Programmer gives Tetris game to NES “Hard Drop” after three decades

One of the most recognizable versions of Tetris can be found on the original NES, but it lacks some of the features that we now consider standard for the puzzle game. One of the biggest omissions is “sharp drop”, which saves precious time by instantly placing a piece in position without waiting for it to fall, and programmer Stephen Sherratt took care of making the feature work in the classic version of the NES, complete with a ask for “ghost” for guidance.

As he explained on his Grid Bugs website, Sherratt decided to add two features related to the NES Tetris game. The first is the sharp drop itself, accomplished by pressing the directional button as is done in most other Tetris games. The second modification he made added an outline of the currently controlled part to wherever it was adjusted to land, making the gross fall more accurate. Again, this is a feature seen in virtually all modern Tetris games, such as Tetris 99 and Tetris Effect. In the challenge video below, a player even dropped all the pieces he got on the Tetris 99.

Sherratt made use of a program using the Rust programming language and, combined with his own NES emulator, made it easier for him to experience the changes. He had to write instructions for the outlined “phantom piece,” for example, to appear in the correct location based on how many movements would be needed before the actual piece collided with something.

After adding the crash feature and resolving an issue that seemed to cause a slight delay based on the game’s clock speed, it made it work properly. Could Sherratt have just played a slightly newer version of Tetris and had a very similar experience? Yes, but it’s cool to see a game with several decades going through a fundamental change in its mechanics. Others have added hard drop via modding in the past, but as far as we can find, none have included the phantom piece before.

Tetris on the NES was one of three games included in the Nintendo World Championships cartridge, with the other two being Super Mario Bros. and Rad Racer. These cartridges were created for use in the competition of the same name in 1990, and their rarity made them extremely expensive collectibles. At the time of this writing, someone is trying to sell a gold variant – originally donated via Nintendo Power – for $ 1 million.