Evercade VS Game of the Month #8: Yeah Yeah Beebiss II

The Game of the Month feature, exclusive to Evercade VS, offers a series of downloadable indie games between April and December of 2022, with each being available to play for free for a whole month. With November’s update to the Evercade VS, the eighth in the series, Yeah Yeah Beebiss II, is now available, providing some old-school 8-bit screen-clearing platform fun to enjoy!

As always, don’t forget that all of the Game of the Month games will be available in physical form on the Indie Heroes Collection 2 cartridge, releasing early next year — so don’t worry if you miss your chance to play! Do please note, however, that any save games from the Game of the Month version of Yeah Yeah Beebiss II will not transfer over to the Indie Heroes Collection 2 cartridge.

The story of Yeah Yeah Beebiss begins in June of 1989, when a game called “Yeah Yeah Beebiss I” was listed as part of an advertisement for a mail-order video game service known as Play It Again. The advert first appeared in the magazine Video Games & Computer Entertainment, and it appeared again in July, August and September. Not only that, but in October of that year, an almost-identical advertisement was placed by another mail-order service known as Funco.

No-one knows what Yeah Yeah Beebiss I actually was, because as far as everyone knows, there has never actually been a game by that title released on any platform. There are several different theories, though: one, that it was a deliberate “error” in the listing intended to act as a copyright trap to deter other companies from copying the list; two, that it was a placeholder for something that had not yet had its title confirmed; three, that it was an inside joke, the potential origins of which are long lost; or four, that it was a localised name for a Japanese game which did exist, but which, for one reason or another, never ended up getting released.

It’s this latter theory that retro gaming YouTuber John Riggs and friends decided to run with when they thought it might be fun to make a sequel to this non-existent game. The Japanese game in question was known as Rai Rai Kyonshis: Baby Kyonshi no Amida Daibouken (Come, Come, Kyonshi: Baby Kyonshi’s Great Amida Adventure), and was part of Bandai’s Family Trainer series for 8-bit consoles.

The original Rai Rai Kyonshis was a game based on the legend of the Kyonshi, or a Chinese hopping vampire. It was essentially a collection of minigames that made use of the Family Trainer mat controller as players attempted to help the young vampire reach its parents. For Yeah Yeah Beebiss II, Riggs and friends decided to adopt the aesthetic of the original game, but completely overhaul how it played. Not many of those Family Trainer mat controllers out there now, after all, and you’ll probably have trouble plugging it into your Evercade VS.

The result? You have it before you right now. It’s a single-screen 8-bit platformer in which you (and, optionally, a friend) take on the roles of Haoran and/or Li Ting (who appear, from their endearing hopping motion, to be Kyonshis) as they attempt to destroy “Evil” over the course of a series of 100 levels.

Your aim in Yeah Yeah Beebiss II is simple. Before the level begins, you’re given a quota of Evil to mash, and a time limit in which to achieve it in. Jump around the level and make use of your short-range attack magic to defeat the Evil in the time limit, get a bonus for the remaining time and then proceed to the next level.

Move Haoran and Li Ting around with the D-Pad, jump with the B button and attack with the A button. You can hold down the A button for continuous attacks rather than repeatedly tapping it.

The levels start off pretty simple, but new obstacles such as spikes and ladders start appearing after some time. Note that Haoran and Li Ting cannot climb ladders in either direction; to ascend them, you’ll have to jump up them, while to descend you’ll have to find a safe spot to fall! Plan your route carefully to avoid falling into a nest of monsters or onto some pointy spikes!

Haoran and Li Ting can take several hits before losing a life, marked by the POW gauge in the corner of the screen. When they lose a life, it takes a moment to respawn, which can cost you precious time. And if time runs out, the game is over, regardless of whether or not you have any lives left!

One thing you’ll doubtless quickly notice about Yeah Yeah Beebiss II is its high-quality chiptune soundtrack, with most of its music based on classical themes. This is the work of brothers and wife trio Chips ‘N Cellos, who compose chiptunes, arrange chiptune covers of well-known movie, TV and game soundtracks, and occasionally also perform with live cello accompaniment. Many of the tracks heard in Yeah Yeah Beebiss II originated as part of the trio’s Compose Man series of classical covers.

Yeah Yeah Beebiss II is a simple and straightforward game that it’s easy to pick up and play — but its 100 levels and escalating challenge factor will keep you busy for quite some time! If you’re a fan of classic single-screen elimination platformers, then be sure to give this one a go, either solo or with a friend!

To get started with Yeah Yeah Beebiss II and the Game of the Month feature, connect your Evercade VS to a Wi-Fi network through the Network menu in Settings, then update your system’s firmware through the System menu.

When you’re updated to version 2.1.8 or later, you’re ready to go — select the star icon on the left of the screen and get ready to enjoy Yeah Yeah Beebiss II!