These days, games based on a license are almost always rushed to the market in order to be timed with the release of a new film or season of television show. The end result is usually a steaming pile of hastily-designed crap. Add together time constraints and the fact that a lot goes into creating modern 3D games and it's easy to see how this happens. Back in the 8 and 16-bit eras of gaming, development was a lot simpler. If you were given the license to an action or family/kids movie, naturally, you'd make a side-scrolling action game in which you punch, kick or shoot a steady stream of bad guys from level to level. These games were hit (Disney's Aladdin) or miss (Total Recall), sure, but failure wasn't so frequently the final product as it is so often today.
Movies and TV were one thing, but it took an extra special sort of marketing genius (or is that moron?) for the decision to be made to create a game based on a food product. Strange as it sounds, it wasn't entirely uncommon. Pizza Hut had Yo! Noid, 7up had Cool Spot, and lest we forget the biggest fast food chain in the world, McDonald's had it's parachute pants-wearing spokesman of child obesity, Ronald McDonald. In my admittedly limited research of McDonald's videogames, only two saw major console releases; Mc Kids on the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure on the Sega Genesis. I don't know much about the former outside of watching a "Let's Play" on Youtube, but I actually own a copy of the latter and have recently played through it. And like any normal human being, I decided to write about it. Because what else would one do, right?
But why on Earth would I waste my time writing about a game about fast food? From the title, one would assume disaster. Surprisingly, this is not the case. There is actually a talented development studio attached to the game, known as Treasure, appropriately enough. Gamers might recognize the name from having played - or at least heard of - their various, critically acclaimed shooters like Gunstar Heroes or Radiant Silvergun. A cursory glance at Wikipedia confirms McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure as one of their first games, perhaps even developed before Gunstar Heroes. I would think as an upstart developer (Voltron'd from former members of Konami), being stuck with a license like McDonald's as your first project might be a bit of a buzzkill, but however they felt about it, and however it went down, Treasure ended up making the game their own, and shockingly to me, made a quality platformer out of it.
Ronald McDonald has some abilities to work with. Of course, he jumps on things but he actually attacks using a magical sparkle ray that can be upgraded by collecting little icons with a picture of a sparkle on them. He can also grab onto special hooks throughout the game using what appears to be a rope of scarves. Think Bionic Commando (NES) only you can't just latch on to anything or swing. Like any good platformer, there are plenty of doodads to collect; the attack upgrades, extra health, lives and balloons that are automatically deployed should you miss a jump over a bottomless pit, among other things. You'll also see plenty of white and yellow bags, which are gold. The gold can be used at shops sprinkled throughout the game, where you can buy more health, lives, etc. Some of what you think might be another shop, are actually stations where you can play a mini-game reminiscent of classic Japanese puzzle game, Puyo Puyo (also known as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine/Kirby's Avalanche here in the states).
The game starts predictably enough, with Ronald coming across a quadrant of a treasure map. He sets off on a journey to find the remaining pieces. McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure is filled with Treasure's trademark nuttiness. Stages seem to transition from one to the next, making as little sense as possible. Gameplay starts out in a whimsical mountainous level filled with little, drawf-like wizards, followed by a giant tree which Ronald must ascend. Soon, a giant water guyser shoots Ronald into the sky and he lands in front a mound of land that opens up, forming a cave. Inside the cave, Ronald encounters totem pole-like structures that move up and down like pistons, while spitting out bees. While in the cave, Ronald must also avoid taking damage from huge waterfalls by standing in designated "safe zones" (and they are labeled as such) and running down a large slope while being chased by massive fish. After this, you'll face your first boss, a big pumpkin guy. Bosses are beaten by LETTING them suck out some of your life energy (red jewels) which they eat. While they are chewing away on your precious life source, your fire at them with your magical projectile attack that you've been using to dispatch grunts and lesser threats.
After defeating the boss, he surrenders a piece of the map Ronald is trying to put together. Then you're off to the next scene, a moving train. The train is full of various obstacles one might face at a circus, if the circus was out to kill you. Clowns prodding spears through the roof of the train, caged lions that swipe at you between the bars, and trapeze monkeys that try to grab you and pass you from one monkey to the next, eventually slamming you into a wall. The most bizarre part of the level is a platforming section that has Ronald jumping onto a series of ballerina bunnies dancing on the train tracks. It makes no sense but it's one of the many Treasure-isms that makes the game so enjoyable.
The train eventually crashes and you are thrown off of it and into some city streets. Sections of the street are constantly shifting because, wouldn't you know it, there are sumo wrestlers atop the street lights that are stomping and causing the shifts. After navigating through that section, you must ascend a building with vertically moving platforms, while dodging falling debris thrown by dudes hanging out of the windows. The sumo wrestlers are back, stomping the girders of the unfinished building into a twisted state, which will cause you to fall from your position. Falling from this segment doesn't mean death, but you will have to re-climb the structure.
Finally at the top, you are faced with the game's second boss - a flying machine doohickey which upon defeating, you discover is piloted by a little green creature with ears like a Gremlin. Just like the last time, the boss gives up another piece of the treasure map. Beginning to see a pattern?
The next part of Ronald's journey takes him to a tropical region with penguins (?) and pirate ships. The first two sections are a bit confusing. You begin by progressing to the right as is the norm, but a tidal wave soon carries you back in the opposite direction, past your starting point and onto a small sea vessel commandeered by the aformentioned penguins. Attack the penguins with your magic and they'll get angry and attack you, so it's best not to bother with that. Ronald then must continue to go to the right again, jumping on disapearing cloud platforms until progressing to the next section. You'll soon reach a rather large pirate ship where you must slowly climb the masts, only to have the ship sunken when you reach the top.
You then have to traverse the sunken ship, navigating the rising and falling water levels that slow you down, as well as fight ghosts, hostile treasure chests and a weird dude in armor that backs away from you until he falls into a pit. Whatever. The boss is a pirate captain whose novelty-sized hat obscures all of his face except for his monstrously huge lips. You beat him and he gives you his piece of the map - the final piece.
The game doesn't end here. The map leads you to outer space - the moon, to be specific, though the stage doesn't resemble the gray, lifeless moon we know of. While the gravity is light, allowing you to jump higher and farther, the stage is filled with color and has a psychedelic background. Eventually, you are abducted by an alien ship, its innards where the rest of the game takes place. The game becomes quite difficult at this section and you're faced with a number of challenging jumping puzzles. The final boss is a diminutive alien weilding a wand that shoots a projectile that careens off of the floor and ceiling. You must enter a series of scrolling doors, letting the boss eat your energy, attacking him and avoiding his attacks at the same time.
Once you beat him, he surrenders, offering to give you his treasure. Turns out, Ronald doesn't care about the Treasure, (even though that's what you've been playing the entire game for...) he just wants a way to get home. The alien offers to help here, by opening the treasure chest that you - the player - thought you were seeking. The chest opens revealing a big ol' rainbow that transports you back home. Everyone lives happily ever after, the end.
Anti-climactic end aside, I walked away from the game having enjoyed myself.
I haven't played them all, but through all the Yo! Noids and Sneak Kings I HAVE played, McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure remains the title holder of Best Food Product Game. Now, if only the resturaunt's bland, processed slop would follow suit.
Movies and TV were one thing, but it took an extra special sort of marketing genius (or is that moron?) for the decision to be made to create a game based on a food product. Strange as it sounds, it wasn't entirely uncommon. Pizza Hut had Yo! Noid, 7up had Cool Spot, and lest we forget the biggest fast food chain in the world, McDonald's had it's parachute pants-wearing spokesman of child obesity, Ronald McDonald. In my admittedly limited research of McDonald's videogames, only two saw major console releases; Mc Kids on the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure on the Sega Genesis. I don't know much about the former outside of watching a "Let's Play" on Youtube, but I actually own a copy of the latter and have recently played through it. And like any normal human being, I decided to write about it. Because what else would one do, right?
But why on Earth would I waste my time writing about a game about fast food? From the title, one would assume disaster. Surprisingly, this is not the case. There is actually a talented development studio attached to the game, known as Treasure, appropriately enough. Gamers might recognize the name from having played - or at least heard of - their various, critically acclaimed shooters like Gunstar Heroes or Radiant Silvergun. A cursory glance at Wikipedia confirms McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure as one of their first games, perhaps even developed before Gunstar Heroes. I would think as an upstart developer (Voltron'd from former members of Konami), being stuck with a license like McDonald's as your first project might be a bit of a buzzkill, but however they felt about it, and however it went down, Treasure ended up making the game their own, and shockingly to me, made a quality platformer out of it.
Ronald McDonald has some abilities to work with. Of course, he jumps on things but he actually attacks using a magical sparkle ray that can be upgraded by collecting little icons with a picture of a sparkle on them. He can also grab onto special hooks throughout the game using what appears to be a rope of scarves. Think Bionic Commando (NES) only you can't just latch on to anything or swing. Like any good platformer, there are plenty of doodads to collect; the attack upgrades, extra health, lives and balloons that are automatically deployed should you miss a jump over a bottomless pit, among other things. You'll also see plenty of white and yellow bags, which are gold. The gold can be used at shops sprinkled throughout the game, where you can buy more health, lives, etc. Some of what you think might be another shop, are actually stations where you can play a mini-game reminiscent of classic Japanese puzzle game, Puyo Puyo (also known as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine/Kirby's Avalanche here in the states).
The game starts predictably enough, with Ronald coming across a quadrant of a treasure map. He sets off on a journey to find the remaining pieces. McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure is filled with Treasure's trademark nuttiness. Stages seem to transition from one to the next, making as little sense as possible. Gameplay starts out in a whimsical mountainous level filled with little, drawf-like wizards, followed by a giant tree which Ronald must ascend. Soon, a giant water guyser shoots Ronald into the sky and he lands in front a mound of land that opens up, forming a cave. Inside the cave, Ronald encounters totem pole-like structures that move up and down like pistons, while spitting out bees. While in the cave, Ronald must also avoid taking damage from huge waterfalls by standing in designated "safe zones" (and they are labeled as such) and running down a large slope while being chased by massive fish. After this, you'll face your first boss, a big pumpkin guy. Bosses are beaten by LETTING them suck out some of your life energy (red jewels) which they eat. While they are chewing away on your precious life source, your fire at them with your magical projectile attack that you've been using to dispatch grunts and lesser threats.
After defeating the boss, he surrenders a piece of the map Ronald is trying to put together. Then you're off to the next scene, a moving train. The train is full of various obstacles one might face at a circus, if the circus was out to kill you. Clowns prodding spears through the roof of the train, caged lions that swipe at you between the bars, and trapeze monkeys that try to grab you and pass you from one monkey to the next, eventually slamming you into a wall. The most bizarre part of the level is a platforming section that has Ronald jumping onto a series of ballerina bunnies dancing on the train tracks. It makes no sense but it's one of the many Treasure-isms that makes the game so enjoyable.
The train eventually crashes and you are thrown off of it and into some city streets. Sections of the street are constantly shifting because, wouldn't you know it, there are sumo wrestlers atop the street lights that are stomping and causing the shifts. After navigating through that section, you must ascend a building with vertically moving platforms, while dodging falling debris thrown by dudes hanging out of the windows. The sumo wrestlers are back, stomping the girders of the unfinished building into a twisted state, which will cause you to fall from your position. Falling from this segment doesn't mean death, but you will have to re-climb the structure.
Finally at the top, you are faced with the game's second boss - a flying machine doohickey which upon defeating, you discover is piloted by a little green creature with ears like a Gremlin. Just like the last time, the boss gives up another piece of the treasure map. Beginning to see a pattern?
The next part of Ronald's journey takes him to a tropical region with penguins (?) and pirate ships. The first two sections are a bit confusing. You begin by progressing to the right as is the norm, but a tidal wave soon carries you back in the opposite direction, past your starting point and onto a small sea vessel commandeered by the aformentioned penguins. Attack the penguins with your magic and they'll get angry and attack you, so it's best not to bother with that. Ronald then must continue to go to the right again, jumping on disapearing cloud platforms until progressing to the next section. You'll soon reach a rather large pirate ship where you must slowly climb the masts, only to have the ship sunken when you reach the top.
You then have to traverse the sunken ship, navigating the rising and falling water levels that slow you down, as well as fight ghosts, hostile treasure chests and a weird dude in armor that backs away from you until he falls into a pit. Whatever. The boss is a pirate captain whose novelty-sized hat obscures all of his face except for his monstrously huge lips. You beat him and he gives you his piece of the map - the final piece.
The game doesn't end here. The map leads you to outer space - the moon, to be specific, though the stage doesn't resemble the gray, lifeless moon we know of. While the gravity is light, allowing you to jump higher and farther, the stage is filled with color and has a psychedelic background. Eventually, you are abducted by an alien ship, its innards where the rest of the game takes place. The game becomes quite difficult at this section and you're faced with a number of challenging jumping puzzles. The final boss is a diminutive alien weilding a wand that shoots a projectile that careens off of the floor and ceiling. You must enter a series of scrolling doors, letting the boss eat your energy, attacking him and avoiding his attacks at the same time.
Once you beat him, he surrenders, offering to give you his treasure. Turns out, Ronald doesn't care about the Treasure, (even though that's what you've been playing the entire game for...) he just wants a way to get home. The alien offers to help here, by opening the treasure chest that you - the player - thought you were seeking. The chest opens revealing a big ol' rainbow that transports you back home. Everyone lives happily ever after, the end.
Anti-climactic end aside, I walked away from the game having enjoyed myself.
I haven't played them all, but through all the Yo! Noids and Sneak Kings I HAVE played, McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure remains the title holder of Best Food Product Game. Now, if only the resturaunt's bland, processed slop would follow suit.