TwinBee is a vertically scrolling shooter that Konami launched in Japanese arcades in 1985, the first game on its Bubble System hardware. Two players can fly together, one as TwinBee and one as WinBee, and lining up the two ships unlocks stronger combined attacks. Shooting clouds releases bells that change colour as you keep hitting them, each colour giving a different power-up; the green bell, which creates duplicate ships, is seen as a precursor to the options of Gradius. Along with Sega's Fantasy Zone, TwinBee is considered an early cute 'em up.
The Famicom version came out on 4 January 1986, but the game had no official release outside Japan until the Nintendo DS compilation of March 2007. According to Japanese Wikipedia, a cheat in the MSX version of Gradius that let players fly TwinBee became the starting point of the Parodius series. In 2022 a Konami indie contest gave Ken Niimura the rights to develop a new game, TwinBee Loop!.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | RainbowBellKonami Classics Series: Arcade Hits; titled TwinBee in Europe. First official release outside Japan | Nintendo DS | March 2007 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | ツインビーTsuinbīEnglish Wikipedia gives February 1985; Japanese Wikipedia gives 5 March 1985. First game on Konami's Bubble System | Arcade | 1985 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | ツインビーTsuinbīFamicom | NES | Jan 4, 1986 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | ツインビーTsuinbīAlso released in Europe in 1986 | MSX | May 25, 1986 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | ツインビーTsuinbī | X68000 | February 1988 | Sharp | 1 |
| JP | ツインビーTsuinbī | Famicom Disk System | Mar 11, 1988 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | ツインビーTsuinbīFamicom Mini series | Game Boy Advance | May 21, 2004 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | ツインビー3D Classics; other regions 22 September 2011 | Nintendo 3DS | Aug 10, 2011 | Nintendo | 1 |
| WW | TwinBeeFamicom version in the Nintendo Switch Online classics library; an SP version followed in June 2019 | Switch | November 2018 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | アーケードアーカイブス ツインビーArcade Archives, includes Bubble System and ROM versions; PS4 version 2015 | Switch | Dec 5, 2019 | Hamster | 2 |
Also known as: ツインビー JP2Tsuinbī JP2RainbowBell NA1
Box art by region
JP ツインビー
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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GameplayArcadeFamicom
In the arcade game a hit to the side costs one arm at a time and an ambulance arrives once per ship; on the Famicom both arms go at once, a missed ambulance never returns, and you cannot use your partner's ambulance in two-player mode.2
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ContentFamicom
The Famicom version adds a milk item for an extra life and a new enemy called Nabekko, and swaps the Miracle Ball for a Super Candy.2
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GameplayFamicom
The two-player star attack fires in four directions on the Famicom instead of five.2
Where to play legally today
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Nintendo Switch Online Subscription
Reception
Game Machine ranked TwinBee the third most successful table arcade unit in Japan in March 1985. Gamest's The Best Game 2 praised the co-op attacks and items but criticised the difficulty; Family Computer Magazine readers rated the Famicom version 23.46 out of 30, MSX Magazine gave the MSX version four out of five stars, and the 3DS version holds 68/100 on Metacritic.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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