Catch Mode

Catch Mode is a mode featured in Tetris DS, and is themed after the first Metroid game.

The objective is to collect tetriminos into contiguous blocks, by using a single solid block. The tetriminoes fall from the top in various positions, and only the solid block can be rotated. Once a large block has been collected, it will detonate, destroying everything in its path. Several Metroid larvae in capsules similar to the baby's also fall from the ceiling; destroying them in detonations will net a bonus. The capsule sprite is original to Tetris DS. The player loses a small amount of health if the blocks hit the bottom of the screen. Colliding the collected blocks with the Metroid containers will cause a big health loss and destruction of some collected blocks. The game is over once the player loses all health.

The play area is a shaft resembling Brinstar's blue-tinted and gold-colored shafts, but with a more realistic, bat cave-like background. The longer the player lasts in Catch, the environment begins to turn a purple and then green color, palettes that do not exist in Metroid. Numerous sprites from Metroid can be seen in the background in different poses. These include Samus aiming up at a Ripper, in Morph Ball, on a ledge in front of a Blue Door, jumping and aiming at a Zoomer on the bottom of a ledge, Spin Jumping from one ledge to another, and a Ripper and Zoomer alone. Once all sprites have been displayed, it cycles over.

The theme is a remix of the classic Brinstar theme. When the detonation block activates and before it explodes, a faster remix of the Brinstar theme is heard.