After 34 Years, Gamer Conquers NES Tetris' Ultimate Screen

Tetris fans have witnessed a monumental moment as a 13-year-old prodigy, known by the handle Blue Scuti, becomes the first to conquer the NES version of Tetris by reaching its elusive "True Killscreen". After 34 years, the game that was believed to be unbeatable was finally bested during late 2023. Blue Scuti—an accomplished streamer and Tetris expert—achieved the unthinkable by reaching level 157 where the game is programmed to crash. During a gripping playthrough, which is now available to watch on the Classic Tetris World Championships' YouTube channel, Blue Scuti demonstrated not only extraordinary skill but also immense patience and determination. Surviving the intense pressure and the game's increasingly challenging levels, Blue Scuti has etched their name in Tetris history and gaming lore.

This rare achievement was driven by Blue Scuti's aspiration to top the 2023 NES Tetris champion fractal161 by crashing the game. The journey to the "True Killscreen" is fraught with difficulty, as the young gamer notes, citing the challenge of maintaining composure under nerves and the specific hurdles of navigating around level 146's tricky color palette. With everyone now wondering what lies beyond level 157, some have turned to simulations using external tools, hypothesizing about the potential final stage—level 255. But the question remains who will be able to surmount the game without triggering a crash, as expectations for the next great Tetris milestone are set.

The "True Killscreen" is a point in the NES version of Tetris, specifically at level 157, where the game is designed to crash due to an overflow error that it cannot process further. This is significant because it was long considered an unattainable goal, a digital urban legend, until Blue Scuti's recent achievement debunked that myth and pushed the boundaries of what gamers thought was possible in Tetris.

Extra Background Information:

Originally designed and programmed by Russian game designer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984, Tetris has become one of the most iconic and enduring puzzle games of all time. It challenged players to strategically rotate and place falling tetrominoes to create and clear complete lines from the playfield. The NES version, developed and published by Nintendo, was a particularly popular iteration, having solidified the game's status in the pantheon of classic video games. Over the decades, Tetris has been made available on nearly every gaming console and countless computing devices, continually adapting and evolving while maintaining the core gameplay mechanics that made it a household name.