The History of NES Tetris World Records

[@EricICX]

Since my 6.4 Million, this is the current WR Progression: Dec 19, 2023 - Blue Scuti (6,609,220) Dec 20, 2023 - fractal161 (6,737,260) Dec 21, 2023 - Blue Scuti (6,850,560, first ever game crash!) Jan 12, 2024 - PixelAndy (8,952,432) Maybe I'll make an updated version, maybe I won't. Dunno yet. FULL MUSIC AND VIDEO CREDIT LIST: is.gd/WRPv2Credits Music Playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLaFmyK0hSlVCrQW9fI2PT2XLWBuIxVSvY

[@Thiscooldude123]

ok

[@TheLegendOfOblivion]

Thanks! Some of the music you used was awesome.

[@ПавелСущенко-щ6е]

Elwood - Deadlock - is one of the best tracker music ever made. It's so cool that you know it and used it!

[@sdsign4229]

Worn Out Tapes! I love that track! Do you play Unbeatable or Rhythm Doctor?!

[@Tjbensinnington]

Maybe you can make a new video talking in 3rd person about the new records

[@MylesTheGreat]

The amount of effort that went into this video is quite commendable

[@marksaum8904]

This is the most tetris player response I've ever seen

[@EricICX]

the folder for this project is like 70 gigabytes btw

[@ForumArcade]

Pardon my infantile sense of humour, but... The amount of effort that went into your mom is quite commendable.

[@retro2vr]

Are you Eric's son?

[@potatowithpc238]

common w myles the great 🔥🔥🔥

[@BraxtonMeyer]

ok i'm so glad the ending showed Jonas Neubauer. So sad that he's gone, he seems to have been a really great force in this community.

[@LaPingvino]

He was really the perfect ambassador for the game.

[@ForumArcade]

I didn't even know he had died. I guess my last binge into Tetris content was before 2021. That's surprising. He was only 40 years old.

[@magnumxlpi]

I knew nothing about competitive tetris until I saw Jonas in the 2016 championship then watched other vids

[@Woudloper]

@@ForumArcade Not even that, he died at 39 years of age.

[@analennyja]

​@@magnumxlpi, same. I was so sad when I heard he died.

[@Ben-15]

Eric making this video is the Obama giving Obama a medal meme

[@curbacz16]

Kinda, but he’s simultaneously showing respect for the whole community.

[@ezra8530]

Just proves that the narrator is the main character

[@HonkeyKongLive]

Hey never forget Salts first video, and his most recent, are basically about his own MTPO records.

[@Tjbensinnington]

Talking about himself in third person was weird. Love his gameplay and craft but why not just say I

[@MegaMonkeVr]

Yeah but it’s Eric giving Eric a Tetris trophy 😂😂😂😂

[@RetroCabeza]

DUDE... I'm 20 minutes in, and THIS is Tetris history. I've got chills for watching Jonas and Koryan play, and thinking how much Tetris has changed since 2018. Thanks for being part of it, and honoring those who came before. Viva Tetris ❤

[@ForumArcade]

I didn't even realize Jonas had died. There was a documentary about him a few years ago that got me interested in following Tetris content, even though I haven't played much myself. He'll forever be a legend.

[@josepha3805]

Yeah that sucks!!! Way too young, he seemed like a really nice guy

[@ehhhhhhhhhhk]

Whats the documentary called?

[@scottyging1962]

I’ve always considered you one of the greatest Tetris players of all-time Eric. And I was so happy for you when you finally were crowned champion at CTWC last year. But this, this makes you an ambassador to the game. It’s important for the game’s champions to give back. That’s the Jonas way. This is a love letter to the game and it’s history. Great work!

[@EricICX]

Thanks!

[@alfredbull7085]

And tonight, pixel Andy became the 3rd ever person to get a game crash. It’s crazy how far this community has come, even in the four months this video has been out

[@jose_glz]

Woow! What an inspiring and touching masterpiece! Awesome research and great editing. Thanks for sharing this with us all. I was crying by the end. RIP Jonas Boom! Tetris for Huff! Boom! Tetris for Hydrant! Boom! Tetris for Cheez! Boom! Tetris for Joseph! Boom! Tetris for Koryan! Boom! Tetris for Harry! Boom! Tetris for Jonas! And of course... Boom! Tetris for Eric!

[@MinogamiMakoto]

I almost cried from Jonas realizing he was gone, man that was too soon, I wish he could've seen where it would go, maybe he is watching over us

[@Shanemvm]

Only in NES Tetris will the current world record holder make a video literally about himself. LMAO all seriousness great video Eric. It's super well made. Love it. Another one for the NES Tetris history books.

[@desmondgovender3142]

Not true though Dark souls speedrunners did the same thing in thier own version of speedrun prgression(they also spoke in third person when refering to themselves) So did castlevainia sotn runners So did zelda runners And so forth.....ironically all of these guys that did these videos were world record holders.

[@hitchikerspie]

AverageTrey and SummoningSalt have done the same ahahah

[@polygon586]

So have Karl Jobst, OneShortEye, Storster, mpap... probably most of the WR history documentarians are or were also top players..

[@waffling0]

Linkus also did a WR progression for Wind Waker that included his records

[@santeritaimi6843]

Thank you eric. It was great to relive the craziness of early rolling and how it felt to be a small part of this community doing crazy things.

[@AleLox]

This was a incredible video showcasing the dawn beginning of NES Tetris to what it has become now, the rapid progression of today takes Tetris more than what was thought to be impossible! This was the best one hour documentary I ever seen from all the depth details and wonderful editing you putted into this video!

[@Rahmations]

bro really created a movie a video like this is very nostalgic very glad to see another one of these eric truly a great piece of art

[@ResurrectedElvenMonk]

Spectacular. I used to play, until I retired a few years back. Your video brought back great memories of my practice runs on level 19 - 28. Never made it past 29.

[@DK3CHAMP]

Just seeing Jonas Neubauer again made me tear up. No sad music, or even story. Literally seeing him playing Tetris with wife watching made me cry. Amazing player, amazing legacy, amazing ambassador.

[@Sabyrcus]

was not expecting those last 14 minutes at all. not only is someone completely wiping the floor with everyone, but they're also the person behind this thoroughly researched video in the first place lmao

[@cdigames]

Eric, this documentary was incredible. And I know tons of folks have commended the music, and the choices. But I really feel like it needs to be hammered home that the TIMING OF THE MUSIC is absolutely unreal. The beats syncing up with line clears is phenomenal, and the work that must have taken is insane.

[@matias371]

I was waiting for Sumoning Salt to do a video about Tetris, but I thought then... It would take forever considering the amount of effort that he puts on his videos, and the big history of Tetris about these years, then a world record champion like Eric does it WOW, like Salt did with his loved Punch Out. And finally, at 1:19:58, there is... We're Finally Landing by Home, what a tribute for S Salt!!!

[@millabasset93]

The amount of depth that went into this video is incredible. Amazing work!

[@zunaidparker]

I was about to comment that this was the best speed running video I'd ever seen without Home playing, but then you saved right for the end. Well done!

[@GuardianPsycho]

57:37 HEY THATS ME! Thanks for including me in the video lol, and what an amazing watch it is my guy made work fly by! You executed the story telling flawlessly

[@zodiacblue9312]

I often thought about a WR progression video by Summoning Salt, then I saw this in my recommendations and was like “okay let’s give it a try” - man I was so satisfied after hearing the first synthwave track and after seeing the font Summoning Salt uses too I knew this is the video I was looking for for so long! Thank you Eric

[@tltslp]

Congrats Eric and the entire NES Tetris community for putting to practice the advice Jonas shared and later etched onto the back of the CTWC trophy and used as your closing here "...it's on you to move the community in a positive direction." Really enjoyed your use of music to propel the narrative.

[@Vijver]

Eric, you did an absolutely incredible job with this video. Having gotten into the scene around the time rolling was invented, I remember the absolute rollercoaster that was 2021-2022, where every single game played by you and other top players felt like it had the potential to suddenly shoot off into being WR. Thanks for allowing me to relive that, as well as documenting the early score WR history so well. Rest in peace Jonas, I love the inclusion of his quote at the end and I think you've followed it perfectly with this video. An amazing way to honor our little Tetris corner of the internet ❤

[@SkylerFallow]

Hey Eric! Great video, I enjoyed it a lot. Obviously all the research, compilation, editing, voiceover etc must have been a huge undertaking, but I wanted to give a quick shoutout to your music choices. I felt that the soundtrack to this video really added a lot to the atmosphere, reflecting the hype moments and the more reflective ones beautifully. I particularly enjoyed Supernovae during the section about learning to mash buttons really fast, CarnyJared would approve! And thank you for ending the video the way you did.

[@Kosmicd12]

great video! The scores were jumping up so fast from 1.6, to 2, to 4, to 6 million. Why would you say it hasn't happened again over the past year?

[@liolio1230]

In my opinion players are currently working on optimizing their level 29 speed scoring efficiency, rather than going for increasingly higher scores. At the moment scoring efficiency is more highly regarded, as the competitive scene has introduced a line cap which limits how long players can play - ending every game no sooner than level 40 (level 39 is now the double killscreen). This line cap forms a firm boundary for how long players can score. That in turn increases the value of a rollover for example (1.6 million), as confining your runway for achieving that score to only level 39 means that your efficiency must not devolve into singling and doubling (lining out). As a result players begin to score for tetrises on level 29 speed, which is incredibly difficult, highly rewarded and shows much greater skill, speed, awareness and resilience than playing for singles and doubles would. In conclusion, going for scores above the current WR solely depends on long games, since you can't possibly score that by level 39. Going for such a score wouldn't help players increase their skill in the current state of the competitive game, therefore it doesn't make sense for them to grind for that, as it would serve no purpose past holding the score WR.

[@aGameScout]

Yeah, the line cap being added to most major events discouraged top rollers from practicing lineout strats. Even if that hadn’t happened though, Eric’s game kinda killed the category. Once the world record became more of an endurance test that a pure skill one, people lost interest in trying to break it. The fun of going for score WRs back in the day was trying to achieve that magical run with perfect efficiency, and it just isn’t the same as lining out for 1500+ lines.

[@EricICX]

for me, it's just that there is seemingly no reason to grind lineout when everyone else is practicing efficiency, just like gamescout said

[@rulojuka]

Awesome video! The cherry on the top is the amazing music. Thank you very, very much for publishing the music playlist too.

[@sunte91]

Really impressed by this video. I rarely watch KZbin videos this long but this was very immersive. A great addition to the Tetris community’s video library 👏🏻

[@SurfTheSkyline]

I vividly remember watching glitched colors for the first time and being dumbfounded. It still sounds like an urban legend only made even better by it being real and actually accomplished

[@p1kkuma]

Coming back to tetris after 3 years is like coming back to an entirely different game! Holy! Looking at where players are now, even the 2019 match between greentea and joseph seems mediocre in comparison LOL. It's amazing how much the game has advanced in such a short time! Lots of credit to Cheez for revolutionizing the tetris community! Well made video, Eric!

[@RedFoxRara]

As someone with just a mere feint interest in Tetris, to most days not even thinking about it in his daily life, you've somehow made Tetris VERY interesting for over an hour. I didn't know the history, or the players, but I now know of their legacy and what an insane game Tetris is. Props man.

[@codetaku]

For anyone that isn't that familiar with the scene, Dogplayingtetris was still TWELVE YEARS OLD when he got his 1.38 million, and the 2020 world championship he won he was 13 for. He's not the greatest player of all time but he is the prodigy-est.

[@Shiraraxi]

(ignoring the obvious here) i’d honestly say dpt, bendy and bs are definitely some of the best younger players in the scene

[@ozzienemo]

and then Alex T began to Alex T all over the world records as well as get a new youngest maxout

[@yourmkarcadesource8790]

"Meh. I got 17,000,000 once." - Todd Rogers

[@MM___333]

Hahaha they have nearly beat Todgers high score now 😂

[@vilanokaizo]

​@@MM___333 where talking about 17mil before the 29 transition

[@upchessbyabzolute]

that’s more than Alex’s 16.7

[@harrisoncaldwell4541]

Loved watching and be like: oh this is where I started following the scene... Great video with incredible detail. Time for 10 mil.

[@DZONYWWA]

Crazy, how good of video this is. I love it. Love how you showed respect to your peers. RIP Jonas

[@osmeridium]

How lucky we are to have been a part of these incredible milestones. It only took a few years for us to completely break the game.

[@NorXor]

woke up at 4AM and started watching this video, i only intended to watch the first 5 minutes or so before going back to bed but i ended up watching the entire thing was worth ruining my sleep schedule 👍

[@88porpoise]

Its kind of amazing how Tetris high scores completely changed from a game of pure efficiency (the need to maximize points before the Level 29 kill screen) to one of primarily endurance (with the ability to suatain play at max speed, the only limit is how long can a person be near perfect for)

[@tmhood]

This really is a top-notch video - great research, writing, narration and music. I do hope that, once the current rush of world records has died down, you'll make a sequel.

[@Jens21]

What a great Tetris documentation Eric! I started watching competitive Tetris in 2018 after Joseph‘s first win at the CTWC. Man, I gotta say that I somehow miss the JdMfX dominance time!

[@Aptiz712]

here to boost the algorithm! awesome video on what its been like in the last few years

[@JayTheBarber603]

I was really pumped to see someone else throw their hat into the ring with a world progression video, and I’m really happy to say you did a great job making it your own without ripping off summoning salt. And I obviously enjoyed the tribute with his theme song at the end letting us know you knew damn well who’s ring you were stepping into😂. Great job, I’ll be on the lookout for more.

[@mattgriffin0231]

I've never seen a WR holder do a progression video on the game, let alone a current WR holder. I haven't looked at competitive Tetris since 2019, I'm absolutely dumbfounded at how far the game has progressed. Great job on the video!

[@franchstar1]

summoning salt, raitro, karl jobst, goose, OneShortEye, Storster, mpap, linkus and plenty more I assume. It's not really that rare :)

[@kengibson402]

Haven’t played Tetris in years and this video is amazing. Taking me from someone who has zero idea and educating me on it. Great job!

[@Aericane]

Absolutely amazing video, great job! One aspect I missed and expected at the end though is the double kill screen, which some tournament now use to make sure games don’t go on forever. Seeing how multiple record were set during competitions, this new rule makes it so a lot of promising games will never be able to get close to the world record through no fault of the player. All in all I’m a proponent of the double kill screen, but for the world record progression it sucks.

[@steliostritakis2000]

On par with summoning salt! Great presentation and you keep up the story of the progression quite easy to understand. The only thing missing is a board of the times and names of the competitors. Keep up pal

[@HumbleLUE]

This should have as many views are wr points scored. Great video Eric

[@fancytspin9799]

This video is absolutely amazing, loved seeing how it changed and evolved. It's also crazy to think that 4 years ago scores such as we have now were impossible. I have to say thank you for putting so much effort into this video. I'm excited to see more content from you.

[@gnurken]

Needs updating now :)

[@Zazzaro703]

That was a fantastic video. Invented tech and being able to play Tetris at that level for that long is one of the greatest displays of video game playing skill I’ve ever seen.

[@amberlandball]

Yo congrats on 5k! Hope to see more! Congrats on 10k kind of late! On a sad note, even if i never met him, im so sad to see Jonas gone :(

[@Watermeloncat412]

6:25 here is the part if your too lazy to skip

[@professorl4208]

20:46 "He is also one of three known hypertappers in the community at this point, with the other two being Thor Aackerlund and a mysterious figure on KZbin known as Spectre, or DanZ." It's worth noting that there WERE a handful of other hypertappers in the community at this point (June 2018), but aside from Joseph they weren't top-level players.

[@Kirby703]

32:06 I remember Ella's stream on 1975TylerP - I asked her in twitch chat to play a level 14 game - she did, and quite well 1:21:45 hit me like a truck

[@EricICX]

glad at least one other person remembers that

[@666_tim]

What an amazing and nostalgic video. Great job, thank you so much. Rest in peace Jonas

[@metropolis10]

Okay some might say there was too much footage of the games... but I say the editing made it all worth it. Editing the transitions to the music? Awesome. Besides, without the footage showing the games, this would just be talking over a high scores ladder. Showing history is way better. Great video! Also love you keeping the explanations accessible to anyone even non-players.

[@ScorpioIsland]

Wow. That is all i can say. The last few WRs were some of the most exciting and imoressive ever put to KZbin. How has SS nit done this video?? Kinda glad he didn't, though, so someone as passionate as you could. Gg

[@tetradoge]

Actual masterpiece of a video

[@JD.78]

Stellar video. The quality and depth of knowledge and detail in this video is excellent. You're WR score at the finale is God level gameplay, astonishing! Fine homage to Summoning Salt by using Home, and nice to see a tribute to Jonas too. R.I.P. Amazing stuff.

[@aarontruitt]

Well done! The WR History video that NES Tetris deserves.

[@lapislazuli4288]

Eric this was an amazing video and I'm sure you put your heart and soul into it. Talking in 3rd person about yourself was a little weird though. Take some credit for being such a great player man

[@discoepfeand]

Awesome video. And hey, that's pretty familiar music in a WR video at the end :D (I love it, not complaining)

[@ZacMuffin]

Hey Eric, no idea if you’ll see this, but just wanted to say you did an absolutely amazing job on this video. I’ve been following (and a fan of) classic tetris for quite a few years and thought it would be really sick to see a comprehensive Summoning Salt-style world record progression on the game after I saw your 6.4 when it happened. After my community and I got our summoning salt video last december, I actually asked if he would ever consider making a classic tetris WR progression as one of his next videos. I’m glad you got to do that concept justice and I can tell how much work went into this. Good job man :]

[@prolifik302]

This is an epic legendary video. Eric u r a legend brother. Rest in peace Jonas N

[@speedymatt1236]

It’s truly amazing how the scores evolved in such a short time! When will we ever reach the zenith? There’s actually one more big endurance milestone in between that we’re forgetting to talk about. And it’s beating level 219 hiding in the glitched colors that requires 810 total lines to be cleared before the next one after! It’s a gap from L90 lines to U00 lines just from level 219 to 220 alone. We apparently all need some practice to adapt on working with seemingly invisible colors! There’s probably a ROM hack somewhere and I do know of a very challenging boss fight in the game Tetris Effect: Connected somewhere that REALLY tests your adaptability in situations thrown against your will! If you don’t know who I am, I’m a scientist of searching for the hardest gaming accomplishments out there like the glitched colors! That’s why I’m spilling out all this valuable uncharted territory information to you all! Also at 1:06:33, what are the odds of seeing a score that’s EXACTLY 777,777 points!?

[@triskai]

from having watched that game (live I think? I don't totally remember if I saw it live or not), cheez literally noticed that he was going to get a score very close to 777777 and pushed down to make it exact lollll

[@alecrutz956]

level 219 is wild, a level that's so broken and hidden so far into the game past a point it was supposed to be impossible. It's an interesting level but an annoyance to TAS because it just goes on and on and all you see is the same grey and green palette for 810 lines. I hope one day, someone does reach it, and one day, someone beats it.

[@EricICX]

well when it comes to the 800-line level, once we've passed that point we're super close to getting level 255 anyway. Makes sense to group them both into one, especially since it's "only" another 400-ish lines

[@Zempro]

just watched this all the way through, homie this is such an impressive video, incredible work. ending had me crying 😭😭😭

[@Aikisbest]

The choice of musics for this video is just fantastic, I got to make note of!

[@h_jonez]

I am the goat. proceeds to make a 90 minute documentary explaining why

[@FlyHec]

Just heard about this vid. Didn't know it was almost a feature length film!! Gonna heat up a Chimi and pour 2 fingers of good Bourbon and get started.

[@antondnice]

Awesome video and love the Chiptunes.

[@segatouringcar3738]

Impressive documentation and editing work. One of the best videos I've ever seen on KZbin. My congratulations!

[@caiocem]

It's so satisfying to see the lines cleared to the beat, aside from being cracked at Tetris you made an awesome video

[@pajarobobo]

It was so cool seeing you win the 2022 World Championship. This is even cooler :)

[@Taylor.Dude.]

Time to update this! You might have to do it every week, at this rate!

[@oopsiedGD]

alecks thatckh

[@SiljCBcnr]

Awesome video Mister👌 AGameScout couldn't have done it better. I even dare to say this is at least as good as any SummoningSalt video :D Big thumbs up and may the Good RNG always be with you!

[@djmrboroReal]

Freaking A. Awesome, just awesome. Congrats

[@SiD3WiNDR]

I'm only 11 minutes in and the video is already amazing. But my ears perked up at Elwood and you have my like already :D

[@creedolala6918]

that was unexpectedly entertaining. it's cool that one pertain can do both the world record level playing, and the summoning salt-style video about it.

[@garzagarza01]

great tribute to the Summoning Salt type videos, this one is excellent Nice wooork dude

[@antonioguglielmetti2661]

This is amazing if it were not for you guys I would've never gotten into Tetris or remotely close to my 669k pb. Thanks for also linking that music at the end. Been wondering what it was for years!

[@benmullen295]

this video is an incredible telling of history. I nominate Eric for "mayor of tetris"! Also: Buco: DO NOT UPLOAD THE REST OF THAT VIDEO!!! haha

[@88porpoise]

So, what would be worse in the middle of a best of five: Sitting there watching your opponent demolish the world record, grind it to dust, and light it on fire? Or: Having to collect ones-self after having done that to play another game?

[@EricICX]

definitely the latter for me, I nearly lost the set in the end. went to 3-2

[@muffyio]

Amazing video Eric! Man that brought back so many good memories. Thank you so much for putting it all together champ.

[@Iris_and_or_George]

1:04:45 Love your video thank you! I do have a small suggestion to make it even more enjoyable. When you tell us what is happening, do this a few seconds before it happens instead of exactly when it happens. See the tetris @ level 56 at the timestamp. Then we already know what to look for. This is especially useful when someone is listening while doing something else. We then know we have to look at the screen😊😘

[@johnp2860]

AMAZING AMAZING. I’ve been wanting a video like this for years. thanks eric

[@brunnoabreu2711]

Very nice video! For me the score world record is still a nice thing in NES tetris but not as much as it was before, since it now involves stamina more than efficiency. Earliest rollover is more exciting for me. Still amazing to see people reach such high scores though. Also, I think moja should get some recognition (sorry if he was mentioned, I may have skipped some portions of the video), for being the guy who took hypertapping to a whole new level, by achieving a rollover, if I'm not mistaken.

[@EricICX]

the stuff moja has done is crazy honestly. Didn't mention him since I was only talking about overall records, but I'll definitely try to give him some recognition in other videos if I can.

[@teainrain8010]

44:05 , still getting goosebumps; great work

[@kylethenile]

At 16:13, did I hear, "and he has even come to himself while playing"? Somebody please correct me.

[@alecrutz956]

and has even commentated himself while playing" that's what he said

[@Raderade1-pt3om]

It's supercool to see theres communities out there pushing these classic games to their limits making and breaking records once thought to be impossible.

[@antonyknisely5000]

Great video! It had a very "summoning salt" vibe. Lol

[@Jaryism]

Eric is undeniably the GOAT of Tetris, he’s on another planet most even 10 years ago couldn’t have dreamed achieving congrats

[@Youarereadingmycomment]

One of the best videos on you tube. Keep going well done !

[@SmolJordan]

incredibly well put together video

[@dryzalizer]

Amazing video from an amazing Tetris player, well done on all counts Eric!

[@stevenbrodeur3023]

Unbelievable video, I was hooked for the entire thing. I did a double take when I realized it was over an hour.

[@martin_kral]

I love how these videos of World Record Progression keep popping up. Keep them coming! And I especially enjoy how they practically all use ma favorite music genre ChillSynth as default. Of course it is thanks to Summoning Salt. Nice job, good luck with another piece. By the way, I was part of the Tetris Friends community and managed to get to Platinum league, rank 16 to be exact. But I eventually fall back to gold league, I wasn't able to learn to do T-Spins double on demand. Maybe you should do review of Grand Finals of Tetris friends. It is just a suggestion...

[@speed488]

Amazing video! Very well made and full of information. I didn't even know Jonas passed away RIP. Quite astonishing the reason is from "undetermined [cause]" and was disclosed 3 months after

[@ninjarejecter]

This is awesome! Please do more of these, that lines record video would be sweet. You got good things and lots of subs coming your way my dude

[@BluJellu]

THIS IS A LEGENDARY VIDEO

[@xgmbx3468]

Never thought we'd see a top out due to unreadable board. Awesome work Eric!