John Isles, iv <qxz.isles@verizon.net> presents a document that suffered from

John Isles, iv <[email protected]> presents a document that suffered from
major translation corrections, it came up virtually tarnished...

DR. ROBOTNIK'S*
____ ___ ____ ____ ___
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| \/ | |___ |___| | \ | |___/ |___ |___| | \ |
| | | | | | \ | | \ | | | | \ |
| | \____ | | | \| |___/ \____ | | | \|
___ ___ ___ ____
|\ /| / \ / \ | | | |\ | /
| \/ | |___| | |___| | | \ | |___
| | | | | | | | | \ | |
| | | | \___/ | | _|_ | \| \____

A FAQ/strategy guide for Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, or, for those who are
completely unknowledgeable of the origin of the game, the North American Genesis
release of the game Puyo Puyo.

*There is absolutely no way in Hell I am gonna draw the words DR. ROBOTNIK out in
ASCII. My thumb would get too sore by hammering the space bar. The number of
blisters and bruises would me too high to count... on all fingers and toes, that
is. Heck, I'd need a powerful calculator to count that high.
____________
/1. CONTENTS\________________________________________________________________
/\____________/================================================================\
0. TITLE
1. CONTENTS (You're reading them, stupid!)
2. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
3. FAQ HISTORY
4. HOW TO READ THIS FAQ
5. BACKGROUND
6. OPTIONS
7. SCORING
A. MY BEST SCORES
B. BASIC SCORING
C. TIME BONUSES (vs. CPU)
8. STRATEGIES
A. BASIC TECHNIQUES
B. GARBAGE BEANS
C. MORE STRATEGIES
9. SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS
10. CREDITS, RECOGNITIONS, & TEN Q's
_________________________
/2. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION\___________________________________________________
/\_________________________/===================================================\
Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Dr. Robotnik, and all characters are registered
trademarks of Sega Enterprises, ©1993. Puyo Puyo is a registered trademark of
Compile, ©1992-2001. All rights reserved.

This FAQ/SG is neither authorized nor sponsored by Sega nor Compile.

This FAQ/SG is copyright ©2001-2 John Isles, iv. You may alter it (spell/grammar
check, make it look all nice and neat, etc.) for personal use only, but you may
NEVER-- I repeat: NEVER-- put your name in my place. Also, you are never
allowed to remove this disclaimer at all. If you would like to post my FAQ/SG on
your site, you MUST ask my permission (by E-mail; address changes will be posted
in future versions), but you may neither sell nor trade it for money, goods,
etc., nor can you post a pirated version not edited by myself.

ALL SUBMISSIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS WILL BE LISTED WITH {##} AND THEIR NUMBERS WILL
BE LISTED AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT.
_______________
/3. FAQ HISTORY\_____________________________________________________________
/\_______________/=============================================================\
Current version statistics:
Key strokes: 23,167
Words & numbers: 3,415
80-char. lines: 414

-0.2- (Completed 2003.1.25)
1. Added a couple more times to the time bonus section of the document.
2. Arranged the time bonus section to, hopefully, a more attractive and more
legible format.

-0.1.2- (Completed on 2002.6.11)
Minor scoring updates.

-0.1.1- (Completed on 2002.4.17)
Updated time bonuses.

-0.1-
What you're reading. Started on 2001.1.15; Released 2001.12.7. This
version was originally going to have an enemy guide, but chose not to after a
creative mind block.
_______________________________________
/4. HOW TO READ THIS FAQ/STRATEGY GUIDE\_____________________________________
/\_______________________________________/=====================================\
This strategy guide is best read with a fixed-width font, like Andale Mono, which
is a free download available from Microsoft. You will be able to tell if the
font you're using is fixed-width if the next two lines are lined up perfectly.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890
,;:'".,;:'".,;:'".,;:'".,;:'".,;:'"
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz$!?&¢£¥¤*@
______________
/5. BACKGROUND\______________________________________________________________
/\______________/==============================================================\
Don't blame me for how ridiculous this story is. Blame those bastards at Sega of
America. So, here it is...

UH-OH! Looks like Dr. Ivo Robotnik has decided to start another reign of terror
on Mobius. But, since he's been so overwhelmed by Sonic's power, he's decided
not to take control of helpless animals. Instead, he's decided to focus his
attention to a VERY little-known Möbian town called Beanville.
His intent is similar: Transform these pathetic blobs into robo-slaves.
Recycled material from all prior Sonic games. Now, it is up to you, and you
alone, to stop him.
___________
/6. OPTIONS\_________________________________________________________________
/\___________/=================================================================\
There are only three modes of play available.
_________________
_____/A. SCENARIO MODE\______________________________________________________
/=====\_________________/======================================================\
It's time go get tell Buttnik to get lost! Here, you can try your hand at
stopping Robotnik's plan for taking of the city of beans. Your battle against
the good doctor lasts for thirteen stages. After winning, you will receive a
password to keep your place if you ant to return to your game.
_____________
_____/B. 1P VS. 2P\__________________________________________________________
/=====\_____________/==========================================================\
Essentially, it's the scenario mode without a computerized opponent. Garbage
block are in play as well. The only thing that needs selecting is each player's
skill level (one through five). Levels 1 through 3 leave the fields empty, while
increasing the speed the higher you go. Choosing level 4 starts you off with a
three-row handicap, while level 5 starts you with a handicap of five rows.
_________________
_____/C. EXERCISE MODE\______________________________________________________
/=====\_________________/======================================================\
This form of play allows you to play without worry of being bombarded with
garbage. This offers the perfect conditions to practice and fine-tune your
combos. See below for further details.
___________
_____/D. OPTIONS\____________________________________________________________
/=====\___________/============================================================\
How you can tinker with the game's settings.

KEY ASSIGNMENT
Assigns either clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation per button. You
should have at least one button per direction, and you definitely don't want to
have all three buttons unused, meaning you're just playing with the down arrow.

VS. COM LEVEL
Changes the computer's cheapness, er, . Can be set to EASY, NORMAL, HARD,
or HARDEST.

1P VS. 2P
Alters the maximum number of rounds to be played before the "Continue?"
message pops up. Available options are best: Eight of fifteen; Seven of
thirteen; Six of eleven; Five of nine; Four of seven; Three of five; Two of
three; Or best... one of one. [gasp!]

SAMPLING
Toggles on or off what few voice clips are played during the vs. modes
(Scenario or 1P vs. 2P).

INPUT TEST
A handy feature, indeed. Use this to make sure all your controllers are
working properly... at least the arrow pad and the A, B, and C buttons. To
return to the previous screen, press A + START.
___________
/7. SCORING\_________________________________________________________________
/\___________/=================================================================\
OK, so there isn't a whole lot to write about in this category, but I feel
obligated to write here anyway, and add a few extra grams of fat.
__________________
_____/A. MY BEST SCORES\_____________________________________________________
/=====\__________________/=====================================================\
These are my highest scores from Mean Bean. I'm vain about these things. And
they're two of the seven deadly sins I don't commit often. Did I forget that I
have pride in these scores?

Practice mode:
From level 1:
High score: 3,571,003; 2,700 beans
2nd place: 3,550,273; 2,294 beans
3rd place: 3,371,456; 2,193 beans
4th place: 3,097,700; 2,207 beans
5th place: 2,655,138; 2,026 beans

From level 3: 2,???,??? <--- I DO know that it was at least two mil.
From level 5: None registered

Scores THIS high make me want to never play this game again.

Best score vs. CPU: 353,916 with 457 beans cleared
(By the by, this was achieved on HARDEST, beating all 13 enemies without
needing to continue.)
_________________
_____/B. BASIC SCORING\______________________________________________________
/=====\_________________/======================================================\
Or, for those who want it simplified even further, how to score points.
___________________
__________/a. General scoring\_______________________________________________
/==========\___________________/===============================================\
First off, you earn one point per bean height dropped. (One whole point? WOW!)
Next, you earn more points by linking up groups of at least four. Except
for one thing: You are not restricted to straight lines; As long as four are
touching, regardless of shape, they match. Groups that look like the standard
Tetris shapes score-- T's, S's, L's, even groups that look like 1's and 4's.
In short, each bean is basically worth ten points. BUT... with each bean in
excess of four, the value for that set of beans increases. Linking up five would
score 50 x 2 = 100; Six scores 60 x 3 = 180; Seven would score 70 x 4 = 280;
Eight would score 80 x 5 = 400; And add one to the multiplier for each bean on,
up to a maximum of nine over the initial value.
As such, the multiplier also has a particular part in scoring. The first
link starts at one, but suddenly jumps up to eight (???) for the second and
doubles up until the seventh where it peaks out, scoring a wad of those glorious
points, 512! Hey, that's as high as *I* got that multiplier. Don't really know
if it goes any higher than that.
_________________
__________/b. Extra scoring\_____(Exercise mode only)________________________
/==========\_________________/=================================================\
In the exercise mode, you and another player can practice your combo skills and
reach scores of immense proportions. In short, you don't need to worry about the
other player impeding your progress. It's all about scoring.
Starting at level 3 will award 40,000pts. immediately. During certain
times, however, you will meet up with a character named Carbunkle (or "Has Bean"
in this particular version). When Carbunkle arrives, dropping him on a bean
will, through the magic of color, transform every other bean he trudges over into
the same color of the original bean. His paths are random, but can score many,
many points. If he touches the bin's floor without being interrupted by beans,
you receive 10,000pts.
Things get more bizarre when you start from level 5. Carbunkle is gone, but
you will see a being that is simply called a big bean. Generic, but concise.
It's so heavy, that any beans that get caught under it scores points.
Unfortunately, it's only 10 x L per bean; L = level number. Making uninterrupted
contact with terra firma scores 12,000pts. And you also start with a nice, fat
90,000pts.
Should you manage to clear the field of all beans, you will receive a bonus
of 8,000 + (L x 500) with L as level number. Clearing the field in level 2 would
result in a 9,000pt. bonus. This bonus can only be acquired through your own
skill.
Of course, if you manage to make a chain big enough to reach x128, x256, or
x512, you won't need those given points; I've been able to reach 100,000 before I
even reached level 4!
________________
_____/C. TIME BONUSES\_____(vs. CPU)_________________________________________
/=====\________________/=======================================================\
This is the list of bonus values for completing a level against the computer.
Listed as xx-yy,yyy, the xx notes the time, in seconds, you required to win a
round; Bonus value is the second set of numbers (yy,yyy). (Right-- like it's
gonna take you close to seven hours to complete just ONE round. If you don't
come up with any major troubles and need to continue a couple hundred times.)
The formula for this bizarre scale: ([130 - T]^2) x 3; T = time in seconds.
It took me a while to get this, but I figured this thing out sooner or later.
OK, so it was later! MUCH later! Happy now?
_____________ _____________ _____________ _____________
/SEC./ BONUS /| /SEC./ BONUS /| /SEC./ BONUS /| /SEC./ BONUS /|
+------------+ | +------------+ | +------------+ | +------------+ |
| 24*| 33,708| | | 51 | 18,723| | | 78 | 8,112| | |105 | 1,875| |
| 25 | 33,075| | | 52 | 18,252| | | 79 | 7,803| | |106 | 1,728| |
| 26 | 32,448| | | 53 | 17,787| | | 80 | 7,500| | |107 | 1,587| |
| 27 | 31,827| | | 54 | 17,328| | | 81 | 7,203| | |108 | 1,452| |
| 28 | 31,212| | | 55 | 16,875| | | 82 | 6,912| | |109 | 1,323| |
| 29 | 30,603| | | 56 | 16,428| | | 83 | 6,627| | |110 | 1,200| |
| 30 | 30,000| | | 57 | 15,987| | | 84 | 6,348| | |111 | 1,083| |
| 31 | 29,403| | | 58 | 15,552| | | 85 | 6,075| | |112 | 972| |
| 32 | 28,812| | | 59 | 15,123| | | 86 | 5,808| | |113 | 867| |
| 33 | 28,227| | | 60 | 14,700| | | 87 | 5,547| | |114 | 768| |
| 34 | 27,648| | | 61 | 14,283| | | 88 | 5,292| | |115 | 675| |
| 35 | 27,075| | | 62 | 13,872| | | 89 | 5,043| | |116 | 588| |
| 36 | 26,508| | | 63 | 13,467| | | 90 | 4,800| | |117 | 507| |
| 37 | 25,947| | | 64 | 13,068| | | 91 | 4,563| | |118 | 432| |
| 38 | 25,392| | | 65 | 12,675| | | 92 | 4,332| | |119 | 363| |
| 39 | 24,843| | | 66 | 12,288| | | 93 | 4,107| | |120 | 300| |
| 40 | 24,300| | | 67 | 11,907| | | 94 | 3,888| | |121 | 243| |
| 41 | 23,763| | | 68 | 11,532| | | 95 | 3,675| | |122 | 192| |
| 42 | 23,232| | | 69 | 11,163| | | 96 | 3,468| | |123 | 147| |
| 43 | 22,707| | | 70 | 10,800| | | 97 | 3,267| | |124 | 108| |
| 44 | 22,188| | | 71 | 10,443| | | 98 | 3,072| | |125 | 75| |
| 45 | 21,675| | | 72 | 10,092| | | 99 | 2,883| | |126 | 48| |
| 46 | 21,168| | | 73 | 9,747| | |100 | 2,700| | |127 | 27| |
| 47 | 20,667| | | 74 | 9,408| | |101 | 2,523| | |128 | 12| |
| 48 | 20,172| | | 75 | 9,075| | |102 | 2,352| | |129 | 3| /
| 49 | 19,683| / | 76 | 8,748| / |103 | 2,187| / |130+| ZERO|/
| 50 | 19,200|/ | 77 | 8,427|/ |104 | 2,028|/ +------------+
+------------+ +------------+ +------------+

*Personal best. Damn, I've been doing well!
Of course, the only REAL way this can actually happen is if the beans dealt
to you are enough to cause a quick chain reaction. And, maybe, even having that
thirs column of your opponent's being already half-filled when the first red
batch gets dumped....
______________
/8. STRATEGIES\______________________________________________________________
/\______________/==============================================================\
OK, so now you know the idea behind Puyo Puyo, but now is the time to put your
skills to use. There are two modes of play you can make strategies-- vs. and
solo-- but all strategies listed here can be used as material to kick serious
booty.

Since I don't do ASCII drawings well, I am going to use the respective letters
for beans. B = blue; G = green; P = purple; R = red; Y = yellow.
____________________
_____/A. BASIC TECHNIQUES\___________________________________________________
/=====\____________________/===================================================\
In Puyo Puyo, you have to match colors. (Well, DUH!) With exception to diagonal
directions, if a block makes contact to another of the same color, they join
together. This offers freedom to those who are beginning to play. A sampling of
what counts as successful matches:

G B
GGGG RR PPP BBB R R Y Y Y BB RRRR
R P B R R YYYYY GG BB P R Y
YY R B GG P P RRR Y GG B PPP RRR YY
YYY R BBB GG PPP R YY GG BB P YYY

OK, it may look a bit confusing, but these are among the many, many, MANY
possible combinations of scoring formation. You are not restricted to just
vertical or horizontal connections, but odd letter formations are allowed... just
to reiterate.
_________________
_____/B. GARBAGE BEANS\______________________________________________________
/=====\_________________/======================================================\
Now, we touch upon an integral part of the Puyo Puyo series-- garbage beans.
__________________________
__________/a. What garbage beans are\________________________________________
/==========\__________________________/========================================\
Watch out for these babies; They can be trouble! They can't be matched up, but
can be removed by matching a group of beans. And, in order to know how much
trouble these blocks can cause to you or the enemy, the list is as follows:

SMALL CLEAR BEAN
One dummy bean to be dropped. Six small beans add up to...

LARGE CLEAR BEAN
Six beans covering one whole line gets piled on. Five of these trouble
makers get transformed into (bum-bum-BUM!)...

LARGE RED BEAN
You are in some deep, unflavored yogurt if you receive one of these. Giving
one red bean to drop means the unfortunate recipient gets thirty beans over five
rows of six to rain on their parade. If you receive only a singular red bean,
the situationisn't QUITE that bad... of course, if that third column is kept
clear.
Receive two reds, though, you should consider planning your funeral. Your
bin is only twelve rows high, thus, receiving ten rows of crap is a lose-lose
situation. What? You made a high enough combo to give them THREE red beans?
Even FOUR of them? FIVE of 'em? SIX OR MORE?

AHEM: Garbage beans are given to opponent after clearing at least five
"points"-- or clearing five normal beans. The number of beans that get sent over
increase by the number of beans you remove. The second "hit" of a combo delivers
8x the points, pending you only remove four beans, as the multiplier increases
one for each extra bean in a color; It goes up further for extra sets of
different colors.
Of course, the more hits you garner, the more garbage gets sent over.
_______________________________
__________/b. How to manage garbage beans\___________________________________
/==========\_______________________________/===================================\
(Lowercase O [o] denotes a garbage bean; Asterisk shows a leaving bean.)

| | | G | | G | | |
| P G |GR | PRG | | P*G | | |
|GBoRoG|-->|GBoRoG|-->|GB***G|-->|GBP |
|BYPRRo| |BYPRRo| |BYP***| |BYPGGG|

In the above example, there is a set of three connected red beans (step 1). Say
your next piece is a GR set (step 2). By rotating these beans to where the R is
able to fall onto the pile of already connected R's, you not only dispose of the
red beans, but the adjoined refugees (step 3). As such, sole purple bean and the
three greens drop to fill in the gaps (step 4).
| | | | | | | | | Y | | Y | | |
| | | P | | PP | | PP G| | PPRG| | PP*G| | |
|ooo |PR |oooR |PR |oooRR |GR |oooRRR|RY |oooRRR| |oo****| |ooP |
|GBPooo|-->|GBPooo|-->|GBPooo|-->|GBPooo|-->|GBPooo|-->|GBP***|-->|GBPPYG|-->
|BYPGGG| |BYPGGG| |BYPGGG| |BYPGGG| |BYPGGG| |BYPGGG| |BYPGGG|

|o** | |o |
|GB**Y*|-->|GB |
|BY****| |BY__Y_|

Looks like you have just been issued an extra row of junk. But, given the
situation (step 1), keeping an eye on your upcoming beans is a plus. During the
course of steps 2 through 5, you've been given four reds, two purples, a green,
and a yellow. Following steps 2 through 5, the red beans, as well as all
neighboring garbage, will go bye-bye. YET... the resulting match has triggered a
combo. Realizing this, placing the purple the green beans where you did was
smart playing. You have just gotten rid of twelve beans!
________________
__________/c. Basic combos\__________________________________________________
/==========\________________/==================================================\
Here are a few of the simple, effective combos. Some are even taken from the
demonstration screen.

1234 3 55
1234 5555 1234 55544
1234 1234 55554 44433
123455 1234 12244 333221
123455 _1234_ 11233_ 222111
__________________________________
__________/b. Combos involving garbage beans\________________________________
/==========\__________________________________/================================\
Uh-oh. When you have a pile of garbage beans on your side, you can't just pile
one bean on top of the next, hoping that the falling beans trigger a combo. You
have to employ what Mel Blanc calls "stragedy".
|
V
| YY | | YYG| | YYG|
| G YG | | G YGP| | G YG*| | G YY | | G YY | | G | | G |
|GGoRGP| |GGoRGP| |GGoRG*| |GGoRY | |GGoRY | |GGo | |GGo |
|oooRoP|GP |oooRoP| |oooR**| |oooRG | |oooR* | |oooY | |oooY |
|oooooP|-->|oooooP|-->|oooo**|-->|ooooGG|-->|ooo***|-->|oooRY |-->|o***Y |-->
|GRRGGY| |GRRGGY| |GRRGGY| |GRRGGY| |GRR**Y| |GRRRYY| |G***YY|

|G | |G | |G |
|oG | |oG | |oG |
|oGo Y |-->|oGo * |-->|oG |
|GooYYY| |Go****| |Goo___|

The above example shows a not-too-deadly situation. In step one, you have not
too many different beans. Yet, you have almost a dozen garbage beans preventing
a good combo. After step 1, your next set of beans is a GP. Rotating the set to
green on top, blue on bottom, and dropping the set on the far right. Everything
looks good. Come step 7, you will have cleared a good number of blocks. There
are beans left, but you have three columns empty.

This was only a simple simulation of how to deal with garbage blocks. Playing
against either the computer or another player, you'll be under constant attack,
so you will need to search for possible ways to clear these clear beans. But you
can only remove garbage blocks when they connect to another chain, and only
adjacent garbage beans to matching beans get removed.
__________________________
/9. SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS\__________________________________________________
/\__________________________/==================================================\
If you have any submissions, strategies, comments, insults, or other stuff you
have to offer, you can currently E-mail me at <[email protected]>. Be aware
that a response is never guaranteed. Also, if you submit, I-- and I alone-- have
the choice of what gets added or not, AND you are also agreeing to give me the
right to edit the submission.
_____________________________________
/10. CREDITS, RECOGNITIONS, & TEN Q's\_______________________________________
/\_____________________________________/=======================================\
Where I thank the people who have helped and offered info. Information gathered
from outside sources will be listed in braces {xx}.

* Compile:
For creating Puyo Puyo.
* Sega of America:
Introducing me to this puzzler that rivals Tetris as the best ever.

That's it. Show's over.