Game:

Nintendo Puzzle Collection (2003)

Duration: 14:52

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53

So here's the thrilling conclusion to the rhythmic fairy-based warfare that was our Panel de Pon expedition last weekend. I really do need to get back into the game, it's been that long for me.

Does it show? And I don't just mean because I seem to be losing to the AI inordinately often, because I could go on a whole tirade about how survival in garbage battles are more decided by players making mistakes and panel mismanagement than they are about crushing your opponent with garbage.

I mean, there's no upper limit to how much garbage can be just hanging out over the top of the matrix beyond what we can see, so long as the player doesn't need to raise the stack, they'll never lose as long as they keep clearing stuff...but by that token, they need to keep their panels comfortably above three lines at all times if they don't want to lose.

I mean, look at it this way, the ideal, minimalist defense is to keep your stack devoted entirely to 3-panel clears on top of the stack that will be used to begin a garbage block's destruction. Doing this, you'll always get six panels per line of garbage you clear in exchange for three panels used to free them up.

Now, obviously that alone will never put any pressure on your opponent, but those three-panel clears that slowly but surely grind away even (and ESPECIALLY) the largest of garbage blocks can be chained together to create a number of links at least equal to the chain that originally sent it to you.

So, in theory, this creates a deadlock of sorts wherein players will simply be tasked with not making a mistake while they send garbage back over in equal proportion to what they receive, ultimately causing both players to be in the scenario with garbage piled up beyond the top of the screen, but at the same time constantly peeling away layers of that garbage, so the stack will never actually try to rise and end their games.

So technically once you reach this highly theoretical state, any extra garbage you send beyond that which you're receiving won't have any extra impact, except upon your own stack...you'll be chewing through your reserve of panels faster than the six at a time you get from most garbage line clears. If you do this enough, you'll finally get down to three lines or less, which creates the distinct possibility of being unable to make a clear at the top of your stack, and thus the match is forcibly decided, and the "mistake" wasn't failing to be fast enough to finish things...it was mismanagement of panels, an actual mistake on the part of the loser.

Assuming players of the absolute highest-caliber reaction time and able to resist the lure of big-chain clears in the advanced stages of a match, the game could literally last forever...or at least until one does slip up.

That's why I would have to say that garbage battle is actually a rather good teaching tool, incidentally...you'll build up surprising amount of pattern recognition and have plenty of opportunity to scan your stack for matches if the outcome depends on it. The match times will get longer and longer as marathon sessions of recognition and rapid panel-swapping under pressure build stronger fundamentals.

Then I think you might be surprised what happens when you take these basic tools and apply them to a different scenario. Case and point, take the polar opposite mode, the relatively low-pressure and open-ended Endless mode. There's no impending doom from above to weigh you down, and conversely it won't be able to offer you your chain reactions...there's no opponent to give you garbage to formulate your chains off of...well, there is such a thing as "Endless Garbage" mode in some newer entries in the series, but that's not really the point here.

Now, instead of using your skills as reactionary tools to prevent yourself from losing, you can start to see about forming your powers of impromptu chain recognition and formation. The transition won't be fast, and it surely won't be graceful, so I wouldn't be too alarmed or discouraged if the improvement isn't particularly noticeable or sudden.

I can't actually say what causes seemingly random onset of improvement at this game, but the crucible of the garbage battle is a fundamental step in building good basic habits that will help you in all other aspects of the game, at least in my experience both personally and with those I have infected with the Panel de Plague.

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