Why it Took Tetris Pros 33 Years to Reach This Screen
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- The story of how one 1989 Tetris player embarked on a 5 month grind to reach a screen that not even the developers of the game had encountered.
Check out Fractal's twitch: twitch.tv/fractal161
Subscribe to his RUclips channel: / @fractal161
Join his all levels maxout challenge at his discord: / discord
Check out my Twitch: Check out my twitch: twitch.tv/amcobalt
Clips Featured:
Classic Tetris World Championship: / @classictetris
Classic Tetris Monthly: / monthlytetris
BrightonPopsOff: • [NES Tetris] Hypertapp...
Harry Hong: / supasayajin
Cheez: / cheeztetris
Huffulufugus: / huffulufugus
HydrantDude: / @hydrantdude3642
GregBoomCannon: / gregslife7
Bugged Colors Table: meatfighter.co...
Music Used:
HOME - Before The Night
Foewi - Negative Gravity
Orbital Hikers - Vertex
Stevia Sphere - Polar Bears
bignic - chairs
Foewi - Test
Also special thanks to:
Kirjava for their help in research for why the bugged colors happen in the first place
Xeno for creating their lovely 3d blocks render program that is used in the thumbnail
Allenbot for the amazing 3d block capture of the level "Neon Night"
Some background:
Tetris for the NES is one of the most played versions of Tetris at a competitive level, stemming back to the 1990 Nintendo World Championships. From there, the game had a small scene for about two decades, until the first account of a maxout score by Harry Hong emerged in 2009. From there, the Classic Tetris World Championships began in 2010. It was initially dominated by only das players, but Koryan and eventually two time world champ Joseph Saelee brought the playstyle of hypertapping to the forefront of the game, causing a new emergence of young tapping players who would go on to break the game. In 2020, Cheez created his own style called rolling, where multiple fingers are used in succession to move pieces. Now, players such as Fractal161 are using that to completely obliterate previous records, producing incredible landmark achievements along the way.
#tetris #nes #speedrun
![[Tetris 99] to the beat](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RJm-89wa7OM/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you for watching! My video detailing Fractal's historic tournament run in the April CTM event is now up: ruclips.net/video/MhsOaB_ZAVc/видео.html
Ok cobalt touch grass
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Hi
@@SpiritSlayer1 hey dude thats not nice
@@alexthach276 frfr ong no cap fr no kappa L + ratio L
I have to admit, the bit of Fractal’s euphoric gasp at crossing into glitchery followed immediately by “oh shit”, was comedic gold.
@@paulwaltersheherfeministvl521 you don’t have any videos dipstick
@@paulwaltersheherfeministvl521 delete all of your videos.
Lived it when he started to cry like alitleb!tch
It's kinda like that one meme.
"You made it into the gliched territory"
Smiles
"You made it into the gliched territory"
Paniks
Agreed.
my god this game keeps getting exponentially crazier. i was freaking out when i saw cheez's insane wr jump and thought that was gonna be the peak. i always though the bugged colors were impossible but seeing this degree of proficiency is just astounding. the last nes tetris barrier to be broken, aside from maybe playing so long it crashes the game, would be NTSC glitched stages. very excited to see if that will happen
when that will happen*
Exponentially? Really?
@@DeLewrh yes
Trash game
@@mehmeh9449 ok then, what games do you consider good?
I follow high level tetris for a few years now, this is a-ma-zing.
My (born in 1975) brain melts at speed nine or so, the fact that these players can *think* that fast and the strategies to keep the stack clean at 29 speed is utterly awesome to witness. And read and respond to chat.
It's a matter of being used to It, if you played on heart speed on gameboy since you were not even 10 y/o like I did for example, or some cheap electronic devices with very high speeds, you got used to be watching incoming pieces and hypertaping very fast, because It was the only way to play at such speed, but to get to levels like 200+ like they do on nes, rolling looks way superior and consistent.
I wish Jonas Neubauer could be here to see the new heights people have taken his favorite game to since his passing. He, along with his legendary match against Joseph Saelee, was what got me and so many others interested in NES Tetris again. May his memory be a blessing.
i cant believe that this was how i found out that he had passed away, rest in peace jonas
I was so upset when I learned he had died a couple months ago. I followed him on Twitch and when I noticed he hadn't streamed in a while, I looked him up and was very saddened.
@@nicolle2126 damn that v@xxine! R.i.p.
Just discovered that he passed from your comment. That's really sad 39yo. Had a lot to live for outside of Tetris.
He might not have had the mechanics for hypertapping, but he could have learned rolling. A new theorized meta that we might see in the near future is to use DAS before the killscreen, then rolling after in order to ease the strain on the hands and to increase endurance
It feels like the glitch colours are like, a kind of great place to journey too. Like the farlands in minecraft. An insaine feat that when you get there you cant help but just, marel at it.
if someone manages to reach the 800 line level, I'll be well beyond amazed tbh.
It’s not impossible to make it that far, just inhumanely demoralizing!
@@alecrutz956Hiii :)
@@alecrutz956 well umm
@@OldTeaz yeah lol
Really like his reaction, exactly the kind of thing I would hope for. This is a seriously special moment for the classic Tetris community, crazy achievement. 2 years ago noone would deem this to be possible at all
@@paulwaltersheherfeministvl521 I might on a Tuesday, but it depends on the weather because Benny couldn't kick a football to save his life. If you hand me a tenner I will see what I can do, but make sure you don't miss the flight or I will curse your entire family
8:37 i love how the game just goes to shit because of one missed longbar lmao
5 taps (required to get pieces like the longbar all the way to the left) are incredibly difficult, and tend to result in the highest rate of misdrops at these fast speeds. It's essentially a gamble when nerves are involved, since if you get it over.. you're fine. If not, you've got a blockade 4 units higher, which is immediately deflating to any run of that caliber.
@@CobaltTetris yeah, its crazy how fast a nes tetris game can go down hill because of one misdrop
HEE HEE HEE HAW
I love how he facepalms every time he loses, and at the end it's a happy facepalm
Let’s be honest, ever since the rolling technique was discovered, NES Tetris nor any other reflex-orientated game would be the same from then on. Without rolling, those beautifully unique colours would not have been reached for at least another 30 years. Well done, fractal161, for this amazing feat, but may we all bless the person who inspired, and to an extent, invented the rolling technique, Hector “Fly” Rodriguez.
Rick Rolling
I think there can maybe be 1 more play style. Its most likely impossible entirely, but I want to try “Multi-tapping”
Rob Scallon invented the Rolling technique.
@@Daggerman06 What's that?
@@shinji391 no it was actually me Jerry
It’s crazy how I saw the rolling technique being developed. Everything thought that it should be possible, but when someone figured it out, it brought in a whole new wave. Also, rip Jonas.
I'm a scratch DJ, a similar technique is used on a crossfader to do a 'crab' scratch. I never even considered a movement like this on a game controller, blew my mind
(11:10) The other guy just replying fractal's question with *"Spamton"* got me rolling
after he said that, I immediately watched that stackrabbit video in order to find the spamton colors. There is no spamton color palette :(
Now's your chance to make a big drop, make a big make a big be the drop...
Stactron T stacktron
THE BIGGEST SHOT!
I thought hyper tapping would be the limit for NES Tetris. This games community never ceases to amaze me.
"in a matter of like... 6 months, probably." you think it'll take that long?
NERD!!!!!!
I'll give it a solid 4
I think it'll also take that long for the top comment to show up like you!
Because you're the top comment in this video!
Well, it’s happened now thanks to Eric!
And now just months after this achievement. A 13 year old now reached the kill screen territory of this game.
nice
true kill screen*
also 2 other people crashed the game 1 possibly soon after your comment
Seems not too long ago that I watched the documentary "The ecstasy of order" and Ben Mullen had the world record with 296 lines or something like that. Now these guys are grinding for a thousand lines more than that. It's incredible what the idea by Robin Mihara to organize the first CTWC has led to.. In the end it was his idea, the documentary, the boom-tetris-for-Jeff meme and the algorithm..Jonas, Joseph..all the ingredients were just right
I don't play tetris but this video was quite eye opening to see that even after decades new strategies or ways to play the game are still being created
Prolly easier to stumble upon, but doing flicks with wiimotes instead of full movements was pretty good. Sure it's less exercise, but think of the tvs saved.
I step away from the game for 5 months and this. This is unbelievable, GG Fractal!
what the heck i look away from tetris for a couple months and the highest level goes from 40 to getting to the glitched colours, i swear in a couple years its no longer gonna be about maxing out the score it will be about maxing out the level counter and wrapping back to level 1
Amazing that the game has some treat for the best players, without adding extra code.
amazing vid, great editing, and you really did an amazing job capturing the highs and lows and everything of the grind!
"Which ones this one?"
*"S P A M T O N"*
Turns out only half your predicted time was needed, with Eric scoring a ridiculous 6,492,500 on level 146 lines in the E's on NTSC [bugged color Neon Night 2 I believe]
im pretty sure it was dusk
Fractal is just insane, remember watching that video when it came out and his reaction was very good to see.
"Playing Tetris until it crashes...or until I crash" is the new motivational speech.
The hand eye co-ordination needed with these world records is incredible.
Fantastic video, high level Tetris is always amazing to see so thanks for highlighting the latest developments.
the fact that there is a loyal tetris community with esports and whatever is so charming especially after so many years
Bro imagine reading the chat at a freaking kill screen of all things. What a chad.
pog pog pog video! Even already knowing about all this, it's still awesome to see the details laid out and to hear your take on it.
The one thing that really stuck out was Fractal's absolute defeat when he missed out by 30 lines or whatever. His face was so crushed. BRUTAL. But in the end it's all worth it :)
absolutely incredible. i remember the absolute shift happening in the nes tetris scene when hypertapping became big, with joseph beating jonas. this is just incomprehensible! so cool.
Great video and love watching Fractal play. He and Greentea are two of the most expressive Tetris players out there and you can always tell they're having fun, even when things don't necessarily go their way. Lately I've definitely taken a liking to EricICX's cool demeanor though. Dude is cold as ice when he's playing.
looking back on this video, I think it might have been what actually got me into Tetris in the first place. Thanks Cobalt :)
9:25 “his perseverance persisted” bruh
im sure a reaction video from Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov would be minutes of pure silence to see how far the highscore has risen.
I hope this blows up, you deserve it, just subbed
Thank you for the kind words! More content coming very soon.
What do you reccomend for starting out on RUclips?
@@cattatron If I had to recommend anything in particular, I'd say to focus on a topic that either currently has a community, or has the potential to garner a community of enthusiastic people. I'm very fortunate that the Classic Tetris community is incredibly welcoming, with a strong emphasis on the best tournaments and community events possible. That in turn makes me more passionate about working on the content, and also helps get videos off the ground. First with the community watching the content, and then eventually branching out to people who might not be familiar with the topic at hand. And of course remember that it's a process, it's very hard to understand how to produce good content at the start, and even now it can be difficult.
There is something about the neon night palette that screams elite Tetris player, it looks like something a person would wear like a badge on their clothes and when other people see it they look on with awe.
11:12 DID HE JUST LOOK AWAY MID GAME?!!!?11?! O.O he be flexin as he flexin
I feel like I've walked into the wrong classroom but stayed anyway
Sometimes I struggle to focus on putting one foot in front of the other for an extended period. This guy's focus is absolutely unbelievable.
Watching these people play Tetris on this level is like watching Koreans play starcraft.
That's a realm normal humans cannot cross into.
Intetesting how a basic game, can grow this much of a community, and be taken so far!
The amount of concentration it must take... I can only imagine how much the hands/fingers hurt after this.
rolling was probably popularized after ergonomic considerations because I haven't really heard of a Tetris player who's mangled their hands yet
Thanks 4 mentioning Greg's video. I saw it quite a while ago and recommend it too.
i didnt realize how hard this was until i played tetris for the first time and got to level 6....
It’s quite the scale in skill, isn’t it?
This was far more fascinating than I expected it to be! Great video!
Body says: Go sleep!
Brain says: This video looks way more important then sleep!
Why am I so invested in these videos when I didn’t even know competitive Tetris was a thing three days ago?
This was beautiful to watch and seeing the success almost made me cry.
Tetris pros are probably really good at packing a suitcase
Another great video! Keep up the great work Cobalt!
Thank you! Bunch of cool stuff coming up in the future :)
@@CobaltTetris Suggestion: Do not put subtitles on your videos that aren't actually subtitles. Yes, they do reccomend your videos more, but the "Subtitles" badge for a video is intended for when one puts (at least) near-accurate subtitles for said video, instead of ripping it off RUclips's automatic subtitles (which they do an amazing job at) & claiming it as legitimate. It could potentially decieve deaf audiences into thinking the video's subtitled, only for them to realize the video's subtitles is just "the usual" RUclips automatic subtitles.
Ignoring that, great video for a channel with 6 thousand subscribers! Also, I don't have any hearing disabilities, though I put subtitles on my videos & get a little defensive when someone fakes subtitles for personal gain (though small).
@ Thank you for this input. The subtitle generation itself is automatic and done by youtube, but I then scrubbed through it and corrected any errors (such as the player's name Cheez being picked up by the automatic subtitles as "Cheese"), as well as any other errors of that sort. Is there another layer to subtitles that I'm missing? Apologies if that's the case, I am relatively new to the system, and while of course it is beneficial from an algorithm standpoint, I do want to make the videos as accessible as possible, so any input for how to go about that is appreciated. Thanks!
@@CobaltTetris If you want to start subtitling videos by yourself, I reccomend starting with smaller videos like this one ruclips.net/video/fQZGF098CY0/видео.html then progressing to longer videos. Smaller videos (like 4 minute long videos) can be subtitled in single sessions (fortunately for me, most of my recent videos are short), though longer videos need multiple sessions to fully subtitle (the longest video I've tried to subtitle is 13 minutes long, with I subtitling 11 minutes of it so far, still taking many sessions). Also, when you've subtitled more than 5 minutes of a considerably long video, consider posting them. Obviously, you should finish the subtitles later, but you can just release a "beta version" of it before finishing them (I'd also consider best alerting the viewers when the subtitles will end in the subtitles itself).
You could always pay someone to subtitle your videos, but that is limited to many channels due to not having big budgets put on their videos.
Either way, you've gone further into the subtitle scene of RUclips than at least 95% of all RUclips content creators, & I consider that very thoughtful & respectful, & I applaud you for that. &, congratulations on 7 thousand subscribers!
Here's a bonus thing about subtitling your videos: Your non english-speaking viewers can learn english off of your videos!
I wish I could find someone to twiddle me the way he twiddles that controller 😂
Great video essay! Thanks for introducing me to this interesting community :)
I love these types of videos. I'm always awestruck. Thank you for doing such a good job with the video editing & narration.
whenever i feel i cant defeat mr. dream i just look at this guy
there is no reason for a video about *tetris* should be this entertaining, but it was
Jonas would have loved to see how the tetris scene has improved.
Really great video! I hope your channel grows a lot
All this time, I thought Tetris was just a haha block stack game, now I know it’s actually a haha block stack game with 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙨
Halfway through this vid I refreshed my yt feed looking for more videos to put on afterwards, fractal’s channel popped up at the very top ahahahah
Definitely seems like the hardest part of those later levels is some of the mino colors being unusually dark, makes it significantly harder to keep track of what you need to do that way
It is so interesting how humans can delve so deep into any specific thing it's magnificent. Fractal is living the life imo
Awesome video man!! I frickin love content like this
I was overjoyed at his reaction to the glitched colors, only to get hit in the face by one level being called "Spamton"
back in about 1991 I got into tetris I used a method rolling my thumb across the left/right with constant pressure. To say it clearly, my thump mid knuckle put pressure on the 4way pad and I go up/down a little to multi-tap. I got to a few stages I couldn't explain and I saw daylight when I stopped.
I hate that I'm the kind of person who finds this video super exciting.
Fractal has some awesome friends ngl
the sheer speed of the blocks dropping at levels 29 and beyond is anxiety inducing
its crazy of how insane this world has come
"by the time the 2021 tetris world chmpionships rolled around"
I see what you did there
Great video!
I'm already tapping as fast as I can. But what if I tapped... F A S T E R
Here after Blue Scuti reached the kill screen!
tens (maybe hundreds) of thousands of people have reached the “kill screen” i think you mean whats called the “true kill screen” where the game completely crashes which has only been achieved 3 times as of now
Idk about this whole tetris thing, but I can understand how clearing enough lines can make weird colours appear.
Can we just say this is NUCKIN FUTS. I couldn't even imagine being a tenth of that good at Tetris. Fractal is a BEAST.
Jonas is smiling in the afterlife.
Grinding games to a point of breaking them is the most badass thing on the internet. There are so many cool things to achieve in even games with straightforward "rules" like Tetris... Also sick video haha enjoyed it a bunch!
awesome video as always!
its 4am and ive just stumbled across professional tetris despite never playing it before...
amazing commentary, and well researched!
I am constantly learning something new about this classic
Fractal could bug my colours 🥵
as someone who is only just now poking their head into the tetris fandom to see what kinda shenanigans are going on, i have never been so simultaneously amazed and terrified of this amount of raw skill, both in Fractal and in this entire community-
_like-, correct me if i'm wrong-, but you guys are measuring tetris players' "button presses per second" in terms of _*_hertz?_*_ like i understand it's likely just shorthand for button presses per second-, but the fact y'all even thought of using that word i feel is evidence of your guys' insane skill, like, what the fuf_
I was waiting for this video
Good work!
I usually hear stories of people setting hours and days into a goal but then just feeling empty after it was done but no he was absolutely euphoric when he did it
11:10 *panting*. YOU [[phone number dialed]] ME?
Good recommendation youtube.
i love it when i hear HOMEs music on a random recommended video 😁
Cool that he got a decent playtime of the glitched colours too once he got there.
Rolling is a very hard technique
I found the phrase 'professional tetris player' amusing, until we had 'professional tetris sports announcer'
1:43
wait a second that's me
Never have I ever been super good at Tetris, or super into it, but this was really cool, and I must say I'm very excited to see what the Tetris community will pull off!
CTWC in a few years: ohh looks like an early top out for (player name). Didn’t even make it to the glitched colors.
Early top out, didn't crash the game with only tetrises.
This is going to break the CTWC format, games can't last upwards of 30 minutes each in a Best of 5 for like 10 sets, there simply won't be enough time. Either the selection process is going to be much more selective and only keep like the top 16 players, or they'll put a timer on the games and whoever is highest at the end of the timer wins. This also promotes fun to watch Tetris where players are still going for as much points as possible instead of safely burning singles for 45 minutes.
I like how he did all of this in what appears to be a college dorm GOATED
4:29 "untapped potential", good pun
I'm so glad I clicked on this video. I will never venture to the levels they do... but holy crap that tapping technique is insane.
I wanna call the pink and lime palette “Watermelon”
I have no idea what he was trying to explain to me but this was a fun video
And people are always looking for new challenges, so now fractal probably wants to go past max lines 😎