History VideoGame / TetrisTheGrandMaster

* FissionMailed: In [=TGM3=], after a promotional exam, the result is shown on a roulette with "pass" and "fail". The results screen cycles them and stops on "fail," and if you actually passed it will replace it with "pass" and celebratory fireworks. The effect is stronger the higher the grade you were testing for.

** Trying to use [=TGM3=]'s World Rule (based on the more commonly-used Super Rotation System)--the rotation buttons are reversed.

* DifficultyByAcceleration: ''TGM'' does this in a manner different from most other ''Tetris'' games. Your level increases just from dropping pieces and clearing lines, instead of having to clear a set number of lines. To offset this, the game doesn't increase drop speed at ''every'' level, only at set thresholds, and in fact there's two points in most games where the drop speed temporarily decreases. Then the game takes this trope to its logical conclusion: Piece speeds will eventually reach the point where pieces drop instantly upon spawning; this would go on to appear in a few "guideline" ''Tetris'' games, such as ''Tetris DS''. Subsequent games in the ''TGM'' series further make things even faster by hastening several aspects of the game, such as the time before a piece locks down and how fast the line clear animation plays.
* DifficultButAwesome: Firm drop/sonic drop, which drops the current piece to bottom immediately like the hard drop in SRS-based games like ''Tetris DS'', but doesn't lock the piece down. Newer players think it's pointless, but once you get the hang of it, it makes overhangs much less of a time-waster.

* NintendoHard: On top of the difficult learning curve, getting GM in any of the games (other than [=TGM1=]) is a feat that takes many months, if not years, to attain. As of this update, there are maybe about 100 or so players with a GM rank in TAP Master (a mere three of which come from outside of Japan), and ''six'' Ti [=GMs=], with only one from outside Japan. [[note]]jin8, [=KAN=], [=DIS=], [=SKH=], [=KFC=], and [=KevinDDR=].[[/note]] That said, the series is actually some of the fairest games in the ''Tetris'' franchise.

* SequelDifficultySpike: Each succcessive game (except ''ACE'') gets faster and faster, and the GM rank more difficult to get. While the first game is comparatively easy to get a GM grade in, in the 10 years since ''Terror-Instinct'' was released, only '''six''' people have managed to get a GM grade.

** In ''TGM2+''[='=]s Doubles mode, if one player completes Level 300 before the other, they keep playing, but they will be locked into [=20G=] fall speed until the other player finishes.

* SelfImposedChallenge: A handful, from playing one-handed, to playing TAP's normally 2-player Doubles mode by yourself, to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K4RxUpZ9Ss the infamous "form a '>' sign in the playing field" challenge]] (which the game recognizes, and will give you a secret grade for doing so).

In 2019, Arika would return to ''Tetris'' games with ''Tetris 99'', a ''Tetris'' game with a 99-player battle mode. However, it is not connected to the ''TGM'' series.

* ''[[http://code.google.com/p/nullpomino/ NullpoMino]]'' -- A Java-based open-source clone with a wide variety of modes (not just TGM) and customization, as well as online multiplayer.

** RE (Recovery): Having a alarge number of blocks on the playing field, and then clearing out most of those blocks. Not available in ''Terror-Instinct''.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Trying to use [=TGM3=]'s World Rule (based on the more commonly-used Super Rotation System)--the rotation buttons are reversed.

** ''[=TGM2015=]''[='=] C button, intended as a LagCancel button, was also accidentally implemented as a clockwise rotation button.

* NonstandardGameOver: Certain modes have what is known as a ''torikan'', which terminates your game if you hit a specific level too slowly. TAP's T.A. Death and Ti's Master have one at level 500, and Ti's Shirase has ''two''--one at level 500, and one at level 1,000. WordOfGod has claimed that level 1,300 (the highest level reached so far) is a ''torikan'', but even the best players in the world have yet to find a way to see levels 1,301 and up.
** It's confirmed with the leaked data that this torikan doesn't exist.

* TrueFinalBoss (The invisible credit rolls of ''[=TGM2=]'' and ''[=TGM3=]''.)

** While [=TGM2=]'s and [=TGM3=]'s Big Block Modes correct this (movement is now 2 cells at a time), this isn't the case for [[BonusStage Stage EX3]] of TGM3's Sakura Mode, [[https://youtu.be/WPQFeMRXwmg?t=1h55m32s which goes back to TGM1's Big Mode behavior]].

* GoodBadTranslation: The message you get in [=TGM3=] if you take too long to pass certain levels: "EXCELLENT -- but...let's go better next time"

** In ''TGM 3'', if you reach Level 500 in Master mode in more than 7 minutes, the game will end early. However, in a Promotional Exam, in which you need to meet or exceed a target grade to earn it as your qualified grade, the time limit is removed, letting you reach Level 500 and beyond at your own pace.

** While [=TGM2=]'s and [=TGM3=]'s Big Block Modes correct this (movement is now 2 cells at a time), this isn't the case for [[BonusStage Stage EX3]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwji8Opk-uc which goes back to TGM1's Big Mode behavior]].

* DifficultyByAcceleration: ''TGM'' does this in a manner different from most other ''Tetris'' games. Your level increases just from dropping pieces and clearing lines, instead of having to clear a set number of lines. To offset this, the game doesn't increase drop speed at ''every'' level, only at set thresholds, and in fact there's two points in most games where the drop speed temporarily decreases.

* DifficultyByAcceleration: Taken to its logical conclusion: Piece speeds will eventually reach the point where pieces drop instantly upon spawning. This would go on to appear in a few "guideline" ''Tetris'' games, such as ''Tetris DS''.

** The exact workings of subsequent games' grade systems are even more obfuscated. ''TGM 2'' and ''TGM 2+'' don't show your progress towards the next grade, and ''TGM 3'' only shows your grade at the very end.

* RecurringRiff: Several tracks throughout the series reference [[https://youtu.be/1DRW14vScUk "Hardening Drops"]], the level 0-499 BGM from the original ''TGM'', including the [[https://youtu.be/zFQChQr5_ZM Master 0-499]] and [[https://youtu.be/wf0rpeolmx0 500-699]] tracks from ''TGM 2'', as well as [[https://youtu.be/kJ4e7T2mna0?t=21s BGM 1]] and [[https://youtu.be/SqjYdF9au0s BGM 3]] from ''TGM 3''.

* AntiRageQuitting: Aside from being an ArcadeGame and thus inherently discouraging ragequitting by charging money for each play, ''Tetris: The Grand Master 3 - Terror-Instinct'' discourages ragequitting in two of its own ways if you're logged in with an account:

* SelfImposedChallenge: A handful, from playing one-handed, to playing TAP's normally 2-player Doubles mode by yourself, to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K4RxUpZ9Ss the infamous "form a '>' sign in the playing field" challenge]] ([[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything which the game recognizes, and will give you a secret grade for doing so]]).

** Lock delay is present much like in SEGA and Jaleco ''Tetris'' games; it's the reason 20G is playable ''at all.''

The ''TGM'' series plays a bit similar to usual ''Tetris'' games (specifically, {{Sega}}'s versions of the game). However, there are a few mechanics that alter the game dramatically. Leveling up, for instance, is no longer just done through clearing lines; instead, ''every piece you drop'' will raise the level counter by one, as well as clearing lines (one per line clear). However, level numbers also take on a different meaning: the game speeds up only at particular levels, rather than with every level. The level stops going up at level ''n''+99, where ''n'' is a multiple of 100; at that point you must clear a line to level up.

** In ''TAP''[='=]s T.A. Death mode, if you take more than 3 minutes and 25 seconds to reach level 500, the game will end early with no grade given.

*** In Master mode, the game also ends early if you take more than 7 minutes to reach level 500, unless you're in a Promotional Exam, in which case the game will allow you to play all the way to level 999 regardless of speed.

* DoWellButNotPerfect: Due to a glitch in combo bonus calculation, TAP awards consecutive triple clears far better than consecutive Tetrises. This was corrected in the sequel

'''Tetris: The Grand Master''' is a series of [[NintendoHard challenging]] ''Tetris'' games developed by Arika, intended for advanced players.