Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
Sega Genesis (1993)
Sega's answer to Tetris and Dr. Mario was released in the United States thirty years ago today. Although it wasn't common knowledge to American gamers at the time, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is a version of the Japanese puzzle game Puyo Puyo with a story and characters from Sonic The Hedgehog used in place of what was used in the original game.
Like most great puzzle games, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is easy to learn but challenging to master. The object is to clear the beans away without letting them build up to the top of the screen. If you get four of the same color beans to touch, they will disappear, but if you want to defeat your opponent, you'll need to set up chain reactions so that many different color beans clear off of your screen with a single move. It's an addictive game that still holds up three decades later.
