Beginner Strategies Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDEaJ2ouQLQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDEaJ2ouQLQ

This covers several key things that every beginners needs to know.

-Menu options, controls, how to play
-Sonic Drop + Down Press
-Intro Load Skip
-Horizontal Line
-Sliding pieces

I may make an advanced video on request - Guides already exist for Watery and Erase, but consistent Flower, confident Erase, and fighting against RNG of Light and Dark could still be made.

Beginners Tutorial - Story Mode (Easy) by Hamfruitcake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHzHB_R-1Rs

Duckstation set up

As the boards are merged between hardware and emulator here are the agreed settings for Duckstation. This speeds up processing to make it more balanced for emu players. These settings are faster than PS1 but aren't as fast as PS2 with fast disc speed. They do allow for a sub 12 time.

![](/static/blob/qzp5w7we.png)

Please ensure FPS and and emulation speed are visible for all emulator runs.

![](/static/blob/5ngkodkz.png)

Any runs exceeding these settings will be rejected. If you have any questions please refer to the Mods.

Earthy Guide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cv6Fh9VvwA

Erase Manipulation v2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SQwc92U-owhttps://youtu.be/7SQwc92U-ow

Fast Sakura Animation Level Clear

It has recently been noticed that when you clear a gem, the tiles in the background fade away to reveal the background.

![](/static/blob/xz03q38z.png)

An example in Fiery with the square titles in the background.

![](/static/blob/kzwq8qqz.png)

After it clears, it animates and starts to reveal the background.

**Why is this relevant?**

Sakura does not start her animation to finish the level until the full background is showing.

This means the way to get a "Quick Sakura Animation" would be to finish the level with the least amount of gems possible.

That is not always possible, but in some levels you can prioritise to get a fast clear.

![](/static/blob/xzdxoxgn.png)

Using 3 pieces. If you fill in the middle first, and then left and right, you would finish things quick, clearing all 7 gems at once, but the animation for Sakura takes longer as all the tiles must dissappear.

An alternative, clear the bottom three with two pieces left and right, and then fill the middle. This means tiles are already disappearing for the three at the bottom, whilst you are still lining up to clear the middle. The level finishes when the tiles for the 4 gems disappear instead of waiting for all 7 to clear.

Another example is Watery

![](/static/blob/1n58x8pn.png)

Another 3 piece clear. Using the Watery strategy guide, you can slide pieces into the bottom to clear 6 total gems, before finishing off the top with 1 gem. This will give a fast animation as its already moving the tiles in the back for 6 games, instead of the inverse.

It is useful in many levels, but keep this in mind for Fiery, Mirror, Earthy, Thunder & Shield. Don't let things stack too much and try and clear a level, ideally with only one gem remaining.

Levels like Flower or Maze, you will not be able to get the fast animation clear.

**An important note however,** for Fiery, if you clear the level with 7 gems at once, it adds **one second** of time compare to finishing with 4 gems. Placing an extra piece costs about 0.5-1 seconds depending on your pace. Meaning it is only worthwhile to burn one, at a push, two piece to go for a faster animation. Only look for this strategy if you can act fast enough to make that faster animation come in. *Do not make it your primary focus.*

Feel free to reach out to me if you this doesn't make any sense.

Glow & Watery Guide

A guide for how to complete Glow and Watery with the Slide piece setup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEzvoWZjVco

Name	Autor
Beginner Strategies Video	McSwirls 3 months ago
Beginners Tutorial - Story Mode (Easy) by Hamfruitcake	hamfruitcake 2 years ago
Duckstation set up	hamfruitcake 1 year ago
Earthy Guide	hamfruitcake 1 year ago
Erase Manipulation v2	McSwirls 24 days ago
Fast Sakura Animation Level Clear	McSwirls 1 month ago
Glow & Watery Guide	McSwirls 2 years ago