Kickin' it old school with Radica Games TV Legends Tetris

My partner and I are obsessed with Tetris. You will find us up late into the night with our eyes peeled open, glued to the TV as we battle it out on the Xbox, hurling obscenities at each other every time one of us gets to the next level. Tetris is the most popular game worldwide, after all, and in my opinion is as addictive as crack (or my crack, which is actually caffeine).  I have been a Tetris fan for so long that I used to play it on old school Nintendo, the version that used to spit out Russian-themed music, c'mon, you remember it, don’t you?  Well, Tetris has evolved over the years and is available on every game system and computer there is.  When I saw that my favorite toymaker, Radica Games, sells a TV Legends version, I had to have it.  I wasn't expecting much – it’s a plug and play, so I knew the graphics would be bad and it would extremely simplistic (hence the name "Legends"), but I didn't care. It’s enough that it said Tetris on it. When it arrived at my house, I plopped down on the floor immediately and started to play, a wave of nostalgia coming over me. It is the same Tetris I remember, scary Russian music and all.  The game is in the controller itself, and plugs directly into your TV. The controllers are the things that make the game challenging. They are Tetris block-shaped joysticks, and they lack precision, so you can end up putting blocks where you don't want them to go.  You can play head-to-head, or any of the old favorites (standard, timed, etc.).  Game systems now are graphically awesome and in my opinion are an "experience."  The TV Legends Tetris is not a substitute or even something to compare to the game systems we have now; it’s the difference between driving a car and riding your 3-year-old cousin's tricycle. But to me, Legends still has value - it brings me back to a time when watching Super Mario shoot fireballs was the most amazing thing I had ever seen!  Even though I have Tetris on Xbox, I know that every once in a while, I will kick back, take a stroll down memory lane, and battle it out, old school! If you want to kick it old school with other nostalgic favorites Radica offers, check out Outrun 2019 (I was obsessed with Outrun), Sega Genesis (which has the original Sonic the Hedgehog and more), Street Fighter 2, Menacer, Sega Volume 2 and Super Sonic Gold.