Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Since I want to put this up before the Maximus Cup ends, here is a special, second video for the day, featuring the 55th Maximus Cup for Tetris 99, still going strong seven years later. This one is based on the new Star Fox game that has come out for the Switch 2, simply named “Star Fox.” It is a remake of Star Fox 64 specifically (not the original Star Fox game), though with a bunch of added content. Going for a cinematic look, the character designs have been changed for them to more resemble the real-life animals, and, some say, the puppets used for the original Star Fox artwork on the SNES/Super Famicom.
The background depicts Slippy Toad, Falco Lombardi, Fox McCloud, and Peppy Hare (from left to right) against what appears to be in-universe promotional material with Arwing ships flying over a planet. The playfield itself goes for a military utilitarian tech look for the frame, with the playfield itself resembling a radar screen with the Star Fox logo in the middle. Badges are medals, and KOed players are smaller, square radar screens. The “KO” letters are gold with a bright green border if you knocked them out yourself, and red with a darn green border otherwise. All Tetriminos take the form of a plain color with a light border and a “glowing” texture, with garbage blocks having a gray crosshair-like pattern on it, both of them to resemble readings off a radar screen.
I’m not quite as familiar with the audio in Star Fox, but from what I can tell, all clearing of lines, from a single clear to T-Spins of all types, are accompanied by a laser zapping sound (fitting, as Star Fox is mostly about aerial/space dogfights). Certainly, the fully orchestrated music has a heroic, grandiose feel that fits the general feel of the series, and in a way that has since differentiated itself from Star Wars, one of its clear influences. The only theme I recognize is the theme when you’ve placed 2nd to 99th though, which is when they’re on planet Venom. When there are 50 players left and 10 players left, it plays the radar display sound for when you’ve downed an enemy. I think the 1st place theme, the Tetris Maximus, is when you finish a mission successfully.
Though Tetris Effect (Connected) has an amazing soundtrack too, this Maximus Cup got me thinking that I would prefer orchestrated music in a Tetris game. I don’t know if it’s been done though, or if it’ll ever be done. (I accompanied the end of the first two matches with music from Super Mario Galaxy 2 because of Fox’s surprising appearance in The Mario Galaxy Movie.)
(It it so difficult to keep up with these Maximus Cups on the Switch 2, as I get no notifications about them at all…)
00:10 Match #1
Skin: Special Theme 45 (Star Fox)
Mode: Normal
This group was a pretty tough one! One way you could tell just by looking is that I hardly got any KOs, having been stuck with 2 for much of this match. That means someone else (or multiple someones) had been taking most of them. Granted, by simple mathematics, the average KO count in a Tetris 99 match is 1, so 2 or more is above average, but making it as far as 16th place (meaning 83 people are out) and still remaining at 2 KOs likely means someone else is building up way faster than you.
10:45 - Match #2
Skin: Special Theme 45 (Star Fox)
Mode: Normal
This was the match that unlocked the skin. Sorry for giving such a terrible performance; I overestimated how long I’d last. It did give me the 100 points necessary though. This time around, it took me 4 matches. As you can see, the one who took me out ultimately got 1st place, so I was merely a stepping stone for them. I wonder if they’re the kind to play regular matches and just accumulate 100 points for 1st place every 10 minutes or so…
17:30 - Match #3
Skin: Special Theme 45 (Star Fox)
Mode: Invictus
However, I kept at it, and after a little while, I was able to get a 1st place finish, allowing me to continue having at least one 1st place finish with every skin that I have in Tetris 99. I thought it would’ve looked way better with the Star Fox background than the red embers background that Invictus top 10 has, though I went to Invictus on purpose to move out of the way of people who are still trying to earn points. This also had me with relatively few KOs through much of it, with me being thoroushly outmatched by the others when I penetrated the top 3, but they were already in a bad condition, and me providingh the straw that broke the camel’s back gave me the Bedges I needed. 4 is a higher number than 2 though.
Since I want to put this up before the Maximus Cup ends, here is a special, second video for the day, featuring the 55th Maximus Cup for Tetris 99, still going strong seven years later. This one is based on the new Star Fox game that has come out for the Switch 2, simply named “Star Fox.” It is a remake of Star Fox 64 specifically (not the original Star Fox game), though with a bunch of added content. Going for a cinematic look, the character designs have been changed for them to more resemble the real-life animals, and, some say, the puppets used for the original Star Fox artwork on the SNES/Super Famicom.
The background depicts Slippy Toad, Falco Lombardi, Fox McCloud, and Peppy Hare (from left to right) against what appears to be in-universe promotional material with Arwing ships flying over a planet. The playfield itself goes for a military utilitarian tech look for the frame, with the playfield itself resembling a radar screen with the Star Fox logo in the middle. Badges are medals, and KOed players are smaller, square radar screens. The “KO” letters are gold with a bright green border if you knocked them out yourself, and red with a darn green border otherwise. All Tetriminos take the form of a plain color with a light border and a “glowing” texture, with garbage blocks having a gray crosshair-like pattern on it, both of them to resemble readings off a radar screen.
I’m not quite as familiar with the audio in Star Fox, but from what I can tell, all clearing of lines, from a single clear to T-Spins of all types, are accompanied by a laser zapping sound (fitting, as Star Fox is mostly about aerial/space dogfights). Certainly, the fully orchestrated music has a heroic, grandiose feel that fits the general feel of the series, and in a way that has since differentiated itself from Star Wars, one of its clear influences. The only theme I recognize is the theme when you’ve placed 2nd to 99th though, which is when they’re on planet Venom. When there are 50 players left and 10 players left, it plays the radar display sound for when you’ve downed an enemy. I think the 1st place theme, the Tetris Maximus, is when you finish a mission successfully.
Though Tetris Effect (Connected) has an amazing soundtrack too, this Maximus Cup got me thinking that I would prefer orchestrated music in a Tetris game. I don’t know if it’s been done though, or if it’ll ever be done. (I accompanied the end of the first two matches with music from Super Mario Galaxy 2 because of Fox’s surprising appearance in The Mario Galaxy Movie.)
(It it so difficult to keep up with these Maximus Cups on the Switch 2, as I get no notifications about them at all…)
00:10 Match #1
Skin: Special Theme 45 (Star Fox)
Mode: Normal
This group was a pretty tough one! One way you could tell just by looking is that I hardly got any KOs, having been stuck with 2 for much of this match. That means someone else (or multiple someones) had been taking most of them. Granted, by simple mathematics, the average KO count in a Tetris 99 match is 1, so 2 or more is above average, but making it as far as 16th place (meaning 83 people are out) and still remaining at 2 KOs likely means someone else is building up way faster than you.
10:45 - Match #2
Skin: Special Theme 45 (Star Fox)
Mode: Normal
This was the match that unlocked the skin. Sorry for giving such a terrible performance; I overestimated how long I’d last. It did give me the 100 points necessary though. This time around, it took me 4 matches. As you can see, the one who took me out ultimately got 1st place, so I was merely a stepping stone for them. I wonder if they’re the kind to play regular matches and just accumulate 100 points for 1st place every 10 minutes or so…
17:30 - Match #3
Skin: Special Theme 45 (Star Fox)
Mode: Invictus
However, I kept at it, and after a little while, I was able to get a 1st place finish, allowing me to continue having at least one 1st place finish with every skin that I have in Tetris 99. I thought it would’ve looked way better with the Star Fox background than the red embers background that Invictus top 10 has, though I went to Invictus on purpose to move out of the way of people who are still trying to earn points. This also had me with relatively few KOs through much of it, with me being thoroushly outmatched by the others when I penetrated the top 3, but they were already in a bad condition, and me providingh the straw that broke the camel’s back gave me the Bedges I needed. 4 is a higher number than 2 though.
