McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure (Genesis) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
597A playthough of Sega's 1993 license-based platformer for the Sega Genesis, McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure.
Played through on the normal difficulty level.
As strange as it would seem for fast-food chain to have an officially licensed console video game, McDonalds actually had *four* such titles released between 1987 and 1993. Even less expectedly, they were all solid games.
McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure on the Genesis was the last of these four to be released. It is arguably the best of the bunch, and a big hint as to why lies right in the game's title: it was developed by Treasure, known for creating some of the best Genesis action fare around. If you're familiar with Gunstar Heroes or Dynamite Headdy, you'll immediately recognize the general look and feel of McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure.
As Ronald, you explore four "magical" levels as you search for the bosses holding onto the pieces of the treasure map. You attack enemies by flinging glitter at them and collect gems in order to upgrade your abilities, and you can swing to otherwise unreachable platforms by grabbing onto latch points and launching yourself with Ronald's red handkerchief. It feels a lot like a first-draft form of the mechanics that we'd see further refined in Dynamite Headdy.
The graphics look great, especially for a Genesis title. Everything is bright and boldly defined (including that terrifying red afro), the animation is smooth, the music is top-notch, and the controls are all super-responsive. It's too easy, and I don't really understand why it needed to be branded as a McDonald's game, but it's excellent anyway.
Whether you want to celebrate America's obesity epidemic, to roleplay as its champion, or to experience an extremely well-crafted platformer that just happens to feature one of the most off-putting corporate mascots ever, you can't go wrong with McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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