Tetris The Absolute The Grand Master 2 PLUS

Tetris The Absolute The Grand Master 2 is the second arcade game in Arika's TGM series. Shortly after it was released Arika offered a free upgrade to a PLUS version, which among other things introduced the popular T.A. Death mode. The game is often abrieviated "TAP" (The Absolute Plus).

Normal
Normal mode behaves just like Master mode in speed and timing, but stops at level 300. At levels 100 and 200 a special item block (also found in versus play) is given to the player. "Free Fall", which moves all blocks in the field down through holes (like gravity being turned on) is given at 100 and "Del Even" which clears every other row throughout the field is given at 200. The credit roll challenge is a slow 20g, but playing through it is not required for a "Clear".

Master
Master mode is Arika's upgrade to the original Tetris The Grand Master gameplay and behaves very much like that game. One of the most important differences is that the speeds continue to increase throughout the game as opposed to topping off at TGMs 20g mode speed. Also, a hard drop that doesn't lock was introduced, improving sub-20g play by giving birth to the zangi-moves. The ranking system is also much less forgiving and former TGM Gm class players will find themselves struggling to make S7 or even finish for that matter. Perhaps the most infuriating addition to the Gm qualifications is an invisible challenge during the credit roll where pieces dissappear immediately after being locked. Arika is currently hosting a video showing a Gm performance: tgm2master.

TGM+
This mode is similar to Master Mode, though it features rising garbage during play and it stops getting faster after 20g. Combined, these traits make for a relatively slow and pensive game mode. Interestingly, unlike Shirase rising (which duplicates the bottom row), or versus garbage (which is randomly assigned to a column), in TGM+ the screen rises in a fixed pattern.

T.A. Death
This is possibly the most famous mode ever featured in a TGM game. A video originally called Death 800 has floated around the Internet under the name Tetris Japan Finals, making the TGM series famous throughout the world. It is a video of a player breaking level 800 on death mode. This video is very popular and was singlehandedly responsible for introducing most western players to the TGM series. Arika currently hosts a much better Gm rank Death Mode video: Death-Gm05.

Ranking
The TGM1/Master ranking system is absent from the screen although both M and Gm grades are achievable. Level 500 is the turning point: Gm is awarded at 999 regardless of time or score. The game does continue through the credits, but winning or losing at that point has no effect.
 * If you reach 500 with a time greater than 3:25:00 the timer will stop, the credits will roll and you are given an "Excellent!" but no grade. (the level 500 background is not shown)
 * If under 3:25:00 at 500 the M grade is achieved and the game will continue to 999.

Timings
TAP runs at 60fps and all timing is done in frame counts. Though Death Mode has a fixed gravity of 20g, there are 4 other timings that shape the flow and speed of play.

Some repurcussions of this are that there is no time penalty for clearing singles instead of tetrises from level 100 through 299. Also, with such a low lock time, the possible places you can put a piece are reduced again, becoming a subset of what was once possible in 20g.

Doubles
Doubles is a two player cooperative mode that puts both players in one well that is 14 units wide instead of 10. Originally only available after inputting a special code in TGM2, it has become selectable from the menu in TAP. One credit pays for both players!

Each player has a separate level counter, and both players must reach level 300 for the win. Though the level counter does not stop at every x99 as in standard modes, the final 299 does require a line change to 300. If one player reaches 300 before the other, he enters 20g for the rest of the game. It is quite difficult to survive for long with 20g in such a wide well, so winning requires a fine degree of coordination between the players so that they reach 300 synchronously.