Donald Land (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
323A playthrough of Data East's 1988 license-based platformer for the Nintendo Famicom, Donald Land.
Donald Land was the very first console game bearing the McDonald's license, predating M.C. Kids by over three years, and it is an excellent, though thoroughly bizarre, game.
You take control of Donald McDonald (Ronald's name in Japan, pronounced "Donarudo MakkuDonarudo") in the fight to save the titular "Donald Land" from an evil wizard. This wizard has kidnapped the entire cast of 1980s McDonald's mascots: Birdy, Mayor McCheese, Grimace, The Hamburglar, Captain Crook, Officer Big Mac, and the Fry Guys are all missing, and everyone's favorite afro'ed clown has to save them with his apple bombs.
I have no idea why they gave him apple bombs, to be honest. One wouldn't usually go to McDonald's for apples, and to my knowledge McDonald's has never been known for promoting terrorism, so it seems like an odd choice. But then again, what weapon wouldn't seem strange here?
The platforming feels similar to Karnov, and many of the stage layouts remind me of Captain Silver, but this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Karnov and Captain Silver were both Data East games from 1987, and the influences are pretty clear.
Donald Land's mechanics are fairly unique, though. The feel of Donald's bomb toss relies heavily on momentum, but the angles the bombs follow seem to based on pre-defined parabolic arcs. The physics are reliable and consistent, but every movement feels like it could perfectly trace the outline of the golden arches, which is far from intuitive. The controls start to feel more natural the more you play, but they're not like those that I've experienced in any other NES game.
I was particularly amused with the "health-promoting" aspects of the game: between each level Donald goes to McDonalds to buy goodies with the burger tokens that he has collected, and if he spends enough, he can play a bonus matching game for prizes. Buying a meal set gets you extra chances, so if the girl at the counter asks you if you want fries, be sure to say yes!
I really, really loved Donald Land. Even by NES standards it clearly shows its age, but the game came about at the time when third-party developers really seemed to be coming to grips with the NES hardware, and game design of the era often had an experimental feel to it. Data East was clearly coming into their own as developers around 1987, and DonaldLand - like Karnov and Captain Silver - are clear marks of progress. It's not perfect, but they clearly understood what makes for fun.
The graphics and sound echo that same sentiment. They're fairly simple and lack the technical flair that later NES games were known for, but the music is campy and fun; the cast of enemies is unique, memorable, and sometimes terrifying; and the backdrops are impressively detailed despite the occasionally drab color scheme.
(Anyone else think the boss of Dark Forest World bears a striking resemblance to the guy from The Human Centipede 2?)
Donald Land was a Japan-only release, but the game is entirely in English, so it's an ideal choice for an import pickup. If you have a soft-spot for the sort of quirkiness that Data East's games were known for, you'll love this one.
*Note: This video is a brand-new playthrough to replace the ancient 240p recording that I uploaded seven years ago. The picture quality is quite a bit better this time :)
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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