""Yippis and yee-haws have never sounded so great""

As I child my favorite game to play was Dr. Robotnik's mean bean machine for my favorite system at the time…he genesis. This game would provide me with hours of great entertainment, and would also keep me out of my parent's hair. Soon enough, the better systems started coming out such as PS1. I quickly grew old of this game, and my sega and became attached to my other systems. Now that I'm older, I constantly get my good ole genesis out and still have the constant entertainment with this game. That's the thing that makes this game a winner…all ages play it, and always have fun with it. Let me tell you what I think about this game, and its style of play…

Story: 8/10

Robotnik is back and he is still trying to find a way to rule the world. He has recently invented a ''Mean Bean Steaming Machine.'' Robotnik has targeted a small village in Mobius called ''Beanville'' to turn the beans into mindless robot slaves to serve his evil purposes. Now, he will send the robots to capture the beans and it is up to you to stop him. Looks like he's not after Sonic this time...

I thought the story was a little crazy, and weird, but hey, aren't all sonic games? While playing the game you aren't really that exposed to the story anyway, so it doesn't really matter. What you are exposed to is trying to stop robotnik from turning the beans into his own robots.

Graphics: 7/10

Hey, what can you say? It's the sea genesis after all. The graphics in this game seem to have a lot less glitches than most in other genesis games, and a lot of sonic games as well. The graphics in the game are really colorful. They light up the screen and send great images to your eyes. All the beans are really easy to see, and so are the colors of those specific beans. In the game, you will encounter many enemies who you have to beat in a bean challenge. These enemies look really cool, and are some pretty nice looking robots.

Back in the day, this was an awesome graphics game and a step up from the other games on the genesis. Now, it does look outdated, but it still isn't enough to make you come close to stop playing. Mean bean machines graphics are a step up above the average game right now if you were to ask me.

GamePlay: 10/10

This game has the best gameplay of all the genesis games out there if you ask me. What you do is you go around, and you fight different robots that Dr. R has created over the course of time. Each time, using the same strategy will not always work, so you'll need to come up with your own, and fight your way up the latter to the champion…Dr. R.

Another good thing about the game play is that unlike most sonic games, the game is very hard. It isn't so hard you will never beat it, but more like so hard that the game gets more fun. When you face an enemy robot, you must try and connect beans of the same color in fours. You can do it from many more as well, but the object is to not fill your beans all the way to the top, and to stay as low as possible. When you get certain combos (like four beans which drops one down to make another one of four) your opponent gets hammered with some rocks. These rocks are not beans, they are meant to fill up your opponent's bean count fast. The only way to rid of these is to get a combo near one of them.

The game gets more fun towards the end where you face your toughest challenges yet. Once you get to Dr. R, defeat him, and stop his evil plot from becoming more than what it already is.

Music: 3/10

In Mean Bean Machine, there is only one song which plays during the bean challenges you have with the robots. This song is pretty fun though, and you can make a bunch of lyrics out of the song as well. This game wold be better with more music, but you cant put to much blame on it because it is an earlier system that doesn't have to many glitch-free music.

Sound: 9/10

The sounds in this game are awesome. All the sounds of beans dropping, and the combos forming are great. The Yippies and Yee-Haws will be sure to wake you up, and sound great. When the beans drop down, they all make a different sound, and it will always keep you on your feet, guessing, and wanting more.

The only thing that is bad about the sounds is…again…it is on the genesis and sometimes the sounds have glitches, and sound crappy, or don't make a sound at all. Most of the time though, they sound fine, and make this game much better.

Replay Ability: 10/10

The replay ability in this game is awesome. Different things happen in every battle making each match completely different, and unique. This is pretty much all that can be said, except for the replay is great, and different every time.

Overall: 9/10

Even though this game is pestered with bas music, and okay graphics, it remains one of my favorite games. This game was fun for me when I was younger, and it's still just as fun now. This game is very competitive, and never gives your mind a rest.

Every time you play Mean Bean Machine, a new thing happens which is one of the main reasons it's such a high quality game. This game jumps right to the point, and will keep you up for hours trying to make your way to Dr. R. All and all, it's a main contender for the best game on the genesis.

Final Recommendation:

Buy all the way. No matter your age, this game is guaranteed fun for all, and one of most fun games out there. It's challenging for all, and will keep your brain nourished, and accommodated for. An awesome game for all.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/05