Maya the Bee & Her Friends

{{short description|1999 video game}}

{{Sources exist|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox video game

| title = Maya the Bee & Her Friends

| image = Maya the Bee & Her Friends cover.jpg

| caption = German Game Boy Color cover

| alt =

| developer = Crawfish Interactive

| publisher = Acclaim Entertainment

| director =

| producer = Tim Bradstock
Douglas Yellin

| designer = Tim Bradstock
Kevin McMahon

| programmer = David Theodore

| artist = Terry Ford
Emma Denson

| writer =

| composer = Tim Follin

| series = Maya the Bee

| engine =

| platforms = Game Boy, Game Boy Color

| released = 1999

| genre = Platformer

| modes = Single-player

}}

Maya the Bee & Her Friends is a 1999 platformer video game developed by British studio Crawfish Interactive for the Game Boy and the Game Boy Color. It is the first game based on Maya the Bee.

The game reuses the engine sourced from a cancelled South Park game which Crawfish Interactive were developing for Acclaim in 1998. The game was also reskinned and released as The New Adventures of Mary Kate & Ashley in North America to tie in with the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen media franchise.{{Cite web |last=LoChiatto |first=Jonathan |date=2021-08-07 |title=How South Park's First Handheld Game Became a Mary Kate & Ashley Tie-In |url=https://www.cbr.com/south-park-canceled-game-mary-kate-ashley/ |access-date=2024-11-21 |website=CBR |language=en}}

Gameplay

The game features over 120 levels. Each of the levels include a number of tricky puzzles that must be solved before the players can rescue one of their insect-friends, trapped behind a spider's web. The players can control three insects, each possessing different abilities. For example, Maya is the only character able to pull switches and Flip allows the characters to leap to higher places.

Reception

IGN rated the game a 6/10. Total! rated the game 2/6 while praising the music and tricky puzzles but thought the graphics were "boring".

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/11/25/talking-with-crawfish|title=Talking with Crawfish|date=November 24, 1999|publisher=IGN|access-date=September 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104030730/https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/11/25/talking-with-crawfish|archive-date=November 4, 2023|url-status=live}}

{{cite web|url=https://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/05/south-park-gbc-cancelled/|title=South Park [GBC – Cancelled]|date=April 5, 2008|website=unseen64.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923000748/https://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/05/south-park-gbc-cancelled/|archive-date=September 23, 2023|url-status=live}}

{{cite web|url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/36233/maya-the-bee-her-friends/|title=Maya the Bee & Her Friends (1999)|website=mobygames.com|access-date=September 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922234840/https://www.mobygames.com/game/36233/maya-the-bee-her-friends/|archive-date=September 22, 2023|url-status=live}}

{{cite web|url=https://www.nintendolife.com/games/gbc/maya_the_bee_and_her_friends|title=Maya the Bee & Her Friends (1999)|website=nintendolife.com|date=19 May 2021 |accessdate=September 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922235159/https://www.nintendolife.com/games/gbc/maya_the_bee_and_her_friends|archive-date=September 22, 2023|url-status=live}}

{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/07/26/maya-the-bee-her-friends|title=MAYA THE BEE & HER FRIENDS|date=July 25, 2000|first=Tim|last=Jones|publisher=IGN|access-date=September 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409055917/https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/07/26/maya-the-bee-her-friends|archive-date=April 9, 2019|url-status=unfit}}

{{cite magazine |last= Reher|first= Holger|date= July 1999|title= Biene Maja und ihre freunde|url=http://total.bee-ware.ch/tests/gbc/gbc_bienemajaundihrefreunde.jpg|magazine=Total! |location= |publisher= |access-date=2023-10-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726180219/http://total.bee-ware.ch/tests/gbc/gbc_bienemajaundihrefreunde.jpg|archive-date=July 26, 2015|url-status=unfit}}

}}

Sources