Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, also known as Dr. Robotnik and His Mean Bean Machine in France, is a puzzle video game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed by Compile for the Sega Genesis. Released in North America and Europe during the late 1993, the game is based on the Japanese puzzle game Puyo Puyo. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is also one of the few spin-off games in the Sonic franchise to take place in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog universe, which ran during the game's release.

The core gameplay of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is derived from the Japanese Mega Drive port of the orginal Puyo Puyo arcade game, but with altered visuals and rearranged music tracks. Here, the player takes the role of Has Bean, whose mission is to rescue the kidnapped citizens of Beanville and defeat Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine later received a separate 8-bit version for the Sega Game Gear in 1993 and Master System in 1994 with similar gameplay and additional modes. The game has also receive numerous ports and re-releases on the Wii's Virtual Console and Steam.

Concept and creation

 * See also: Puyo Puyo 

Back in October 1992, the arcade version of Puyo Puyo (ぷよぷよ) was developed by Compile and Sega AM1 in Japan, which used characters from Compile's  Madou Monogatari  video game series. The Mega Drive port for the original arcade game was released exclusively in Japan on December 18, 1992. However, the game did not receive an international release until a year later, where it was released under the title Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine for the Sega Mega Drive.

The international version of the game was a conversion of the Mega Drive version of Puyo Puyo. The game was localized, but also completely overhauled in terms of graphics and setting, and had nearly the entire cast from Puyo Puyo replaced with characters from the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series. Most of the music tracks in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine are also reused tracks from Masanobu Tsukamoto's and Einosuke Nagao's original composition for Puyo Puyo. Many of these tracks were rearranged by Masanori Hikichi of Cube Corp. and Naofumi Hataya.

Plot
Set on planet Mobius, Dr. Robotnik has hatched a new plan to menace the world and its inhabitants - by kidnapping the citizens of Beanville and turning them into devious robot slaves, the doctor will create an army that will help him rid the planet of music and fun forever. To this end, he has created a giant roboticizing machine called the "Mean Bean-Steaming Machine" to use on the jolly bean folk.

Putting his plan into motion, Robotnik sends out his henchbots to round up all the unfortunate bean folk and group them together in dark dungeons so they can be sent to the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine. Assuming the role of Has Bean, the player must now stand up against Robotnik's henchmen by breaking into the dungeons, freeing the bean folk before it is too late, and get through Robotnik's henchbots to the deranged doctor himself and foil his evil plans once and for all.

Gameplay
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is a puzzle game reminiscent of the Tetris-style puzzle games. The main gameplay takes place across two grid-based boards. The left board is used by the player, while the right board is either used by the game's AI or a second player. Otherwise, the right board remains empty (depending on the mode).

The objective in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is to obtain as many points as possible by grouping certain Beans together as they fall down on the board from the top in groups of two. One pair of Beans will fall each "turn". The Beans themselves come in five different colors: red, green, blue, yellow, and violet. The player must attempt to arrange the Beans into groups of at least four Beans in the same color; should they do this, the Beans in the group will disappear. Both boards are about six Beans wide and thirteen Beans tall, meaning a board can hold a total of seventy-eight Beans. If the board gets filled up with Beans and the player becomes unable to move the next incoming pair of Beans, the game ends. In a match between two contenders, the first to get a game over loses.

While Bean blocks fall down, the player can move them left, right or downward, and rotate their block formation. If a Bean block is placed on a Bean formation so one Bean protrudes over an edge, said Bean will split off and continue its descend. Also, next to the boards on the center of the screen, players can see the next Bean block that will be dropped down on their boards next. Occasional, the Bean Blocks' dropping speed will suddenly increase temporarily. Even so, as the players work their way up, Beans will fall progressively faster.

When making a group of Beans disappear, other Beans stacked on top of them drop a level. The player can organize these Beans by placing Bean blocks conveniently close to each other, so when one group disappears, other similarly-colored Beans drop down together, thus triggering a chain reaction that cause another set of Beans to group and disappear, and so on. This will produce large chunks of points. When the player squares off another opponent (either another player or the AI in the Scenario Mode), each chain reaction will cause transparent Refugee Beans to be deposited in random places on the rival's board. These Beans cannot be connected like normal Beans and can only be eliminated by having them touch a cluster of disappearing colored Beans. The amount of Refugee Beans dumped depends on the length of the combo that created them; one group of Beans disappearing as a result of a chain reaction creates a single Refugee Bean, while multiple chain reactions produce large rows of Refugee Beans, hence the importance of planning large chain reactions. A player can attempt to send Refugee Beans to their opponent in order to frustrate their attempts to remove Beans.

Scenario Mode
Scenario Mode ("Hitori de Puyo Puyo" in  Puyo Puyo ) is the basic arcade mode of the game. The mode consists of thirteen Stages to play, each containing a different computer-controlled opponent. The difficulty and falling speed of Beans increases with each Stage. Also, before each Stage, the opponent is given an introduction cutscene (which can be skipped by pressing START). Failing to beat the opponent will transport the player to the Continue screen where they have to decide of whether or not they want to try again within ten seconds. Refusing to try again results in a Game Over. However, Scenario Mode has an infinite amount of Continues.

To continue from a previously-cleared Stage, the Scenario Mode features a password system. Upon the completion of a Stage, the game gives the player a password consisting of four characters on the results screen, enabling them to start from that point in the game next time they play. Clearing all Stages makes the end credits roll. After that, the game will list all High Scores, where the player can rack up their total score after clearing the Scenario Mode.

Characters

 * Has Bean
 * Dr. Robotnik
 * Robotnik's henchbots
 * Arms
 * Frankly
 * Humpty
 * Coconuts
 * Davy Sprocket
 * Skweel
 * Dynamight
 * Grounder
 * Spike
 * Sir F-Fuzzy Logik
 * Dragon Breath
 * Scratch
 * Beans of the Beanville
 * Refugees
 * Big Bean (Excercise Mode only)

1P VS. 2P Mode
1P VS. 2P Mode ("Futari de Puyo Puyo" in Puyo Puyo) is the multiplayer component of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine for two players in max. In order to play, both players must have their controllers connected into the Sega Genesis. Right from the start, players have given choice to pick up one of five difficulty settings: easiest, easy, normal, hard and hardest. Both players can challenge each other for multiple matches, that can be set in the Options menu separately (see here).

In gameplay, the player one's board is on left and the player two's board is on right. The player one's score is shown above Score font and the player two's is displayed below it. The gameplay is closely the same much like in Scenario Mode; when one of players board is filled up with Beans, the match ends and the losing player has to press START in ten seconds to set new match. Star ranks shown on left and right sides show the amount of victories, that both player one and two have from each match.

Exercise Mode
Exercise Mode ("Tokoton Puyo Puyo" in Puyo Puyo) is an separate mode for one or two players to play. Another player can join the mode by pressing START button. Here, players can practice their playing skills by choosing one of three difficult settings with score goal: easiest (no bonus), normal (40,000 extra points) and hardest (90,000 extra points). The player has to rank up enough of points to be rewarded with certain bonus points of the chosen difficulty setting.

As the player receives points on the Exercise Mode, the falling speed of Beans increases. The Practice Mode also does not feature any refugee beans. There are two exclusive characters that appear in the player's board, when he/she is about to lose the game:


 * Has Bean: Hops down in a random pattern through the player's full board, converting all of the Beans he touches to one color.
 * Big Bean: Large green bean falls through the bottom of the screen in a straight line, while erasing the two rows of Beans that are on its way.

When one of players has lost, the player has to press START for a new match. When the player has got the largest amount of points so far, he/she can type three initials to mark his/her new record seen in the High Score Screen, that appears if the player waits for ten seconds without pressing any buttons after losing.

Options
Options is the settings menu for Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine which holds the following options:
 * Key Assignment: Here, players can customize three different functions (, and ). Both player one and two have to use their own controllers to make these adjustments for them.
 * VS COM Level: The player can set difficulty for computer opponents of the Scenario Mode from one of four choices: Easy, Normal, Hard and Hardest.
 * 1P VS. 2P Mode: The match count for the 1P VS. 2P Mode can be set here (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 or 15).
 * Sampling: The player can turn on or off all the sound effects during the gameplay.
 * Imput Test: All the button settings on the player's controller can be tested here in working order.

Reception
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine for the Sega Genesis has received generally positive reviews during its release. Gaming magazine Mega has given 90% score, while calling it as "devilish addictive game which even haters of all things Sonic-related will love". Sega Magazine also gave an praise for the game's multiplayer modes being "excellent fun" and stating the game being one of the best puzzle games available for the Mega Drive.

In numerous re-releases and compilations, the game has also received positive reviews. Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer described the game in Sonic Mega Collection Plus as "pretty superfluous when the Mega Drive version's already in amongst the 16-bit Greatest Hits brigade." Fran Mirabella from IGN describes Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine in Sonic Mega Collection as a little diversity in the collection, while Lucas M. Thomas stated the game aging well, especially in the audio department during the review of the game's re-release for the Wii's Virtual Console, while stating that "the differences between it [Kirby's Avalanche] and Dr. Robotnik's Genesis edition aren't major or important enough that fans should skip this."

Jeremy Parish of 1UP however, says the game being strange choice in the collection, as stating it being so after its original incarnation, Puyo Puyo is being introduced in America during that time. Damien McFerran of Nintendolife states the CPU in Scenario Mode being a "decent challenge but it's only fun for a while", while Aaron Thomas of GameSpot noted about the game mechanics being easy, but also claiming the game becoming quickly difficult after two levels in.

Re-releases
In South Korea, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine was published by Samsung under the name Dong Gu Ri Te Chi Jak Jeon. The game is repackaged along with Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 into Sonic Compilation for the Genesis in 1995. The game was included in PC compilation pack Sega PC Puzzle Pack in 1999, while also included in Sonic Mega Collection (2002) for the Gamecube and Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

In 2004, a series of RCA jack "Mega Drive-on-a-chip" units called the Legends series by Radica Games include releases Arcade Legends Sega Mega Drive and Arcade Legends Sega Mega Drive Volume 3, which feature Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine as one of playable games. The game was also included in console on chip unit titled Mega Drive Twin Pads, that is produced by AtGames and released for Asian markets in 2008.

On 11 December 2006, Sega released Sega Genesis version of the game for the Wii's Virtual Console at a price of 800 Wii Points. The game is also included in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2009, including later releases, such as Sega Mega Drive Classic Collection Volume 4 (2010) and Sega Mega Drive Classic Collection Gold Edition (2011).

There are three occasions, when Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine has been released in the Japanese region. Before previously mentioned Sonic Mega Collection and Sonic Mega Collection Plus, the game was also released in Japan as part of an import collection under the title Sega Archives From USA Vol.2, released for the PC in 2000.

Game Gear and Master System versions
One month after the release of Sega Genesis release, the 8-bit version of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine was released in December 1993 for Sega Game Gear and for the Master System in 1994. While the Game Gear version was only released in United States and Europe, the Master System version was not only published in Europe, but also for Australian and Brazilian markets.

The 8-bit version is based on the Game Gear port of Puyo Puyo released on 19 March 1993, with the core gameplay being closely the same compared to Sega Genesis version. However, certain additional features are removed and replaced with exclusive Puzzle Mode, ("Nazo Nazo Puyo Puyo" in Puyo Puyo) that consists series of 30 challenges.

Staff

 * Producers: Yoji Ishii, Noriyoshi Oba ("Noriyoshi Ohba"), Moo Niitani
 * Directors: Tetsuo Shinyu, Takayuki Yanagihori, M. Tsukamoto
 * Graphic designers: Takaya Segawa, Saori Yamaguchi, Hideaki Moriya, Keisuke Saka, Compile's Designer
 * Programmers: Manabu Ishihara, Tsukasa Aoki, Compile's Programmer
 * Music and FX: Masanori Hikichi -CUBE-, Naofumi Hataya ("Masayuki Nagao")
 * Special thanks to: Shinbou Yokoyama

Sega of America

 * Producer: Max Taylor
 * Designers: Max Taylor, Brian Ransom, Dave Albert
 * Sound: David Javelosa

© 1993 Sega © 1993 Compile

Trivia

 * Along with Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine marks the first video game in the series to not take place directly in the game's universe, while handeling elements from the other media with the case being Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series. References from the television show include:
 * All of the opponents in the Scenario Mode (minus Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts) are derived from the first episode "Super Special Sonic Search &amp; Smash Squad" of the television series, where they are briefly seen as bounty hunters at the beginning of the episode with Sonic the Hedgehog taking down each one at the time.
 * In each oppoment's cutsecene, Doctor Robotnik's Fortress without golden Robotnik statue can be seen on top of the mountain in the background. The fortress can be also seen on fire during the game's ending after the destruction of the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine.
 * The Continue screen is also based on a shot from the original, unaired pilot.
 * This is one of the first spin-off games in the franchise that Sonic the Hedgehog does not appear in. It's also one of only games, where Sonic is not even mention anywhere in manuals, cutscenes, or making cameo appearance in any form.
 * The Beginner's course from Puyo Puyo was removed in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine; however, the three stages can be accessed via hacking. When doing so, the Puyo Puyo characters Skeleton T, Nasu Grave, and Mummy are all visually replaced by a character with Coconuts' intro and Scratch's mugshots.
 * Similarly Puyo Puyo's Sound Test option was omitted, but can still be accessed via hacking or setting the game's region to Japanese.
 * The game was given a subtle reference in Worlds Collide #12, when the motherboard titled "M.B.M." was sabotaged by Dr. Wily during the When Worlds Collide crossover. Also, the Mean Bean-Steaming Machine can be seen in one panel from Mega Man #27.