
Though it lacks the cutesy Puyo Puyo branding, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine is in fact a game by the original developers of the series and a title that the rest of the world can appreciate. It maintains most of the core mechanics in the series and puts diabolical twist on the presentation aspect.
To the uninitiated, screenshots may seem to depict Bean
Machine as another “match three” puzzler. Such poor investigative skills should
be mocked, as this is a match four
puzzler. In all seriousness, the ingenuity of Puyo Puyo is derived more from
chaining together elaborate combos than attempting to play perpetually and rack
up a meaty score. Still, most standard genre conventions such as attaining a
game over when your beans hit the top of the screen apply here.
The game’s single player mode is designed with this in mind.
Bean Machine is split into around 13 stages where you’ll compete against Dr.
Robotnik’s robots in some half-hearted effort to make you believe Puyo Puyo is
relevant to the Sonic the hedgehog’s universe. More importantly, this means you’re
actively competing against opponents and so there is incentive to bust out
combos at the earliest possible opportunity (as creating combos causes filler
blocks to fall into your opponent’s play area). It’s all very fast-paced and
dextrous, additionally requiring you to be spontaneous when the computer inevitably
ruins one of your combo setups.

While lacking some of the superfluous mechanics introduced
in later games such as the much-criticized fever mode, this is chiefly a Puyo
Puyo game. Still, neglecting to mention the presence of Eggman himself would be
shameful. Though I’m sure other puzzle games have implemented this, Dr.
Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine deserves mention for its character portraits
oozing with personality. As a match progresses, you get to see the expressions
of your robot opponent change. Their snide grins of derision or trembling
expressions of inevitable defeat are surprisingly motivating.
Throw in some catchy, darker music than the typical Puyo
Puyo fare and you’ve got a game that can rest on some its own laurels rather
than blatantly being designed to better appeal to foreigners. Seeing as this is
the Game Gear version though, some will take issue with the lack of character
dialogue prior to matches. I personally scoff at this since the lack of cheesy
one-liners isn’t exactly going to get people up in arms. Besides, this is one
of the better looking Game Gear games and it can be better appreciated on a
system with more than two hours of battery life. The colourful graphics help
further distinguish this from Tetris and give it something an edge for puzzle
newcomers compared to Nintendo’s own Virtual Console title.
Here’s where Bean Machine truly excels, though: the
multiplayer. While Tetris offers absolutely nothing (thanks to Nintendo’s
inconsistent attempts at replicating the extra features in Virtual Console
games), Bean Machine carries this mode at a cheaper price point.

Even as the technically inferior Game Gear port, Dr.
Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine is as hopelessly addictive as it was in 1993. It’s
a highly competent puzzler that should appeal to most audiences thanks to its
very even-handed difficulty level. The only thing that may truly hurt is the presence
of childhood-draining multiplayer.
- Clark A
Technical Editor
Technical Editor
Miiverse: Midori
Email me at: clarka@digitallydownloaded.net
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