Taron Egerton, left, Sofia Lebedeva and Nikita Efremov star in “Tetris,” a nostalgic thriller streaming on Apple TV+. (photo courtesy of Apple TV+)

Sure, maybe half of what really went down in the 1980s licensing battle over juggernaut video game “Tetris” is probably true in the latest Apple film. But this sensationalized true story is fun enough, rocking modest intensity.

How could I resist “Tetris,” the top game of my childhood? I still have fond memories of my parents chauffeuring me around to this and that event, passing the time on the family Game Boy. I played long enough to earn more than 100,000 points, meaning I “won,” even though no such end exists here, and a spaceship blasted off on my screen in celebration.

But I’m off topic. Back to the 1980s for Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton). He discovers “Tetris” at a game trade show in Vegas. He conducts a deep dive, learns what he can about the game’s creator, programmer Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov), which isn’t much considering the Soviet Union’s inaccessibility. Enthralled, Henk secures “Tetris” licensing for arcades, consoles and PCs in Japan. Next up, he gets Nintendo on board.

The first obstacle arrives. Mirrorsoft, the company he bought those licenses from, reneges on arcade rights. Henk’s placed all his blocks in one basket and needs to supplement the loss. Luckily, the house of Mario Bros. is about to change the game with the Game Boy’s debut. He just needs to acquire worldwide handheld rights for “Tetris,” but Mirrorsoft owners Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam) and son Kevin (Anthony Boyle) give him the runaround.

So Henk decides to take his case directly to the motherland. He knows nothing about how Soviet Russia works, upending everything in his wake. But this is where the story gets good. I’ll leave it at that.

Look, this one takes liberties, but at least both the real Rogers and Pajitnov reviewed the script, offered notes, declared the vast majority fiction. At least we learn the names and a few tidbits of truth peppered in the pomp.

Based on the marketing and style, you’d think some comedy would slip in. Nope. This is a straight thriller that finds a way to make licensing negotiations feel so significant, so pressing. The only real weakness is that “Tetris” doesn’t spend enough time on that, instead favoring a tidy conclusion.

Togo Igawa, left, Nino Furuhata and Taron Egerton appear in “Tetris,” a fictionalized story about the origins of the popular video game. (photo courtesy of Apple TV+)

Another weakness: Henk’s family. They might appear important, assumedly for Henk’s character on screen (I know nothing about the real man, so let’s just stick to the film), but his wife and kids don’t even earn the honor of second player. They accent Henk’s failures, his fears that things won’t work out with a “Tetris” deal. The conflict is a rather cliche “we had a life before this” bit.

And the conclusion to that subplot lets the film Henk off the hook a little easily. He even gets a pass for a moment of bad parenting with the power of a convenient, sentimental sequence that wraps things up a bit too neat. Frankly, omitting that story and adding more to the deal might’ve served the whole experience better.

Still, “Tetris” sports enough intrigue and exploration of game making to pique novice and intermediate interest. And yes, there’s plenty of nostalgia. First, Russian folk song “Korobeiniki,” the classic theme from the Game Boy debut, serves as the audible soul of the entire film experience, as it should. It even graces a car chase, which gets a historical-revision pass since it sports some fun pixelated moments.

Imagine a car crash accented by 8-bit overlay. That style choice remains consistent throughout the entire film, decorating scene changes and establishing shots. It plays like the crash momentarily ruptured the matrix.

But this one feels less like a sci-fi venture, stylistic moments excluded, and more like “Argo” with its CliffsNotes summation and soft climax. Like its source material, however, it’s all quite fun, albeit nowhere near as lasting as the remarkable game everyone so dearly covets.