Puzzle mania

Ever since I got the puzzle fighter turbo, I’ve been training with the help of my coach S. The game is similar to Tetris but you get to dump the puzzle you eliminate to your opponent. I train against the CPU until a real challenger appears before me. If I loose a battle, S, the coach would make recommendation as of which character to pick. Her favorite character is Felicia the cat. As of last night, I’m able to get through all 8 stages in the normal mode. The next challenger after stage 8 is one of the hidden characters name Akuma. He’s quite intimidating on screen and he’s strategy is dropping small counter gem to prevent his opponents from getting to the big gems. I have yet a strategy that is able to kick his booty. When I’m playing I don’t pay attention to what my opponent is building but S, the coach, pays close attention. She warns me when I'm about to get attacked with "counter gem" and I would make small attacks to minimize their attack.
S: “Mom, it’s not fair!!. Akuma didn’t get much when you dump on him and when he dumps on you, you get killed”
Me: "Life is not always fair and Akuma is the best puzzle fighter I know. Don't worry. We’ll beat him someday."
As I researched to figure out ways to kick Akuma's butt, I came across ways to play as some of the hidden characters. They are quite entertaining. Hubby doesn’t participate. He thinks the game is boring. S is into the game but she doesn’t have the dexterity yet but she will.