Tetris (Game Boy, 1989)

There may be more releases of Tetris (1989) than any other game.  The "Russian mind game" was originally programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in his spare time, and claimed by the USSR government.  There were many computer versions, an arcade cabinet made by Sega, and two NES carts (one unlicensed by Atari).  After a heated legal battle, it was decided that Nintendo would own the rights to produce and distribute subsequent releases of Tetris.
At the same time, Nintendo was ready to release its Game Boy handheld system, designed by Gunpei Yokoi.  Most Nintendo systems have been packaged with a Mario game (Super Mario Bros on NES, Super Mario World on SNES, Super Mario 64 for Nintendo 64), and there was one available at the Game Boy's North American launch (Super Mario Land), but this marks the first time that a Nintendo system came with something other than Mario.  Tetris on the Game Boy is the most iconic and popular iterations of the game in its history.
Tetris is a puzzle game where blocks made of four squares fall from the top, and the player must rotate and stack them to make a complete horizontal line across the board.  This kind of game is ideal for the Game Boy, since it is a portable system, and the game offers endless entertainment.  Playing Tetris on a home console is fine, but is not suited to the medium.  Tetris works best as a portable game because it is most effectively a time-killer, ideal for taking any place you are going to have a long wait.
The game is simple by design but complex in practice.  A small mistake could cost you the whole game.  Should you play it safe by going for only one or two-liners?  Or will you take a risk by going for a tetris, a four-line clearing?  The game starts off slow, but the more lines you get, the faster the blocks drop.  This is a perfect utilization of the difficulty curve.  In a good game, difficulty progressively increases as you get better and further into the game.  Eventually the blocks become too fast for the player to possibly react in time to place them properly, and the game will end.
I am an art major in college right now, and so I try to attribute every piece of media I encounter to a specific art movement.  One such art movement is dada, which strives to destroy logic, reality, and usefulness.  I was recently wondering if a dadaist video game could be any good, let alone exist.  If there were one, there would have to be no plot, characters, or logical mechanics.  Upon reflection, I think Tetris may fit into this category.  If it does, it is a perfect example of a video game that can be pure art.