Nintendo Puzzle Collection, Panel de Pon -- 13 November 2010, 4P Garbage Versus (1/2)

So we'll get back to some other fun that was had this past weekend with good ol' Dr. Mario, but first a little interruption for some panels and fairies and all sorts of multiplayer goodness.
I will confess, I twisted LAM's arm a bit on this one...because I really don't have regular access to anybody who knows how to play Panel de Pon in any of its incarnations. The rationale is that I've not played in so long, I'm bound to be quite rusty and not exactly the hardest to beat after such a long vacation, so consider this my attempt to both shake off that layer of rust and actually get some human-versus-human panel-time in. Oh, and two AI opponents can come too.
I really wish I could offer some insight as to exactly what I was thinking as I played this session...but honestly, as I recall, I spent most of the match zoned out and operating on the equivalent of Panel de "auto pilot"...which may or may not explain a lot of things about what happened and how often I found myself making suboptimal sets of clears and wrecking up my own chain reactions.
The basis for the game is always in the visualization...reflexes and speed are important, yes...but if you can't see the piled up panels for what they are, it doesn't matter how far you move those pieces if you're in a hurry with no place in particular to go with them. If you don't play for a while, that's the first thing to go. I think muscle memory has a lot to do with actual speed retention, but still expect a few clumsy fumbles at the actual motions of the cursor if it's been an especially long while.
The only thing I really don't like about four-player garbage versus is the fact that the last color cleared in a chain reaction will determine the garbage's destination...which is honestly something I pay less than zero attention to, so there's really no telling how often I might actually end up sending garbage to myself. That's okay, though...garbage can be "recycled" into bigger and bigger chains, particularly the extra-thick chunks of trash and their longer time offered to line up pieces while they slowly scroll through all the constituent spaces.
It's actually really hard to offer much more than basic thoughts about a versus match, particularly since even (or perhaps "especially") I will be questioning and scrutinizing the every move within each of the players' fields...but being as there are four of them, it's almost certain that specifics will be impossible and solid analysis after the fact highly unlikely.
Therefore, to all five to ten of you out there in the world who know how to play Panel de Pon and actually find your way to this video, I open the floor to random questions and answers. Beyond that, I also happen to find the wonderful symphony of collective clicking, popping, dropping, and clearing of panel sounds (especially with so much going on in four fields at a time) to be rather oddly rhythmic and soothing...so, if nothing else enjoy that and let the pretty flashing lights and moving colors put you at ease.
Panel de Pon is clearly some kind of meditative art for me...with fairies!