[Review] Yeah Yeah Beebiss II - Nintendo Switch

Developed By: Rigg'd Games, Mega Cat Studios
Published By: Nami Tendou
Categories: Retro, Platformer
Release Date: 02.02.22

If I haven’t made it obvious before, I am fascinated by the world of lost media. The mystic of something out of reach, but known. There’s a few cases of this. Like un-released games like Clockwork Aquario, which sat unfinished for decades. Or like this game’s predecessor, non-existent.

Lets get into the story proper of Yeah Yeah Beebiss I. Found in catalogs to order games back in the day, this mysterious title seemed to really intrigue many a reader, including youtubers in the recent times. Was it some weird translation of a random Japanese game? Was it just something to catch other magazines from stealing lists and info? Probably. It never existed, it’s an endless rabbit hole. This doesn’t mean that it wasn’t interesting and the efforts surrounding finding this “game” as well as other lost media (real or fake) is always great to see. So what is this Yeah Yeah Beebiss II? Well, a sequel to this enigma, headed by youtuber John Riggs and with development by Mega Cat Studios among others.

You better like old school arcade games, because this game really has that feel. A single screen action, platformer game. Your goal, defeat all of the Evil within a time limit. Two characters, Kyonshi Hui using lighting powers and Jiangshi Bo, who drains their life force. Both practically play the same, you’ll need to get up close and personal to destroy evil. Avoid taking too many hits, avoid those nasty spikes, and you’ll soon make it through all 100 stages. Then it loops.

There is honestly not much to Yeah Yeah Beebiss II on a gameplay front. It’s very basic. Good, but basic. If you love those very old school single screen arcade games, you’ll love this. I’m not personally a fan. There is an added component of co-op, which can make the long trek much better however.

Where my real enjoyment from this release comes in, is with it’s non-game presentation. Included in this package is a full manual, even giving a bit of background into this game and who was involved. There’s also the cover art. This *does* have a physical release on Dreamcast if those two interest you. But the fact that this digital release includes them is much appreciated.

The sprites, done by Mega Cat Studios are nice, I very much liked their spritework in a game I previously reviewed Bite the Bullet too, and thankfully it’s far less gross here. The music is comprised of some 8bit renditions of classical music, which while not really to my liking, does make it seem again, like an older arcade game.

If you love those old school arcade games, or NES homebrews, give this game a shot. To me, I found it to be “just good enough”, but I get the feeling that was the goal. It wasn’t trying to be some grand game. Just a small passion project. And in that case, it did it’s job well.