Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

"Dr. Robotnik's Puyo Puyo Machine..."

This underrated game, based on the puzzler Puyo Puyo, never really got the attention it deserved, simply because of it's resemblance to Tetris (similar to the popularity problems that the other top Genesis puzzler, Columns, has had). The storyline goes like this; Dr. Robotnik (from Sonic the Hedgehog fame) and his robots have created a Mean Bean Machine, and are attempting to take over the world with it. (I ask, how can beans take over the world?) Robotnik's henchmen in this game are the same robots that can be seen in the old Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon.

Gameplay - 9/10
Very simple. Basically, you guide falling beans of several colors down a rectangular panel to the ground, and attempt to match up four beans of the same color. Each bean you send down has two different colors to it. When you match up the four beans, they disappear, giving you more room to work with. In addition, the cleared beans then go to your opponents screen, so clear several beans in one movement to screw them up! Practicing, and learning how to do combos (having one movement of beans lead to several beans disappear) is invaluable to you. You lose the game when your rectangular panel is filled with beans, giving you no room to work with. You win when the above predicament happens to your opponent, CPU controlled or human.

A lot like Tetris, wouldn't you say?

Graphics - 8/10
The beans are very colorful, and ''smush'' into each other when they collide; similar when two bodies of water touch each other. This was a nice touch, IMO. The robot sprites are also very detailed. The backgrounds to the bean-filled rectangular panels have little colorful backgrounds to them, such as grassy hills. In essence, the whole game is bright.

Audio - 8/10
Nothing that you won't find in other puzzlers. The cheery music fits the bright, colorful graphics, and the little blips and beeps of the beans, when they disappear and fill the rectangular panel, for example, only add to the happy feel.

Control - 10/10
Move the descending beans with left/right, speed up their descent by pressing down, and swap the two colors of your descending bean (purple and red become red and purple, for example) with the face buttons. Oh yeah, and the start button pauses the game. :) All in all, very simple.

Replay Value - 9/10
This game is very fun and addicting, so you'll be playing this game for several months. You'll spend hours and hours learning new combos and strategies to master the entire game. The multiplayer mode is, of course, more fun than the single-player mode, so you'll definitely be playing that more often (should you have people to play with, of course).

Pros
- Great graphics
- Great sound
- Great control
- Great replay value

Cons
- Uninspired gameplay
- I would've liked to see Sonic in this game.

Bottom Line
Definitely one of the best Tetris-clones money can buy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/28/01, Updated 10/06/02