Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Genesis) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Sega's 1993 puzzle game for the Sega Genesis, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine.

Played through the scenario mode on the normal difficulty mode.

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine was originally never intended to be a Sonic-themed game. It's a (heavily) localized port, like Kirby's Avalanche/Kirby's Ghost Trap, of Compile's Puyo Puyo game for the Japanese Mega Drive.

The Puyo Puyo games have been around since the early 90s, though English versions generally weren't labelled as Puyo Puyo until much, much later. The concept is pretty simple - match four of the same color pieces to attack your opponent, quickly get rid of the garbage pieces they send you, and combo like your life depends on it. Whichever player's board fills first loses.

That's pretty much the entire thing. It's a simple-to-grasp yet impossible-to-master concept, like Tetris, Dr. Mario, or any other good puzzler. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is one of those puzzles games that can easily get you hooked, but it just as easily can have you to throwing the controller in a fit of rage. Be warned - the difficulty level is set fairly high here. If you aren't actively setting up chain-reactions with your little blobs, you probably won't get through the first half-dozen stages. And if you do get through those, get ready to learn how to do it at warp speed, since those final stages don't show any mercy at all. It's a fun challenge, but the entertainment value will probably depend on how willing you are to think ahead as you play.

I really liked how Sega themed this game. It seems a bit strange that Sonic isn't even mentioned in the game, but Robotnik does make for some good laughs as his ridiculous shape flails and screams in the opening. All of the cutscenes look cool with prerendered CG characters, and the playing field is clear and sharp and doesn't distract from the action. When all is said and done it's just a puzzle game, and it looks like one. It does look nice, though. The music is great - I especially liked the guitars during the intro, and the sound effects generally stay in the background. They mercifully left out most of the shrill Japanese phrases that are usually screamed nonstop in these games.

In the end, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is a great puzzler dressed up in a fun Sonic theme. If that sounds good to you, you'll probably enjoy the hell out of it. I do!

And if you like this, but would like to see a more modern Sega-produced version, check out Puyo Pop Fever here:    • Puyo Pop Fever (GameCube) Playthrough...  
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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