Cultris II 1.4c

Overview

Nostalgia comes and goes often, and there are times you think about your video game past. Tetris is probably included in your thoughts, since it is one of the oldest and most popular games ever produced. Cultris II is a new Tetris clone, specifically designed for playing against other players. You can optionally set up a profile and then choose one of the various game modes: Standard multiplayer, Swiss cheese mode or Survivor mode. Sounds fun, right? Read on for further details.

Installation

It is very simple to install the game in your computer and start playing. All you have to do is go through a small number of steps to make basic configuration settings, before the main installation procedure begins (which won’t take long to finish anyways).

The game can be played under any Windows or Mac OS X system. There is also an online version available if you don’t want to download and install the game.

Interface

The game can be played in either windowed of full screen mode. In full screen mode you can adjust the resolution too. You can also change the audio settings and the assigned keyboard buttons for both players. Those settings are included in the Options menu, where you can go to from the game’s main screen. From there you choose if you want to play online or if you want to play in training mode. If you pick online mode, you will be asked to login with an account that you can create or just play as guest. In the next screen you can view the available rooms and join them or create your own. After you start the game you can see two playfields, one for your opponent (right) and one for you (left).

In training mode you can play Challenges, VS and Split Screen. VS is for playing against a computer with the skill you chose and Split-screen is for playing against a human player in the same machine. Challenges is a series of matches that you can play, and to win each one you must meet a specific requirement.

Pros

In online mode, you can create for free your own account to use in-game. Of course you can play as a guest, but having an account means that you can collect achievements while playing and have a more complete profile in general. In online mode there is a list of rooms that you can join with a description of the played mode next to them, as well as its player capacity. You can double click on a room to join it, but if you want to check its skill level then you can click once to see a mini preview of that room. If you don’t want to join any of the current rooms you can create your own. When creating a new room all you have to do is pick a name for it, a game mode, the number of players that can join and if you want to have team mode enabled or not.

Apart from playing in online mode you can also play against the computer or a friend for fun in the training area. The Challenges mode is another entertaining mode which will help you gain experience in Cultris II.

Cons

The graphics are rather outdated. For an updated version of Tetris, more focus on the graphics and mainly the use of 3D won't be a bad idea at all.

Alternatives

As mentioned above, an online version of Cultris II exists for those who want to play the game in any computer without having to install it.

Other Tetris clones are Ltris (Linux) and TetriNET (Windows, Mac, Linux, Online).

Conclusion

Cultris II is certainly one of the best and most entertaining Tetris clones that exist. It has many game modes and a huge online community that can really attract you and get you deep into the game.