Tetris Effect was a modern take on the classic block-dropping gameplay, but it did have callbacks to the series’ history. Its special 1984 and 1989 levels were two such references, as they paid homage to the original Electronika 60 version and the seminal Game Boy title. They were previously hard to come by, but Enhance has unlocked both to coincide with the film’s release.
Both levels can be accessed in Marathon, Chill Marathon, Quick Play, and Mystery but not Zone Marathon. The 1984 stage is all in Russian with clicky sound effects and very low-res green visuals to emulate the aforementioned Soviet Union computer, the Electronika 60, that the first Tetris was developed on. However, more visual flourishes and EDM elements get added as the player progresses. The 1989 level imitates the Game Boy’s green visual palette and plays “Korobeiniki,” the Tetris theme song, and, like the 1984 level, gets some EDM instruments after players clear more lines.
Players could previously access these levels, but only when meeting certain criteria. The 1989 level would unlock once players got their profile to level 50, which takes an incredibly long time, or if users collectively hit the goal for the 24-hour long Weekend Rituals, which would unlock the level for all participants for the rest of the 24 hour-time period. The 1984 level would only show up if players plugged in a keyboard and entered a series of obtuse codes. Enhance also unlocked these retro stages to celebrate Tetris Day on June 6, 2021.
These unlocks are not permanent, but Enhance hasn’t clarified how long they’ll be widely available. It did, however, put out a video explaining how to access each stage.
