, known as ''Block Hole'' outside Japan, is a hybrid

puzzle A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are differe ...

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain typ ...

game developed by

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

and released in 1989 as an

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

. In addition to the arcade version, there were also ports of the game to the

MSX2 MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Cor ...

(with a built-in SCC chip),

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

, and

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

; home releases used the ''Quarth'' name worldwide (with the exception of the Game Boy Color release in Europe of ''

Konami GB Collection ''Konami GB Collection'' is a series of video game compilations composed of four volumes released by Konami in Japan for the Game Boy and re-released in Euro regions for the Game Boy Color. The compilations were originally released from 1997 to 19 ...

Vol. 2'', where the game was renamed to the generic title ''Block Game'' for unknown reasons). ''Quarth'' was released on the Konami Net

i-mode i-mode (, ) is a Japanese mobile internet (distinct from wireless internet) service operated by NTT DoCoMo. Unlike Wireless Application Protocols, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail, and ...

service as ''Block Quarth'', with an updated ''Block Quarth DX'' in 2001. It was released without the "DX" suffix in 2005 and was made globally available through Konami Net licensing on many i-mode services offered by mobile operators. In Europe, for example, it was available from

O2 UK Telefonica UK Limited, trading as O2 UK (stylised as O2), is a British List of telephone operating companies#United Kingdom, telecommunications services provider. It is the List of mobile network operators of Europe#United Kingdom, largest mobi ...

O2 Ireland Telefónica Ireland was a broadband and telecommunications provider in Ireland that traded under the O2 brand (typeset as O2). O2 Ireland was previously called Esat Digifone when it was owned by Esat Telecommunications (and Telenor) from 1997 ...

, and Telefónica Spain. In 2005, Konami also included the game in the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

title '' Ganbare Goemon: Tōkaidōchū Ōedo Tengurikaeshi no Maki''. An emulated version of the game was released in 2006 for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

as part of the ''

Oretachi Gēsen Zoku is a series of 19 emulated arcade video games developed and published by Hamster Corporation for the PlayStation 2. They were only available in Japan. Of the 19 games, the last two – '' Thunder Cross'' (1988) and '' Trio The Punch – Ne ...

'' series. It was also released in 2021 for the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

worldwide as part of the ''

Arcade Archives is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s developed and published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called focuses on re-releasing Neo Geo titles in their original arcade format, unlike many s ...

'' series.

Gameplay

''Quarth'' is a combination of ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' () is a puzzle video game created in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. In ''Tetris'', falling tetromino shapes must be neatly sorted into a pile; once a horizontal line of the game board is filled in, it disa ...

''-style gameplay and a fixed shooter in the ''

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Taito for Arcade video game, arcades. It was released in Japan in April 1978, with the game being released by Midway Manufacturing overseas. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed s ...

'' tradition. The player's focus is on falling blocks, and the action is geometrical. Rather than arranging the blocks together to make a row of disappearing blocks, a spaceship positioned at the bottom of the screen shoots blocks upwards to make the falling block pattern into squares or rectangles. Once the blocks have been arranged properly, the shape is destroyed and the player is awarded points based on the shape's size. The blocks continue to drop from the top of the screen in various incomplete shapes. As each level progresses, the blocks drop at greater speed and frequency. There are also various power-ups which could be located to increase ship's speed, among other bonuses. The game continues until the blocks reach the dotted line at the bottom of the screen, whereupon the player's ship is "player's ship is "quarthed", crushed flat.

Multiplayer

The Arcade,

, and

versions had two different 2-player modes: a split-screen mode with Player 1 on the left and Player 2 on the right, and a cooperative mode where both players shared the same screen. For the Game Boy, multiplayer requires the Game Boy Link Cable with each player able to view only their fields on their own Game Boys.

Merchandise

Soundtrack

* In addition, disc 14 of ''

Konami Music Masterpiece Collection is Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes ...

'', which was released on October 1, 2004, is mostly devoted to ''Quarth''. * The game

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of was released on May 30, 2014, by EGG MUSIC and Konami Kukeiha Club and composed by Norio Hanzawa, exclusively in Japan.

Manga

* ''Quarth'' is one of the video games featured in the manga titled ''Rock'n Game Boy'', by Shigeto Ikehara and published by Comic BomBom from October 1989 to December 1991.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Quarth'' on their December 1, 1989 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the month. ''Block Hole'' was a hit overseas in Europe, particularly the United Kingdom and Italy. It has been generally acclaimed by many online reviewers, though ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

'' gave the Game Boy port on the

3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

a 6/10.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1989 video games Arcade Archives games Arcade video games Falling block puzzle games Game Boy games Hamster Corporation games I-mode games Konami arcade games Konami games MSX2 games NEC PC-9801 games Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Shoot 'em ups Split-screen multiplayer games Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games for Wii U Virtual Console games X68000 games