tetris uses the 128K memory and
  the AY sound chip. On a 48K Spectrum it says so and returns to BASIC.


LOADING
-------
  Choose "Tape Loader" from the 128 menu, or type in 128 BASIC:

      LOAD ""

  and start the tape. The loading screen appears first, then the rest
  of the game loads. The title comes up on its own.


CONTROLS
--------
  The keys can be redefined in the options (see OPTIONS).

      O ................ move left
      P ................ move right
      A ................ drop faster (hold it)
      M ................ rotate (the arcade's direction)
      Z ................ rotate the other way
      C ................ insert a coin
      S ................ start

      ENTER ............ (title screens) the options
                         (in a game) game music on / off
      CAPS SHIFT+SPACE . (in a game) give up, back to the title

  A Kempston, Sinclair (+2) or cursor joystick works as well as the
  keys: left, right, down to drop, fire to rotate.


COINS AND CREDITS
-----------------
  Like the arcade, the game runs on credits. Press C to insert a coin
  (99 credits at most), then S (or rotate) to start a game. Each game
  takes one credit. Coins are free, of course :P


THE TITLE SCREENS
-----------------
  While nobody plays, the game shows its title (the cathedral, first by
  day, then by night with fireworks), How to Play, the high scores and
  the credits, over and over. With credits in, the title stays and says
  PRESS 1 PLAYER START.


DIFFICULTY SELECT
-----------------
  Before a game, choose where to start with left / right, and rotate or
  start to take it. If you wait too long, the choice under the arrows is
  taken, just like in the arcade.

      EASY ..... round 1, no bonus. How to Play is shown first (rotate
                 or start skips it).
      MEDIUM ... round 4: a handicap start with two columns of bricks.
                 20000 points at once.
      HARD ..... round 7: added bricks drop into the well as you play.
                 40000 points at once.


THE GAME
--------
  Pieces fall into the well. Move and rotate them so that they fill
  whole lines; a full line disappears and everything above it drops. The
  game is over when a new piece has no room at the top.

  The tower beside the well shows each round's message, the lines left
  to go, the high score, the round and the credits. The ledge under the
  well shows each clear's name and the points for a dropped piece. On
  the left: the next piece, and the pillar's windows that light up the
  last five lines of a round; at the bottom left, next to the score, the
  speed meter grows as the game speeds up. On the right: how many of
  each piece you have been dealt.

  Rotating: a piece that can't turn where it is tries one column to the
  left. There is no other "kick".


ROUNDS
------
  Each round asks for a number of lines (5 in round 1, 10, 12, ...).
  Every round starts with an empty well, and some with bricks already in
  it: handicap columns, scattered bricks, a pyramid, and in rounds 16-18
  the initials of the best three players on the high-score table.

  Later rounds fight back:

      ADDED BRICKS ....... (rounds 7-9 and later) a grey brick drops onto
                           the stack now and then, when a piece clears
                           nothing.
      ADVANCING LINES .... (rounds 10-12 and later) the whole stack is
                           pushed up by a new row of bricks from below.

  When the quota is met: YOU DID IT, then the BONUS FOR LOW PUZZLE (see
  SCORING). After every third round a Cossack dancer comes out of the
  tower's door; press rotate twice to send him off early.

  The game speeds up as you clear lines, and the colours of the screen
  change every third round. After round 27 the game goes back to round
  16 and carries on.


SCORING
-------
      Single line ..........    50
      Double ...............   150
      Triple ...............   400
      Four lines (TETRIS) ..   900

  While the name of a clear is still showing on the tower, the next
  clear scores no line points: space your clears out.

  Drop points: every piece scores a little when it lands, more on a
  higher speed level and the higher up it lands; twice as much if you
  dropped it at full speed (hold A). 250 at most (500 at full speed).

  Bonus for low puzzle: at the end of a round each empty row above the
  stack scores 10 more than the one before (10, 20, 30, ...). Keep the
  stack low.

  The score stops at 999999.


CONTINUE
--------
  After GAME OVER, insert a coin and press start before the count runs
  out (9 to 1) to carry on: the same round starts again with its full
  quota, and the score, lines and statistics are kept. The speed drops
  back a little.


HIGH SCORES
-----------
  A score on the table of 16 asks for your initials: left / right pick a
  letter, rotate takes it; "?" rubs out the last one. The clock runs, so
  be quick. On tape the table lasts until the Spectrum is switched off.
  Under esxDOS (DivMMC / DivIDE) it is kept: the game quietly saves it to
  TETRISHI.BIN in the folder it was started from after every new entry,
  and loads it back next time. Delete that file to start afresh.


OPTIONS
-------
  Press ENTER on any title screen. ENTER again goes back.

      1  SPEED ............ EASY, MEDIUM, HARD or HARDEST: how fast the
                            pieces fall at each level (the arcade's
                            operator setting; MEDIUM as the arcade
                            shipped).
      2  JOYSTICK ......... Kempston, Sinclair or cursor.
      3  ATTRACT MUSIC .... YES: the title plays its tune every fourth
                            time round (as in the arcade).
      4  GAME MUSIC ....... YES / NO: the tunes during play. ENTER in a
                            game switches it too. The sound effects
                            always play.
      5  REDEFINE KEYS .... press a key for each control in turn.


HINTS
-----
  - Keep one column open at a wall and save it for the long piece: four
    lines at once score 900.
  - The pieces always turn the same way with M; Z turns them back.
  - Hold A from the moment a piece appears: it lands faster and scores
    double drop points.
  - Before the last line of a round, clear the stack down: every empty
    row counts towards the bonus.


==========================================================================
  Tetris (C) 1984 Elorg / Alexey Pazhitnov. Arcade game (C) 1988 Atari
  Games, licensed by Mirrorsoft Ltd. This is a non-commercial fan
  version for the ZX Spectrum.
==========================================================================
  namco/nexgen 2026
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