I'm currently a SRS player hoping to get into TGM. I've started fiddling around with TGM and TAP in MAME and I'm trying to learn ARS. Are there any tips you guys would recommend? (P.S. I have X on CCW and Z on CW)
it's a supremely satisfying system -- kicking the L and J around can't hardly be matched. i think there are three pieces of advice normally given. 1 play the games in order. you'll be better able to explore the full repertoire of placements. 2 get a stick. it's designed for arcade input, and does have real tactile rewards. zangis -- feels good man. as a bonus the input is then sufficiently different such that you won't be haunted by past rotation systems. you might search for a used street fighter playstation stick, or similar. 3 read the guide http://kitaru.1101b.com/TGMGUIDE/
Building off #1 of what user8293851 said, don't focus primarily on Ti when learning ARS because you will learn habits that will end up killing you in the first two games. When dealing with high/maximum gravity, try rotating J and L so that a flat side is on bottom. This will help prevent them from getting stuck on an uneven stack. This also applies to the T piece, but two rotations are required to get it into a flat-bottom state. If you ever need help with high-gravity ARS, don't be afraid to look up videos of the best players! You will get to see some very useful ARS moves in action, so you can expand your repertoire and do better.
I'd like to gently but sternly reinforce the fact that, no matter how good at SRS you are, ARS requires careful study to master. You really have to know every frame of TGM to succeed. But in the end, it is by far the most chess-like of all Tetris games, especially TGM1 & TAP Master. I've currently got my brain set to do ARS on arcade stick, NES on Goofy Foot, & SRS on traditional dpad (thanks Tetris99!) without much muscle memory conflict. Having very distinct input methods will also help you quite a lot. But for the first week or so you may want to exclusively play TGM to build up that new muscle memory.
You can skip tgm1 if you want, but it's overall a lot easier to get GM on than TAP is, as difficulty doesn't increase past 500. the lack of hard drop will get annoying though. TI will break you for earlier games if you start with it, though. I know... it happened to me. If you've ever played ANY classic tetris game before SRS at all for a decent amount of time, you will be mostly right at home with TGM, and will have the muscle memory needed to rotate properly. If you've started with SRS, the reversed initial state will take a LOT of getting used to, and you will feel like the game is rotating the wrong way. Swapping the rotation buttons to compensate will not help. Just stick with it. The suggestion of using a stick to start with is a good one, bu tnot always doable on a budget. and having a diamond gate on the stick is a must. Once you've stopped rotating the wrong way, then all you need to do is get into your head that pieces go down, not up, and then you can really start learning the game.
Yeah a stick is almost necessary. You can play the game without it, but I think learning ARS is also very much learning the precise movements of your wrist, etc. for "clicking in" pieces where you want them instantly. The guide linked in the first response is essential. Study it thoroughly. Memorize all the tricks for keeping the fifth column high. Learn to think about overhangs and kick setups as equally viable to a "regular" piece placement. I feel like this kind of overhang especially, is absolutely critical to 20G ARS: As for practice, I'd say TAP's Death mode is the best. It might be extremely fast for a beginner, but the first 100 levels actually aren't terribly fast (especially if you are already used to SRS), and the stricter time pressure will probably force you to improve faster than TGM1's rather slow 20G mode. Starting out, try to IRS every single piece, whether you need it or not. Or at least the J and L pieces. It's almost always an advantage to have them coming out with a flat side pointing down, and the few situations where it's not will quite quickly become obvious.
