Line #36 VideoGame/DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meanbean.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:They've got to prepare Robotnik a beautiful bean feast.]]
3
4	->''"Witness my evil dream to rid Mobius of music and fun forever. My latest invention, the mean bean-steaming machine will not only dispose of those fun-loving jolly beans of Beanville, but turn them into robot slaves to serve my evil purposes. Robots. Bring me those beans."''
5	-->--'''Dr. Robotnik''' in the opening cutscene
6
7	''Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine'' is an 1993 UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis video game. It is an interesting SpinOff of the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series, or in this case, a spinoff of [[Creator/DiCEntertainment DiC]]'s ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' cartoon series. Wheras most ''Sonic'' games are typical platformers, this game is, of all things, a puzzle game. Specifically, it is an [[DolledUpInstallment American mock-up]] of the Japanese puzzle classic ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'', in particular [[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo1992 the 1992 arcade game]].
8
9	The plot is centered around [[MemeticBadass Dr. Robotnik]], who, in an attempt to guarantee no fun or music on Mobius, kidnaps the citizens of [[PlanetOfHats Beanville]] to be thrown into the eponymous Mean Bean-Steaming Machine, to be [[UnwillingRoboticisation converted into robotic slaves]] for the doctor. It's up to [[NoFourthWall you, the player]], to take up the noble deed of bringing down Dr. Robotnik's scheme, but not before beating his twelve mooks in their bean puzzle games!
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11	Despite getting [[AntagonistTitle top billing]], you do ''not'' get to play as Dr. Robotnik in this game-- that came later. It would be another few years before he would be playable in VideoGame/SonicAdventure2.
12
13	While not canon to current Sonic lore, the game hasn't exactly been forgotten, with references to the good doctor's messing around with beans cropping back up from time to time. For example, the boss fight of Chemical Plant Zone in ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' is a match of Puyo Puyo against Eggman (with a more traditional version available to unlock) and Sonic himself would eventually star in a Puyo-Puyo game upon being added to ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris2'' as DLC in 2021. Furthermore, ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022'' also contains an allusion to this game, with Agent Stone working at a coffee shop named the "Mean Bean Coffee Company".
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15	Compare ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogSpinball Sonic Spinball]]'', which is a SpinOff game very loosely based on ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', and the 4 games based off ''VideoGame/SonicBoom''. Also compare ''VideoGame/KirbysAvalanche'' for the {{UsefulNotes/SNES}}, which was another ''Puyo Puyo'' mockup.
16	----
17	!!Robots! Bring me these Tropes!
18	* AdaptationalIntelligence: All of Robotnik's dumb bots from the cartoon are now formidable opponents, in a puzzle game no less. It's dumbfounding how intelligent Scratch and Grounder's AI is, and especially the robots who Sonic easily tricked in the pilot (the final three before Scratch in particular).
19	* AdaptationNameChange: Among the things that Mean Bean Machine keeps from ''Puyo Puyo'' is Carbuncle... However, he is known as Has-Bean here.
20	* ADayInTheLimelight:
21	** Dr. Robotnik isn't playable, but gets [[AntagonistTitle top billing]] and his presence is emphasized throughout the entire game even when he isn't onscreen. It helps he's up against a FeaturelessProtagonist.
22	** Same also applies to the nine robots who help the three we normally see in the show. They were just around for the pilot, but now they’re out to make sure you don’t stop Robotnik's plan.
23	* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: This DolledUpInstallment completely disposes of the cute anime world from ''Puyo Puyo'' and replaces it with an entire cast of ''Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog'' bad guys. Okay, some of them are [[AdorableEvilMinion sorta cute]], but still evil. Just compare the [[SlasherSmile victory animations]]. Even little details like minor sound effects have been tweaked to sound "tougher".
24	* AntagonistTitle: Robotnik isn't the player character, but its his name and mug on the title screen, whilst the PlayerCharacter isn't [[FeaturelessProtagonist even seen]].
25	* TheArtifact: Given that it's a makeover of a virtually arcade-perfect port of ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo1992''[[note]]''Puyo Puyo'' ran on what is essentially a Mega Drive that is better equipped to play vocal samples, to the extent that the game's original arcade revision flat out contains a Mega Drive header in its code[[/note]], ''Mean Bean Machine'' retains many of its source game's arcade trappings. Most blatant with the AttractMode, which uses a joystick and single rotation button just like the arcade ''Puyo Puyo''.
26	* ArtificialStupidity: Scratch and Dr. Robotnik are a bit careless when it comes to stacking their third column, often causing an instant loss when a random refugee bean falls there and causes them to top out.
27	* ArtShift: In gameplay itself, the beans use the original games' Puyo sprites (these are replicated in the titles and options screen as well). In the cutscenes, the Beanville civilians are anthropomorphic blobs with arms and human faces (some even sporting moustaches). The box art also uses a different design (see above).
28	** Some of the robots, especially those that appeared only vaguely in the show itself, have also been given a subtle redesign for the game. A lot of them have a [[AdaptationalDyeJob modified colour scheme]] and have been altered to look a bit more mechanical.
29	* AscendedExtra: The majority of enemies you face in this game were minor characters in the pilot episode for ''Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog'' ("[[Recap/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehogS01E01SSSSSSquad Super Special Sonic Search & Smash Squad]]"). For many of them, ''Mean Bean Machine'' is their first and only speaking role, but probably the ''biggest'' examples are Spike, who is obscured by the booing crowd at the bounty hunter's convention (with slightly lighter colors), and Humpty, who makes a blink and miss appearance as a giant robot fully colored green along with a twin (presumably Dumpty).
30	* BodyHorror: The beans who are turned into robots via the Mean Bean Machine are the primary victims of UnwillingRoboticization in this version of Sonic.
31	** Played for laughs as some of the robots fall apart after being defeated.
32	* BoisterousBruiser: Spike. Though he'll have to settle for outsmarting you at ''Puyo Puyo''.
33	* BottleEpisode: The entire game takes place in the stone well background of Stages 1-8 of the original ''Puyo Puyo'' (likely due to the other arenas not suiting the ''Adventures of Sonic'' aesthetic). The Game Gear version adds an industrial background for the final stages and keeps the original's notebook cosmetic for Puzzle Mode (retooling it as the machine's manual) but still has far less variation than the original game.
34	* BriffitsAndSqueans: Plewds appear when enemies are close to losing. When they're in really big trouble, they start flashing as well. It's really disheartening to lose after this.
35	* TheCameo: Scratch and Grounder make background appearances initially, and you get to challenge both of them later, as well as Coconuts. Many characters from the ''Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog'' pilot appear as boss characters in this game.
36	* CockyRooster: A robotic example with Scratch, the twelfth and semi-final opponent. In the Genesis version of the game, his introductory cutscene has him make a lot of chicken jokes to taunt the player.
37	* CollapsingLair: What happens to Robotnik's lab when you defeat him.
38	* CompilationRerelease: Is a staple of many Creator/{{Sega}} and ''Sonic'' collections.
39	* ContinueCountdown: The continue screen depicts Dr. Robotnik on a stage, talking to his robots as a spotlight shines over him. The player is given nine seconds to decide whether or not they want to continue the game, and if the timer reaches zero, then Robotnik laughs evilly before the player is taken to the high score board.
40	* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Scratch (the penultimate opponent, before Robotnik himself) outright informs the player that he cheats. Several of the AI characters move their beans with supernatural speed and are guaranteed enormous combos if the player doesn't hit them hard and early.
41	* CulturalTranslation: The entire point of the retool, with Sega of America placing a Sonic aesthetic onto ''Puyo Puyo'' due to Western gamers being unexposed to the anime-ish ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari'' series it was based on. Within the game itself, the 8 bit version reversed Puzzle Mode's notebook graphics to fit Western orientation (reading from left to right).
42	* DeathGlare: [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/sonic/images/4/40/Sir-Fuzzy-Logic_2.png/revision/latest?cb=20150812132541 Sir Ffuzzy-Logik gives the player one whenever he has the upper hand.]]
43	* DefeatEqualsExplosion: Dynamight explodes upon defeat. The machine itself also explodes after defeating Robotnik.
44	* DifficultyByAcceleration: The automatic drop speed starts increasing at Stage 4 (the gameplay music even speeds up to signify this). It also speeds up if the player takes too long during a single battle. On harder difficulties, the drop speed increases significantly even within the first few stages, then is obnoxiously fast by the last third of the game.
45	* DifficultyByRegion: In a sense. ''Mean Bean Machine'' adds a PasswordSave system that allows players to resume Scenario mode at any point, whereas the original ''Puyo Puyo'''s Scenario had to be completed in a single sitting, with options to start from Stage One or Four.
46	* DolledUpInstallment: It's retooled from the Mega Drive port of ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo1992'', but without the Beginner Course and the ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari'' characters replaced with the cast of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog''. The Game Gear version followed a similar process, while the Master System version is (technically) original, being a port of the Game Gear version rather than tweaked from a previous ''Puyo Puyo'' entry.
47	* DramaticWind: Sir Ffuzzy-Logik has this in his intro.
48	* TheDragon:
49	** [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog Scratch]], being the opponent you face right before Robotnik.
50	** Also in a literal sense is Dragon Breath, the opponent right before Scratch, to a lesser extent, as he's the leader of the bounty hunters in the pilot episode of the show.
51	* EasterEgg: If you press buttons on the title screen, you can make some of the letters jump.
52	* EnemyRollCall: The Genesis version shows the names of all the Badniks you've battled during credits.
53	* EvilLaugh: Wait long enough on the Game Over screen, and Robotnik delivers a grainy one--he also does this if you lose during the final battle against him.
54	* ExcusePlot: Robotnik is turning beans into robots [[ForTheEvulz just to be a jerk]], so you have to beat him and his robots in puzzle duels. Amusingly, this is arguably more of a story than that of the original ''Puyo Puyo''.
55	* {{Expy}}:
56	** Has Bean for [[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Puyo Puyo's]] mascot, Carbuncle. While the exact same sprite, the manual excuses him as a robotized Beanville civilian, with traces of his original jollier personality remaining.
57	** All the enemies have the same AI as their ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' counterparts of the same level they appear in. The only exception is Arms, whose AI resembles that of Skeleton-T instead of Draco Centauros. Also, Zoh Daimaoh's ground-shaking effect is not used in his equivalent in this game, Sir Ffuzzy-Logik, but on Frankly and Dragon Breath.
58	* FacePalm: Spike does this when he loses.
59	* FeaturelessProtagonist: The PlayerCharacter is not defined in any way outside of opposing Robotnik. Even the character indicator, which read "ARLE" in ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' and "YOU" in ''VideoGame/KirbysAvalanche'', reads only "1P" in this game, avoiding even the question of [[PlayerAndProtagonistIntegration whether the protagonist is just the player, or their own person]].
60	* FireworksOfVictory: Completing a match in scenario mode unleashes a small firework display over your screen.
61	* FlyingSaucer: Arms is shaped like one.
62	* GluttonousPig: Wheeled hog robot, Skweel, expectedly, spews tons of food puns at you pre-battle.
63	* HopeSpot: The OhCrap face Badniks make when they're in danger is hardly indicative of the player's own prospects on higher difficulties, as the latter could very well be in an even worse predicament. Said Badnik could even be in the process of setting up a nasty game-ending combo. This could also happen the other way, with the Badnik giving their SmugSnake grin even as the player is unleashing a massive combo of their own.
64	* HotBlooded: Dr. Robotnik, evidently. Also Spike.
65	* InNameOnly: While ''Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog'' has become more widely available in recent years thanks to being hosted on a variety of streaming services, anyone who's never watched the show or didn't grow up with it may question its relation to the franchise, especially with Sonic's absence. The name itself even slips into obscurity due to the name Robotnik mostly being fazed out for the Japanese moniker Eggman (indeed when the game was eventually released in Japanese through ''[[CompilationRerelease Sonic Mega Collection]]'', it was identified as ''Dr. Eggman's Mean Bean Machine'', albeit not in the game itself).
66	* LogoJoke: In the Genesis version, when you start up the game, the Sega Logo appears upside down from the left side of the screen. It turns itself right side-up clockwise as it reaches the middle of the screen.
67	* ManiacMonkeys: Coconuts, the fourth opponent, is a robotic monkey.
68	* MechaMooks: Robotnik's minions.
69	* {{Miniboss}}: Coconuts, Grounder and Scratch, in that order. They appear every 4th level, concluding a tier. Incidentally, this also corresponds to the order in which those enemies (or the enemies they are [[{{Expy}} expies]] of) are encountered in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2''
70	* MultiplayerDifficultySpike: Not as much as the later ''Puyo Puyo'' sequels due to [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the lack of garbage offsetting]], but still present. The ability to crush the CPU through 5+ chains is required to even stand a chance against a reasonably-skilled human opponent.
71	* NintendoHard: The entire game from stage 6 and onward, especially if you manage to get as far as Robotnik. At least part of it is because it uses the rulings of the first ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' title, where there is no chain offsetting, leaving no way to fight back against potential garbage Puyos the opponent can send your way. This makes it incredibly easy to get stuck in a loop of constantly cleaning up garbage Puyos while the AI keeps stacking more and more your way. If you don't learn how to set up and trigger combo chains ''fast'', you aren't gonna have an easy time.
72	* NoFourthWall: [[PlayerAndProtagonistIntegration Yes, YOU, the player]], are really the one who has to save the day. No sign of Sonic, Tails, or [[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Arle]] anywhere.
73	* NoMouth: Sir Ffuzzy-Logik doesn't have a mouth.
74	* OhCrap: Most of the opponents do a variation of this when their area begins to overfill.
75	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Dragon Breath, an armored robot with a dragon-like head.
76	* ThePioneer: Davy Sprocket.
77	* PragmaticAdaptation: The arcade ''Puyo Puyo'' contains a variety of vocal samples, including unique phrases for when a player makes a 2-,3-,4-,or 5-chain. However, the Mega Drive couldn't handle these samples, and thus all but three of them were cut; this includes every chain sample except the 2-chain voices for both players. ''Mean Bean Machine'' only has four voice samples due to the same hardware issues, but attempts to preserve the tactical purpose of the arcade voices by raising the pitch of its vocal phrases with each chain. (The other two samples are of Robotnik laughing and screaming during story mode.)
78	* {{Pun}}: ''Every single enemy'' does this in their banter to some extent.
79	* PunnyName: Has Bean, the little guy who sticks in the middle of the gameplay columns.
80	* RecycledSoundtrack: A few tracks from ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' are reused in this game. An example is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjEyI6Pqnfk 2-player Vs. theme]], which is an arrangement of ''Puyo Puyo'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvJcCEKa2Io final boss theme]].
81	* RocketTagGameplay: Since the game lacks combo offsetting the latter Puyo Puyo games would have, matches often come down to who can set off a 3/4+ combo first before their opponent can.
82	* SinisterSwine: Skweel is a robotic pig who serves as the game's sixth opponent. He stands on two wheels, and in the Genesis version of the game, he taunts the player with pork jokes.
83	* SlasherSmile: Most enemies bear a particularly evil grin whenever you're on the losing end, and you won't like it when those goons grin. Arms, Humpty, Davy Sprocket, Dynamight (who has one as his default expression instead) and -- presumably -- Sir Ffuzzy-Logik are the only ones that don't, though all still look worryingly pleased with themselves.
84	* SmugSnake: [[http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110917233854/sonic/images/9/94/Mean_Bean_Machine_-_Scratch_win.jpg Scratch when he's winning]]. That's the face of nightmares!
85	* SongsInTheKeyOfPanic: A particularly frantic one is used whenever you overstack your beans. Especially effective since it is remixed from the final boss theme from the original ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo''.
86	* SoundtrackDissonance: Both fans and professional critiques noted the oddness of placing the final boss music of the original game as the 1P VS 2P theme, making a laid back competitive puzzler sound more like a sinister arcade shooter. More fittingly it's also remixed into the warning theme in Scenario Mode.
87	* ThirteenIsUnlucky: The final opponent, Dr. Robotnik himself, is the 13th one you fight.
88	* ToothyBird: Scratch, when he shows an EvilGrin whenever he gets the upper hand over you.
89	* TrueFinalBoss: Not really a secret, but initially Scratch appears to be the last opponent in the line-up. Once you beat him, that's when it's revealed that you have to face Dr. Robotnik himself in one final showdown. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fKHOdRcYsc As shown here]], the original transition doesn't work with the Robotnik's cutscene due to clashing palettes, so moving his intro card afterwards as a teaser was likely a way around this technical problem.
90	* UnwillingRoboticization: The beans that enter the Mean Bean Machine emerge as Dalek-like little machines.
91	* VillainExitStageLeft: Robotnik wobbles away in his Egg-O-Matic in the ending cutscene after the machine breaks down.
92	* WakeUpCallBoss:
93	** Two characters provide a stronger challenge not because of DifficultyByAcceleration but because of their AI: Frankly can catch slower players off-guard by dropping four rows of beans quickly and letting him make combos without any effort; Dynamight is the first AI character that tries to build chains ''on purpose'', punishing players that had not yet learned how to make chains.
94	** Humpty punishes players who haven't learned how to make their chains fast, start working on follow-up chains shortly after the first big chain ends, or learn to manage garbage beans yet, as their AI prioritizes cleaning up their own field of garbage beans as soon as they're sent their way. It's possible to have a massive 4+ chain only to find their field cleared before you get halfway through setting up your next major chain. [[VictoryByEndurance They don't focus too much on making major combos, but will be able to survive until you make that one mistake that causes your board to spiral out of control.]]
95	* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Sir Ffuzzy-Logik speaks like this in his intro, complete with DramaticWind for extra flair.
96	-->''"Milord is troubled by thy success, sire. But thou art destined to proceed no further. Prepare to duel Lord Robotnik's champion."''

Context VideoGame / DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine