Tetris Imitations

Because the puzzle game genre started with Tetris, and because a ton of unofficial releases bearing some play on the Tetris name have appeared over the years, it is practically impossible to keep track of all the derivates and clones that are floating around. Some of the more well-known Tetris-inspired games have their own Games of Atari entries, and I have given a few Tetris clones their own sections, mostly the ones that perfectly capture Tetris on systems that did not get an official release. Of the remaining imitators, legal and otherwise, the list below is just a sample of what is out there.

Dr. Mario - The good doctor tosses pills into a jar loaded with viruses, and its up to you to line the pills up to eliminate the same-colored diseases. Dr. Mario originally was published by Nintendo for the NES at the same time as Tetris. Later, both games would be released on a single cartridge for the Super NES.

Yoshi's Cookie - This puzzle game for the NES and Super NES features levels designed by Alexey Pajitnov, the man behind Tetris.

Blockout - This PC game is very similar to what became 3D Tetris on the Vritual Boy.

Pac-Attack - Tetris gets crossed with Pac-Man in this game, where ghosts, blocks, and Pac-Men all fall from the sky. Lining up the blocks into complete rows will still eliminate them, but the main goal is to line up the ghosts so the Pac-Men can chomp them down.