EPTI watched it. Tetris, which I only played on the original Gameboy, not on NES. I remember the (Gameboy) multiplayer differently, when cleared lines raise the opponent's bricks.
I remembered the strategies I developed and used, for example starting with a higher level than zero. How I would like to build my brick surface, so that as many different pieces as possible fit. How I would either just give up on messed-up bottom lines, or trying to fill and clear them to make room for later. The difficulty to decide when to clear lines in order to not die, when to wait for the "I" piece to score a tetris. How to get one or two lines cleared with the last turns, when I have no chance to stay in the game much longer.
The joy when I reached some good score. The disappointment when I botched it. The countless new games where I wanted to make up for it. Experiencing my brain working and my fingers tapping fast. The very rare occasions when I considered myself done, only to resolve it and stay in the game for much longer.
When I was in the flow, not even looking at the preview of the next block, just seeing it in the corner of my eye, not thinking anymore, just playing.
In that finals I linked, a kid, which according to the commentators can play even on the fastest level, faced a multi-time champion. That champion, according to the accolades mentioned at the start, was able to get the max score once. Of course I never got close tot that on my gameboy, at max I got some quarter of a million points, seeing a quite big space shuttle (or rather, Buran in Russian) launch, and some folks dancing to Russian music.
It takes more than mechanical skill and strategy to get far. It requires character. One has to survive long times without an "l" piece. One has to make difficult decisions where to leave holes if the current piece does not fit. One has to know unto which level one can move or rotate a piece which already touched the ground.
The finals match in the video, a best-of-five, was not as intense as the SF2 finals moment where Ken parried Chun-Li, but it was still intense, and kept the excitement for the whole match. Even if one player is already dead, the other with less points one can still win. Countless strategic options how to wear down your opponent.
And the human aspect. Both players did make mistakes. To see how they reacted, how they mitigated them, increased my respect for tetris players by magnitudes. In the last match, the face of the guy losing shows that he knows it, even though he held a point lead at that time.
Strategy. Tactics. Even action. In a game which barely has any graphics.
The sportsmanship of the players. I didn't know that tetris playing is a thing in our day and age. The winner got emotional, the loser did not just say it, all his body language expresses his respect for the champion.
The players get the pieces in the same order, yet within seconds the game looks different for each. What depth.
