| “ | A mecha created by Dr. Mardock to compete with TwinBee in Pop'n TwinBee. It was inspired by TwinBee, but in the end, it did not seem to have the performance of the original. Because of his rather gawky appearance, he was not allowed to go outside the store, and now it seems that he leads a very lonely life helping out at Mardock Labs. | „ |
| ~ Translated description from TwinBee PARADISE in Donburi Shima |
BaronBee (バロンビー BaronBī) is a recurring antagonist in the TwinBee series. He is a bulky and menacing-looking bumblebee android ship created by Dr. Mardock to compete against TwinBee.
Description[]
BaronBee is a purple bumblebee android ship with yellow details along his turbines, ailerons and, most notably, his claws.[3] He resembles the members of the TwinBee Team to some extent, although he is considerably larger than any of them and has an overall threatening appearance. In this regard, BaronBee features a wide horizontal canopy which gives him a sort of evil-intentioned glance. Furthermore, instead of cartoony glove-like hands, like those of the members of the TwinBee team, he has large triple claws, which greatly add to his menacing visage.
During battle, BaronBee generally employs two option drones that shoot laser beams. On his part, he mainly attacks by shooting bullets in a spreading manner and can also launch energy blasts and rockets at the enemy.
BaronBee made his first appearance in Pop'n TwinBee and since then he has made a few other appearances in following titles of the TwinBee series and its spinoffs, whether it is as a boss, a miniboss, or as a minor antagonist. Due to his introductory appearance in Pop'n TwinBee, where Dr. Mardock is the main antagonist, it can be inferred that BaronBee is one of his creations. Further supporting this theory, in the original Super Famicom version of Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius, BaronBee comes out from Dr. Mardock's Ship, which carries the scientist's namesake even if Mardock himself doesn't appear in that game.
Appearances[]
- Pop'n TwinBee (1993 - SNES, PSP): In his debut appearance, BaronBee first appears in Stage 4, where he's deployed from the front of Dr. Mardock's Ship as a miniboss. He would then continue to appear as a miniboss for the rest of the game in Stages 5 and 6. Each time he is defeated in these encounters, he will escape. Nevertheless, he appears one last time in Stage 7 before the final boss, this time fighting the player with two options and a shield. Once he is defeated in this encounter, BaronBee will explode to his demise.
- TwinBee Taisen Puzzle-Dama (1994 - PlayStation): BaronBee appears as one of the opponent characters in this drop pieces puzzle game. Even if he only appears as an opponent in the standard game, he can be unlocked as a playable character (along with all the other non normally playable characters). To play as BaronBee, first finish a playthrough on Normal or Hard Mode. On the next playthrough, a new box titled "Edit Select" will appear at the Character Selection Screen; it contains all the secret characters, as well as regular characters with different attacks patterns than they normally have. BaronBee is "DATA 08".[4]
- Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius (1997 - SNES, Saturn, PS, PSP): BaronBee appears as a miniboss in Stage 3 and as the third boss in the Boss Rush stage. He is piloted by a ZakoBee. After initially being ejected from Dr. Mardock's Ship (or Dr. Warumon's Flagship in the PlayStation and Saturn ports) along with a bunch of rubbish, BaronBee will be joined by two option drones which will take positions above and below him; these will fire small laser beams on their own. BaronBee himself can fire homing rockets (which can be destroyed), a spread of energy bullets, and a fairly rare eye beam. During this battle, Mardock's ship will occupy the top of the screen, and providing it still has any turrets left, will provide supporting fire for BaronBee during the fight.
BaronBee's attack pattern is actually a combination of all his attacks used in Pop'n TwinBee. The most commonly used is his spread shot, although sometimes he will don his options to battle against the player. The screw energy blast he fires is also taken from that game; however, they can be destroyed this time around. The eye laser attack is taken from his appearance in TwinBee Taisen Puzzle-Dama, where it is his strongest attack.
Exclusive to the original Super Nintendo version of the game, BaronBee is reencountered in a rematch in the Boss Rush stage (Stage 7), where he first attacks by piloting a large airship, appropriately called "Big BaronBee". Once this heavily armed vessel is destroyed, BaronBee will be expelled and be left with no other option than to attack on his own. He fires small red and blue energy blasts from his hands; if these are struck, they'll burst into several smaller lasers which cannot be destroyed. Once ZakoBee is finally destroyed, his tiny ZakoBee pilot is revealed and flees the screen.
Gallery[]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Even if BaronBee is seen exploding at the end of his final encounter in Pop'n TwinBee, he reappears in TwinBee Taisen Puzzle-Dama and Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius without any explanation, implying that he either survived somehow, was reconstructed, or a new model of him was created.
- ↑ Only in the Super Nintendo version of Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius, in the "Boss Rush" stage (Stage 7).
- ↑ BaronBee appears with yellow details in TwinBee Taisen Puzzle-Dama, although he is completely purple in Pop'n TwinBee and Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius.
- ↑ TwinBee Taisen Puzzle-Dama – Cheats by AceNoctali at GameFAQs.
External links[]
- BaronBee at the Gradius Wiki