Tetris: Axis, published by Nintendo and developed by Hudson, is coming out on October 2 for $29.99. Much like Hudson's latest Tetris games for Wii, DS, and WiiWare, Tetris: Axis has a lot of different game modes. Check out some first-look impressions on the whole lot of them below.

Marathon - It's Tetris. What do you expect?

Computer Battle - The standard Tetris battle mode, complete with 10 different COM character personalities. Basically, it's a training ground for the local and online multiplayer.

Fever - This one features a smaller playing field and requires you to clear as many lines as you can in one minute, collecting coins and earning items along the way. Succesful play switches the playing field around and lets you complete several easy line clearings. It's basically the Tetris version of Bejeweled Blitz, except I honestly prefer Bejeweled Blitz more.

Survival - It features a small playing field similar to Fever, but plays more like regular Tetris, except it is way more challenging because of the reduced play area.

Jigsaw - The bottom screen shows off a puzzle that you have to complete, while you move and place pieces to match up with it. Miss one, and a time penalty is added. It starts off kind of lame, but quickly picks up as you get to harder puzzles. It's a weird mode that feels out of place in a Tetris game, which might be why it is fun in this package.

Shadow Wide - A wider take on the mode that began in Tetris Party. You have to place blocks of varying size inside an on-screen picture. You're judged for how quickly you complete the picture and how few mistakes you make.

Fit - You are given a few different types of pieces to fit into a slow-moving square coming at you in 3D. It's sort of like Human Tetris, but it plays more like something like Art Style: Boxlife as you have to figure out how to place the blocks correctly in a short time frame.

Tower Climber - Another returning Tetris Party mode, this has you guiding a little dude up a cylinder by placing blocks to let him climb up. It takes advantage of the 3D to display the game on a cylinder.

Bombliss Plus - Based off of a popular game type that originated in Super Tetris 2 on Famicom in 1991 and released as Tetris Blast in America, Bombliss has you matching pieces with bombs in them, trying to set off chain reactions that have the potential to clear the screen in one well-timed shot.

Stage Racer Plus - Move pieces through obstacle courses that wrap around. It also adds a jump mechanic that looks very sharp in 3D, as your piece appears to jump off the screen.

Capture - Screens flip back and forth as you try to collect different stars within a time limit. I didn't really get into this mode.

Master Mode - It is normal Tetris, but with faster moving blocks at the outset. It's hard.

Sprint - This popular mode has you clearing 40 lines as quickly as you can.

AR Marathon - It features a smaller play area and functions like normal Tetris. When you clear lines with items in them, it tilts the play area, forcing you to move in real life to adjust. This is, in all honesty, kind of terrible. It's novel, but not really any fun.

AR Stage Climber - It's like regular Stage Climber, but you have to move in real life as the little guy climbs the cylindrical tower. Much like the other AR game, it's not too good.

My one big takeaway from these modes is that the best game in the bunch is Tetris. The superfluous modes are fun, but none of them seem to really move too far out of the novelty territory. The AR modes, which I was kind of looking forward to, aren't all that functional. The Jigsaw mode is intriguing, but everything else can be found (sans some tweaks and 3D effects) on Tetris Party Live, a $5 DSiWare download.

In additions to all these modes, Tetris: Axis also has local (single and multi-card) and online multiplayer. I wasn't able to test it, though. We'll have a full review up within the week.

Thanks to Nintendo of America for providing us with an early copy of the game.