Tetris-Pentix shows that true classics stand the test of time

The world of technology evolves with lightning rapidity, and anything described as "cutting edge" carries the mantle for the briefest of time. Yet in every area, you sometimes come across something so truly special that it transcends this evolutionary process and never seems to get old.

You see it in the automotive world with cars like the Mini or the VW Beetle. Sure, they were tweaked and refined over the years, but the basic concept behind both cars still shines through to this day. If there's a gaming equivalent of these design classics, then surely we must look no further than Tetris. Initially launched 35 years ago on the Spectrum, Commodore and IBM, the game gained truly worldwide appeal in the pre-smartphone era as the game of choice in the Nokia age.

Today, you can play Tetris on every platform imaginable. There are versions for PC, Mac and even Tetris for PS4 or Xbox. Yet it was on the small screen that Tetris really took the world by storm, and this feels like its natural home. The game is perfectly suited to a smartphone screen – it's almost as if designer Alexey Pajitnov had a glimpse of the future when he developed the game back in the early 1980s.

A new variation on a much-loved theme

Fiddling too much with a design classic can be a dangerous business, as anyone who remembers the angular design of the 1970s Mini Clubman will confirm. The release of Tetris-Pentix, then, had the potential to go wrong. Would it be a pointless makeover or just the thing to bring a classic game to the iPhone generation? That's a question the team at Gadget Preview were keen to answer, and it provided a suitable excuse for them to spend several hours researching this Tetris-inspired game.

At first glance, you might wonder what the difference is at all. It looks like Tetris, and with the potentially irritating single soundtrack, it sounds like a product of the 80s. Look closer, however, and you'll see that each shape is comprised of five blocks instead of four.

One more block makes a big difference

It seems like the smallest of changes, but it throws the game into a whole new dimension. Some of the shapes with which we are familiar, like the L or the long straight one are still there – only they don't fit in quite the way they used to. But you are also faced with completely new shapes, such as a star and the new version of the square – with an extra block stuck to the side of it, this has gone from one of the easiest shapes to deal with to the most awkward.

Keeping a classic relevant is all about small changes. Tetris-Pentix achieves exactly that. Sure, the game has its shortcomings in as much as the soundtrack could benefit from some variation and the blocks could be quicker to lock in place. But these are small details. From a gameplay perspective, it adds a refreshing variation to something we all know and love.