{{Short description|1989 video game}} {{Refimprove|date=June 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox video game | title = Block Hole | image = Quarth Poster.png | caption = Arcade flyer | developer = Konami | publisher = Konami | composer = Norio Hanzawa | released = '''Arcade''' {{vgrelease|JP|October 9, 1989|WW|1989}} '''MSX2'''<br>{{Video game release|JP|March 9, 1990}}'''Game Boy'''<br>{{Video game release|JP|March 16, 1990|NA|December 1990}}'''Famicom'''<br>{{Video game release|JP|April 13, 1990}} | genre = Puzzle | platforms = Arcade, MSX2, NEC PC-9801, X68000, Famicom, Game Boy }}
'''''Block Hole''''', released in Japan as {{Nihongo foot|'''''Quarth'''''|クォース|Kwōsu|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}}, is a 1989 puzzle video game developed and published by Konami for arcades. It was released in Japan on October 9, 1989 and internationally the same year.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Akagi|first=Masumi|title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005)|date=October 13, 2006|publisher=Amusement News Agency|isbn=978-4990251215|location=Japan|page=|language=ja|trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)|pages=28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Quarth|url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/M731798|website=Media Arts Database|publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs|access-date=20 September 2021}}</ref> It was ported to the MSX2, Famicom and Game Boy as ''Quarth'', with the exception of the European Game Boy Color release of ''Konami GB Collection Vol.2'', where the game was renamed to the generic title ''Block Game'' for unknown reasons.
A sequel, ''Block Quarth'', released on the Konami Net i-mode service, with an updated ''Block Quarth DX'' in 2001. It was released internationally without the "DX" suffix in 2005.
== Gameplay == [[Image:Quarth screenshot 01.png|200px|thumb|left|''Quarth'' on the MSX]] ''Block Hole'' is a combination of ''Tetris''-style gameplay and a fixed shooter in the ''Space Invaders'' tradition. The player's focus is on falling blocks, and the action is geometrical. Rather than arranging the blocks together to make a row of disappearing blocks, a spaceship positioned at the bottom of the screen shoots blocks upwards to make the falling block pattern into squares or rectangles. Once the blocks have been arranged properly, the shape is destroyed and the player is awarded points based on the shape's size. The blocks continue to drop from the top of the screen in various incomplete shapes. As each level progresses, the blocks drop at greater speed and frequency. There are also various power-ups which could be located to increase ship's speed, among other bonuses.
The game continues until the blocks reach the dotted line at the bottom of the screen, whereupon the player's ship is "player's ship is "quarthed", crushed flat.
=== Multiplayer === The arcade, MSX2, and Famicom versions had two different 2-player modes: a split-screen mode with Player 1 on the left and Player 2 on the right, and a cooperative mode where both players shared the same screen.
For the Game Boy, multiplayer requires the Game Link Cable with each player able to view only their fields on their own Game Boys.
==Reception== {{Expand section|date=February 2026}} In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Quarth'' on their December 1, 1989 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the month.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=369|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 December 1989|page=29|lang=ja}}</ref> ''Block Hole'' was a hit overseas in Europe, particularly the United Kingdom and Italy.<ref name="RePlay140">{{cite magazine |title=International News: London Preview |magazine=RePlay |date=January 1990 |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=140, 142 |url=https://archive.org/details/re-play-volume-14-issue-no.-4-january-1990-600DPI/RePlay%20-%20Volume%2014%2C%20Issue%20No.%204%20-%20January%201990/page/140}}</ref>
Philip J Reed of ''Nintendo Life'' gave the Game Boy version a 6/10 score, praising its fun gameplay but criticizing its repetitive nature.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Review: Quarth (3DS eShop / GB)|url=https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/eshop/quarth_gameboy|website=Nintendo Life|date=2012-10-01|access-date=2026-02-02|language=en-GB|first=Philip J|last=Reed}}</ref>
== Re-releases == In 2005, Konami included the game in the Nintendo DS title ''Ganbare Goemon: Tōkaidōchū Ōedo Tengurikaeshi no Maki''. An emulated version of the game was released by Hamster Corporation in 2006 for the PlayStation 2 as part of the ''Oretachi Gēsen Zoku'' series. Hamster also released the game as part of their ''Arcade Archives'' series for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nintendo Download: 28th January (North America)|url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/01/nintendo_download_28th_january_north_america|website=Nintendo Life|date=2021-01-28|access-date=2026-02-02|language=en-GB|first=Darren|last=Calvert}}</ref> The MSX version was released for the Virtual Console service for the Wii and Wii U while the Game Boy version was released on the Nintendo 3DS version of the service.
==Notes== <references group="lower-alpha" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{moby game|id=/quarth}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1989 video games Category:Arcade Archives games Category:Arcade video games Category:Falling block puzzle games Category:Game Boy games Category:Hamster Corporation games Category:I-mode games Category:Konami arcade games Category:Konami games Category:MSX2 games Category:NEC PC-9801 games Category:Nintendo Entertainment System games Category:Shoot 'em ups Category:Split-screen multiplayer games Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Virtual Console games Category:Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS Category:Virtual Console games for Wii U Category:X68000 games