Here is a faq written by Erin Shaughnessy.  Enjoy!

Panel De Pon/Tetris Attack FAQ v0.1.5 (23APRIL2004) by ViX44

-What does Tetris Attack have to do with the original Tetris?
Nothing. Nintendo licensed the name because Americans identify puzzle games with Tetris.

-What do the cast of Yoshi's Island have to do with it?
Nothing. They reskinned it for marketing reasons. They released it around the same time as Yoshi's Island, and the cast changed served as cross-promotion. Puzzle games are generally genderless. A box with rainbow colors and screaming faeries would detract from the male market. Same with the Pokémon. The N64 version had the faeries, but they realized that at the time, fad-crazy Pokéfreaks would buy anything and everything with the accented "e" in the title, so they skinned it and shipped it. The N64 version with the proper cast was poorly translated to Gamecube in Nintendo Puzzle Collection. By poorly translated, I speak of the code, which has a rather profound timing error.

-How many versions of this game exist?
Panel De Pon and Tetris Attack for SNES.
Panel De Pon 98 for the satellite system.
Tetris Attack and Pokémon Puzzle Challenge for GB/GBC
Pokémon Puzzle League (and PdP 64 beta) for N64
Panel De Pon is a component of Nintendo Puzzle Collection for the Gamecube. (Currently, JPN only.)
Panel De Pon's Endless mode is available as a upload game from GCN to GBA.

-Okay, I got the game, and I can't even get a thousand points. Does this mean I suck?
Not at all. Skill in TA/PdP is a series of jumps and plateaus. Most beginners start in the 200-500 range, then go to 700-1500, then 2-4k, then 5-9k, and on up in increments up to about 20k. This is where we can separate the men from the boys, to abuse a cliché, since you can't get much better without chaining skills. Solid x13s will make the 30s possible, use of secondary sets (the "bonus") opens 40k, and skillful stack management will earn a 50k+.

-Why are combos worth so few points compared to chains? They aren't even worth the trouble!
Intelligent Systems upped the combo values dramatically in PPL/PPC, but chains are where it's at. However, they can be quite useful in doubling chains. By clearing an odd shaped or disjointed set, such as an L-shaped 5 or a simultanious 3 and 4, you can get two chainlinks to occur within a frame or two of each other, accelerating your climb to x13.

-Some levels have the Nefarious Navy Triangle of Doom, and others don't...what's the difference, and where does it appear?
The 6th Panel has it's pros as well as cons, but most find it a bad thing. With a sixth panel in the mix, it's harder to find third-of-a-kinds while chaining, and increases the number of residual panels at the end of a chain, which can mean lower scores. Technically, the 6th panel is actually a GOOD thing, since it means you are less apt to make unwanted combos (which eat up your panels) and unwanted secondary sets, which cost you panels, points, and can block off the panels you need to move, potentially killing your chain. Most find the effort and chance drawbacks not worth the reduction in panels-per-species.

-Are there any other panels?
The seventh panel is the Shock Panel (!). Higher panel ID numbers exist, but are for special things, like encroaching panels, garbage blocks, et cetera.

-I hear people do better in Two-Player, why?
First, there's the Sixth Panel Situation in one-player; you can play Time Trial with only five panel species in Two-Player. Also, there's a timing factor. The nature of 2P battle means that a player will often have well over 12 rows of matter in their stack. Since it's very easy to fill someone's stack with garbage, the programmers added in a trigger that when a player is overloaded, it's granted up to two seconds of stop-clock time. Without this, battles would end very quickly. With this, battles can drag on forever. 
How is all this babble important? The overload/stop-clock was set to be enabled by being in 2P *Mode*, not just 2P Battle. This means that you can hit the top of the tableau and still have spare time to start a chain. This gives you six very important extra panels to work with, fueling longer chains.

-How can one improve at this game, aside from constant play?
Learning to "see" is critical. One must become able to view as much of the tableau without actually moving one's eyes or focus. Also, one must look at colors, not shapes. (Unless you're colorblind, of course) Your mind processes color patterns quickly; much faster than processing the shapes, and then finding patterns. However, practice is still very important, since you will need to learn to instinctively react to certain patterns, and be able to time your keypresses to 1/60th of a second accuracy. Also, maintain your controller. My original SNES controller has been retired, and I'm now using an ASCIIpad brand controller. It's a personal favorite because it's about 70% the thickness of a Nintendo brand unit, which makes my paws happy. Above all, be gentile to your controller and keep it clean. Don't store it under your elephant or in a bucket of ants.

-Why are all the faeries childlike in Panel De Pon, except for the 2P Battle screens, which have anime-style art?
Who knows...probably fan service. There's more Pokésmut than Panel de Porn, but that may change if they use the anime style in an upcoming PdP release.
Addendum: People have asked me about the Panel de Porn comment; originally it was a lame pun, but in my travels I have found a few instances of such a horror. However, I'm confident that the ratio of Pokésmut will continue to outweight Panel de Porn for quite some time.

-What are the [x?] cards? Why does the game stop counting?
The programmers didn't really expect many people to get that high, so they didn't put in cards beyond x13. A programming error made the x? cards pointless, literally. The Author has made an IPS patch to fix this, however many seem to have an issue getting it to work.
PPC counts higher, into the 30 range, but even with the "No ?" option set it will resort to them eventually.

-Are there any cheat codes?
Not really. TA rewards you with additional features, but no true cheats. The one with the biggest impact on the game is the Ball Code, and it's function is killing the Stop clock, which serves to make the game harder. 

-How can I find other TA players in my area?
You could always ask around, and while many people won't know much about it, it opens the door for you to get them in on it. But don't paste a picture of Lip or Sherbet on your school binder...especially if you're a guy. If you simply must, use Flare or Thiana...and in the aforementioned Anime style. Otherwise you'll gain no new players, lose your friends, get beaten up, be bitten by your dog, and your fish will laugh at you.
Your best resource for a pickup game is often ZBattle.net; it's far from perfect, and ZSnes netplay leaves much to be desired, but something is better than nothing. As far as real-life players, you're likely on your own to recruit and train.

                               

Any other questions? Please ask me directly at:  pablo@tetrisattack.net.