"That's gotta be some strong coffee."

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is the classic puzzle game Puyo Puyo with characters from the Sonic The Hedgehog TV Show.

Game Play-
8.6/10

The purpose of this game is to free captured beans in a Tetris-esque way. Imagine the Tetris setup, replace the blocks with beans, and you have to get 4 beans together so that they can ''escape'', or disappear. The beans go down just like the Tetris blocks did.

You get two differently colored beans at a time, and you set them down, just like Tetris. You have to clump 4 together for them to disappear. When they disappear, clear beans go on your enemy's screen, and vise-versa.

Overall, the game's not too difficult, but it will require practice. In the process, you may become addicted to the game. If so, be careful on how much time you spend with it.

The game starts to get really fun once you learn how to do multiple combo’s, which is having a group disappear, then having a bean above the group fall on a group of 3 of the same color below, and so on. Dang, that’s fun.

There are many stages in the game, each with an obviously harder opponent than the previous one, to battle against.

Control-
9.0/10

The buttons aren't too loose and the setup doesn't hurt your fingers. Overall, the control is pretty good. No complaints in this department.

Graphics-
7.1/10

The graphics are very similar to Tetris. Basically, replace the blocks with multi-colored beans, and that's how the graphics are in this game.

I really thought they could've been more detailed. The backgrounds were bland and plain, and that was my main complaint with the graphics.

Audio-
4.2/10

For the type of game that this is, the music needed to be much faster. I found the music to be slow, dull, and boring. I found some of the sound effects boring too. It tends to show how limited the Genesis’ audio capabilities are, in a bad way. It's simplicity and dullness really don't work well in this game. It barely matches the game, and that's only 'cause the backgrounds are so simple.

Enjoyability-
8.7/10

If you can get into the game, then you'll find it engrossing and addictive. If not, then it may still feed your growling hunger for delicious, juicy, succulent, 19oz puzzle games.

Score Rundown-

Game Play-8.6
Control-9.0
Graphics-7.1
Audio-4.2
Enjoyability-8.7

Score-37.6/50

Percentage of gaming goodness-75% (rounded to the nearest hundredth)

Overall-8/10 (rounded to the nearest 10)

Doodleheimer’s Recommendationitivity-

This game is recommended to those who enjoy puzzle games in general. If you enjoyed Tetris, chances are you’ll enjoy this. If you find the price to be right, then you should make a purchase of this.

Street Price-$4.99

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/22/01, Updated 05/20/02