Hobbies And Interests
Linking Beans
Beans drop from the top of the screen in pairs, and if like-colored beans touch each other they link together. Clear links of four beans or more to clear them from the board. Links of beans do not have to be in straight horizontal or vertical lines. Instead, they can be linked in a variety of irregular shapes as long as every bean in the chain is connected.
Scoring
Each cleared bean is worth 10 points, which means that a basic four-bean chain is worth 40 points. However, you can really rack up the score with multipliers, which are activated by linking five or more beans. For example, a link of five beans gives you 50 points plus a 2x multiplier for 100 points. A link of six beans gives you 60 points plus a 3x multiplier for 180 points, and so on. Multipliers increase to a maximum of 9x.
Sending Garbage Beans
"Garbage beans" are beans that don't match with anything, and they're a nuisance if they appear on your grid because the only way to clear them is by making matches around them. You should send as many garbage beans as you can over to your opponent's side if you're playing a versus game. Use chain reactions to send even more garbage beans over to your opponent.
Receiving Garbage Beans
If garbage beans are about to fall into your grid, you can see what's coming by checking the top of your dungeon. One small clear bean means one garbage bean is going to drop. One large clear bean means six garbage beans are coming, and one big red bean means that 30 garbage beans (five rows worth) are about to drop.
The Next Meter
The Next Meter appears at the center of the screen and shows what color of beans are about to be dropped in the next turn. Use it to get a heads-up about what's coming next so that you can plan your next move and anticipate combos.
Opponent Expressions
The opponents you face in Scenario mode display different facial expressions that you can look at to gauge how well you're doing against them. A neutral expression means neither player is winning. A happy expression means your opponent is winning, and an infuriated expression means you're winning. If your opponent looks infuriated and is glowing white, it means you're a few moves away from winning the game.
Password Saves
Have a pen and paper handy to write down the passwords you receive after defeating each boss. Since the original version of "Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine" did not have a save function, you must enter these passwords each time you load up the game if you want to continue from where you left off. This does not apply in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game, which do save your progress automatically.
Difficulty Level
If you're finding the game too challenging, change the difficulty level. In the Options menu, select "Vs. Com Level" and slide the difficulty down to Easy.