Sonic Roms Guide -- Genesis (Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine)

In all honesty, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine should really be known by its original name, Puyo Puyo. In an attempt to make this exciting Tetris clone appeal to American audiences, Sega saw fit to remove the quirky anime theme and replace it with some weird crap they pulled out of the horrible Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series. Well, at least they actually sent this gem to America and Europe. It also made appearances on the Super NES as the prettier Kirby's Avalanche and on the Neo Geo Pocket as Puyo Pop (released by Sega in its untouched form) outside Japan.

Rom Variations

Mean Bean Machine (North America/Europe) (1993)
Besides the obvious addition of Robotnik's band of badniks from the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon and different music, there's nothing new here. Everything that's different here is due to certain things being omitted from the domestic release. The Japanese variation has less than exciting music, but it has weird Japanese voices. If Arle and her posse are just a little too over the top for you, this is the version to get.

Puyo Puyo (Japan) UNCONFIRMED (1993)
The Japanese version of the game is, understandably, in Japanese, but it's not that hard to figure out. It features a load of different backdrops that were apparently too much for us stupid Americans to handle, and a different soundtrack. Of course, you also get more cute anime girls here than you'd ever catch anywhere near Eggman.

Compilations

Sonic Classics (North America/Europe)
The Classics collection is known as Sonic Compilation in the region of its origin, Europe. It includes Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (but Spinball actually has Sonic in it and actually plays like a freaking Sonic game).