Genesis

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

This is one of those games that didn't attract much attention when it was released, but if you get your friends playing it, they'll be at it all night. This Tetris-like game is a spin-off from the Sonic the Hedgehog series of games, in which Dr. Robotnik was the main villain. It plays like this: pairs of beans descend down the screen, and you can rotate each pair and position where they fall. If you get four beans of the same color adjacent to each other, they explode, and the result can lead to some nifty chain reactions. This game is pure fun. The concept is so easy to grasp that anyone can pick up a controller and start playing, but when the action heats up only careful strategy will prevail. Three modes include a scenario mode and a head-to-head challenge. There's even a little tutorial to get you started. The music is excellent too. Bean Machine is the kind of game that appeals to everyone.

The best puzzle game for the Genesis - so far. You line up rows of falling colored beans into groups of four - complete a group and you send a clear bean to your opponent's side.

Like Pac Attack, once you start playing, good luck trying to put the controller down! The one-player game is a blast and the Versus Mode for two will keep you at it all night! The cinemas and graphics are also well done.

Discriminating gamers of the 16-bit days may argue that the SNES Kirby's Avalanche is a superior representation of the Puyo Puyo puzzler design. But the differences between it and Dr. Robotnik's Genesis edition aren't major or important enough that fans should skip this. Go ahead and grab it, puzzle people.

All in all, Mean Bean Machine is not only one of the best puzzle games ever, but one of the best Sonic games released. It makes fantastic use of the Sonic license, and features some of the most addictive puzzle gaming action you're ever likely to experience. If you don't have a Genesis, or can't find a copy of this game, try to pick up Kirby's Avalanche on the SNES, as it's basically the same game, only with the Kirby license being used instead of the Sonic license. Also, if you have a Nomad, I implore you to give this game a shot, as it translates very well to the small screen since even the fastest moving beans can be tracked with relative ease.