Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine[a] is a falling block puzzle game developed by Compile and published by Sega. It was released for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive in North America and Europe in November 1993, and ported to the Game Gear in 1993 and Master System in 1994.
The game is a Westernised version of Puyo Puyo (1991), and replaces its characters with those from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, primarily the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog animated series. The Puyo Puyo character Carbuncle appears under the name “Has Bean” and makes different animations depending on how the player plays the game. The gameplay is similar to puzzle games such as Tetris, in which the player organises coloured shapes as they descend a board. The plot sees Sonic antagonist Doctor Robotnik kidnapping residents from Beanville and turning them into robots. The game received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the gameplay but criticising the difficulty.
Premise and gameplay
The game is set on the planet Mobius, which is inhabited by bean-like creatures. Doctor Robotnik conceives a plan to bring terror to the world by kidnapping the citizens of Beanville and turning them into robot slaves, and eventually creating an army that will help him rid the planet of fun and joy. To achieve this, he creates the “Mean Bean-Steaming Machine” in order to transform the bean-like creatures into robots. Putting his plan into motion, Robotnik sends out his Henchbots to gather all the bean-like creatures and group them together in dark dungeons so they can be sent to the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine.[1] The rest of the game’s story revolves around the player character, “Has Bean”,[2] and their journey to stop Robotnik’s henchmen by breaking into the dungeons and freeing the bean-like creatures.
Development and release
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine is a Westernised version of Puyo Puyo (1991), a Japanese falling-block puzzle game developed by Compile and released for the MSX2 in 1991.[9][10] Fearing that the game would not be popular with the Western audience, Sega replaced the characters of Puyo Puyo with those from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, particularly those from the 1993 Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog animated series.[11] The game was ultimately released in November 1993 in North America and Europe. An 8-bit version was also released for the Game Gear in the same year and the Master System in the following year, adapted from the Japanese Nazo Puyo game.[12][13]
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine has also appeared in retrospective compilations, such as the Sonic Mega Collection for the GameCube in 2002,[14] Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004; which also contains the Game Gear version,[15] and Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection (known as Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection in Europe) for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2009.[16] In 2006, Sega released the game on the Wii‘s Virtual Console.[4] In 2010, it was released on Microsoft Windows via Steam.[17] In June 2013, it was released for the Nintendo 3DS via its Virtual Console emulation service.[18] In 2021, it was released on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.[19]
Reception
Reception
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 75%[20] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame |    [21] |
| Computer and Video Games | 90%[22] |
| Eurogamer | [9] |
| GamePro | 5/5[23] |
| GameSpot | 6.3/10[24] |
| IGN | 7.5/10[4] |
| Jeuxvideo.com | 15/20[5] |
| Nintendo Life | 6/10 (Mega Drive)[25] 7/10 (Game Gear)[12] |
| Nintendo World Report | 8/10 (Game Gear)[13] |
| Mega | 90%[26] |
| Gamezebo | [27] |
| Joypad [fr] | 87%[28] |
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine received generally positive reviews. It holds an average score of 75% at GameRankings, based on an aggregate of five reviews.[20]
Critics praised the various aspects of gameplay, although the puzzle genre’s difficulty and overuse were negative factors. Andy Dyer from Mega acknowledged that the game had a simple concept and also observed that it did not provide enough of a challenge.[26] Lucas Thomas of IGN enjoyed the game’s array of puzzles and recognised that its design was intended to encourage two-player competition.
References
Citations
- ^ Compile 1993, p. 1.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Compile 1993, p. 13.
- ^ Compile 1993, pp. 11–12.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Thomas, Lucas (11 December 2006). “Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine review – The Genesis take on the classic puzzler, Puyo Puyo”. IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c “Test Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine sur MD”. Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. 21 January 2011. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
