Welcome to Concept: "Mobius"

This is a Sonic the Hedgehog site of a clearly different quality than most: it is small, sweet, yet has grown reputable for being chocked full of oddities that other Sonic sites seem to lack. Concept: "Mobius" is the definitive Sonic site to express the idealism of the fan. [read more]

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine .:: Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine


Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

Name: Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine - North America and Europe
Dr. Eggman's Mean Bean Machine - Japan
 
Other Names (Nicknames): Mean Bean Machine
 
Release Dates:
November, 1993 - North America
November, 1993 - Europe
 
Quality: 16-Bit, Puzzle (Tetris-style) Platformer
 
Game System(s): Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
 
Also released on:
(1). Sega Genesis/Mega Drive - Sonic Compilation
(2). PC - RealPlayer Arcade, Sega Puzzle Pack
(3). GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox - Sonic Mega Collection (Plus) 
(4). Nintendo Wii - Virtual Console
(5). Although this is not an exact additional release, an 8-Bit version of the game was made for the Game Gear and Master System with little differences. However, the Game Gear/Master System is NOT a port. It is in fact an entirely different game

Developer(s): Sega of America, Compile

Character Introductions: N/A

Region Game Takes Place On: Beanville, on Mobius.

Concept Indroductions: Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is a TOTALLY different style of gameplay compared to any other Sonic game. In fact, Sonic doesn't make a single appearance in the game. The game's mechanics are derived from its Japanese equivalent known as Puyo Puyo, where you must link up objects (in this case, beans) of a specific color in groups of four to eliminate them, and make sure they don't stack up too high — very much like Tetris. There are 13 levels and each one gets progressively harder.

Concept Deductions: In this game, the general Sonic style of gameplay is deducted along with the character himself. No zone running, no special stages, no checkpoints, no powerups, no nothing.

Storyline:

           The storyline is up to you, the player (unless of course the player is Sonic, except you just can't see him). Dr. Robotnik is after the bean folk of Beanville! He can't stand the sight of the fun they have in Beanville, so he decides to use his new machine, the Mean Bean Steaming Machine to turn them into robots and rid Mobius of all fun and games. So it's up to YOU to save them from his wretched grasp.

… WOW, my heart is pounding in suspense. Spielberg otta' direct this.

Personal Criticism/Opinion:

           Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is nothing but the Japanese Puyo Puyo disguised with a Sonic-ized (Robotnik, in this case) interface to appeal to American audiences. Because what bad ass American would appreciate that cutesy Japanese anime style shown in Puyo Puyo? These days, quite a few would. But back then, we had our patriots who loved Sonic and only Sonic. So Sega of America decided to take Puyo Puyo (which was at the time an obsession in Japan), give it a Robotnik makeover and release it in America to see if it would bear fruit with the same results as Puyo Puyo did in Japan. There was little difference between them — the stage's design remain unchanged! But as for how it did in America? Not good. Today, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is considered an abomination, even by SOA fans. HARDCORE AoStH fans are the only ones that usually like it. This game was not even released in Japan. The Sega of Japan higher-ups probably threw up at the site of SOA's character design for Robotnik and sent the SOA folks packing.

           Now, even though the storyline, concept, and character design of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is putrid rhino feces, the gameplay is addicting. It's real easy to put up with the rather corny characters just to play the game. Because it gets real hard near the end, yet the gameplay is so easy to do that it just makes it fun. Puzzle games always have that effect, even if they have a crappy design.

Let's see some GAMER'S PERSPECTIVE:

Replay value? Spectacular. Just for the gameplay, I've found myself replaying this game over and over again.

Graphics? Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is a real short game. And when a game is small and short, then that leaves room for a lot of graphical power. Even though the characters suck, the way they were sprited was done real well. Shading and highlighting was accurate, good proportions, and impressive detail.

Music & Sound Effects? This game's music and sound effects are in the middle. They're catchy, yet corny at the same time. Corniness is, in fact, what makes the design and characters of this game so stupid. It's all real corny. Typical, being derived from AoStH.

Storyline? This game's ill-conceived storyline is probably one of the, if not, IS the worse storyline in all Sonic games. The flavor text that described it in the manual is barely a paragraph long, and it is also real generic from a Sonic standpoint, not to mention is as corny as Nebraska. Sonic Heroes has nothing on this game for when it comes to corniness. Then again, who really cares? The game is fun as all get out, and that's the reason I suggest you give it a shot.

OVERALL RATING? I rate Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine as a 5/10 (it'd be a 2/10 if it weren't for the gameplay).
Last modified: February 11th, 2008