Has lots more to offer than the Xbox Live Arcade rendition Tetris Splash.
There are actually quite a few features to appreciate in Tetris Evolution. But since I brought the fact that there are more game modes to your attention, I'll start with those. Not only do you have Marathon and 40 Lines (which has now been renamed Race), but also, you have 6 brand new modes to enjoy! Score is another time-based game which focuses on the points needed to successfully complete the mode. Ultra is like Score, but the rules are somewhat reversed. Instead of getting the score within a specific time, you have to rack up as many points as you can within a very short period of time! What's a very short period of time? Well how about 1 minute! You can also choose 3 minutes or 5 minutes. Eraser mode lays out holographic lines on the Matrix (the area the blocks are dropped in) and you erase them by getting line-clearances right through them. The main scoring aspect in this mode is also the time limit.
I suppose I could name and explain them all, but I won't out of a combination of laziness and so you're not spoiled! But these modes are enjoyable and differ in surprising ways.
Other features Tetris Evolution includes is the ability to change the skin of the Tetris Matrix, the background you play on and also your player icon, which, by default, appears as a crazy smiley face. You have a surprising number of other icons to choose from so you'll no doubt find the one that's right for you.
There's also the Xbox Live option which allows online multiplayer games. I suppose it'd be a bit too disappointing to exclude this feature from a Tetris game! I haven't been successful in trying the mode yet simply because there haven't been other players to play against, but I'm sure it operates in a similar way to Tetris Splash's multiplayer mode.
Now, for the controls. You may think I'm doing a lot of comparing to Tetris Splash, and you'd be right. I really think the controls in Tetris Evolution bring the game down a bit. It's not quite as smooth as Splash, which is probably the only area where Splash triumphs. There is a slight delay towards the hold-button-down effect on Evolution, whereas on Splash, this delay is reduced significantly. What I mean is, the time it takes for the block to move fast when you hold down the Left or Right button. This can be annoying when you're at a particularly fast-paced point in the game, but for everything else, Tetris Evolution is superior.
If you want to try this game, then in a way, playing the demo of Tetris Splash does have it's effect, if a slightly distorted one. Keep in mind that the controls on Splash are more responsive than on Evolution and that on Splash you have much fewer game modes, but I think that's the best way you'll decide if you want to get Tetris Evolution. It's quite pricey to buy and there are no demos of it.