John Isles, iv <qxz@as.net> presents a document that suffered from major 
translation corrections, it came up virtually tarnished...

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

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.

TO THE READER:  If you have an information on the North American Super NES 
version of this game, Kirby's Avalnce, I will gladly accept it.  Of course, 
credit will be given where it is due.

TO CJayC:  PLEASE add a link to this document for the SNES' Kirby's Avalance.  
This contains gameplay information relevant to that game.  Read the above 
statement for an explanation.
  ____________
 /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 & OTHER THANKS
  _________________________
 /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 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:      22,193
Words & numbers:   3,213
80-char. lines:      393

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 Mbius.  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 Mbian 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\______________________________________________________
/=====\_________________/======================================================\

  ___________
 /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:  3,571,003 with 2,700 beans, exact, at level 71
    Scores THIS high make me want to never play this game again.
    (Originally 1,776,105 with 1,539 beans [high hit:  1,200 x 255 = 306,000])
From level 3:  2,???,???  <--- I DO know that it was at least two mil.
From level 5:  None registered

Best score vs. CPU:  352,117 with 378 beans cleared
     (By the by, this was achieved on HARDEST, beating all 13 enemies without,
     needing to continue.)

(Why is it that all my personally-registered scores are odd numbers?)
       _________________
 _____/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, 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.
       ________________
 _____/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|SEC.   BONUS|
 28   31,212| 49   19,683| 70   10,800| 91    4,563|112      972|
 29   30,603| 50   19,200| 71   10,443| 92    4,332|113      867|
 30   30,000| 51   18,723| 72   10,092| 93    4,107|114      768|
 31   29,403| 52   18,252| 73    9,747| 94    3,888|115      675|
 32   28,812| 53   17,787| 74    9,408| 95    3,675|116      588|
 33   28,227| 54   17,328| 75    9,075| 96    3,468|117      507|
 34   27,648| 55   16,875| 76    8,748| 97    3,267|118      432|
 35   27,075| 56   16,428| 77    8,427| 98    3,072|119      363|
 36   26,508| 57   15,987| 78    8,112| 99    2,883|120      300|
 37   25,947| 58   15,552| 79    7,803|100    2,700|121      243|
 38   25,392| 59   15,123| 80    7,500|101    2,523|122      192|
 39   24,843| 60   14,700| 81    7,203|102    2,352|123      147|
 40   24,300| 61   14,283| 82    6,912|103    2,187|124      108|
 41   23,763 | 62   13,872| 83    6,627|104    2,028|125       75|
 42   23,232| 63   13,467| 84    6,348|105    1,875|126       48|
 43   22,707| 64   13,068| 85    6,075|106    1,728|127       27|
 44   22,188| 65   12,675| 86    5,808|107    1,587|128       12|
 45   21,675| 66   12,288| 87    5,547|108    1,452|129        3|
 46   21,168| 67   11,907| 88    5,292|109    1,323|130+       0| 
 47   20,667| 68   11,532| 89    5,043|110    1,200|            |
 48   20,172| 69   11,163| 90    4,800|111    1,083|            |
  ______________
 /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.
       _________________
 _____/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 those garbage beans!  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 raining on their parade.  If you get only one red 
bean, it's not THAT bad a situation.  Receive two reds, though, start planning 
for 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?  Ooooohhh... you've 
really fried them!

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.  MORE TECHNIQUES\____________________________________________________
/=====\___________________/====================================================\
The rules of the game have been stated.  But can you really master the technique 
of linking up combos and chains?  If not, here are some strategies.  For <Basic 
combos>, instead of using letters, I am going to use numbers for the linkage.  It 
really doesn't matter what colors you match.  Remember:  These are only 
suggestions.
     As for the <Combos involving garbage beans>, they are only given scenarios 
where you might find yourself in.  Maybe not, but it should give off a few ideas 
on how to deal with that intrusive garbage that gets in the way.  Other than 
that, I can give you no guarantee that you can win, as the beans fall in a rather 
random fashion.  That is all I can tell you.
            ________________
 __________/a.  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 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 <qxz@as.net>.  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.