McDonald Land (or MC Kids, as it was known in North America) was released in 1991 in Europe by Virgin Interactive in order to promote McDonalds to more youth. In this game, you can choose to be one of two teenagers, a Caucasian male, or a Negro male, to control for game-play (in 1P mode). Both characters have the same abilities, and the only difference between them is their physical appearance. Additionally, there is a 2P mode, where two players can venture into the fantasy McDonalds's world in order to retrieve the stolen magic bag of Ronald McDonald.
McDonald Land (or MC Kids, as it was known in North America) was released in 1991 in Europe by Virgin Interactive in order to promote McDonalds to more youth. In this game, you can choose to be one of two teenagers, a Caucasian male, or a Negro male, to control for game-play (in 1P mode). Both characters have the same abilities, and the only difference between them is their physical appearance. Additionally, there is a 2P mode, where two players can venture into the fantasy McDonalds's world in order to retrieve the stolen magic bag of Ronald McDonald.
In this game, the character of choice ventures into various worlds to collect information to progress in the levels of increasing difficulty, until they
reach the final world in order to retrieve said magic bag. In order to advance worlds, however, one must not only beat levels in the game, but also collect McDonald's cards along the way. Once the player has collected enough cards, the next world will open to them. If all cards are collected, however, there are various rewards obtainable by the player, including a secret level, an extra life, etc.
The game did not receive much success, for many reasons. Primarily, it was rumoured that the McDonalds Corporation was not satisfied with the game, and did not promote it very much. Secondly, the game was deemed much too difficult for children. However, teenagers who were keen on playing the game had to overcome a steep learning curve, but many persisted, and have grown fond of the game.
The game seems to be a cross of Sonic the Hedgehog, and Super Mario. The element of Sonic that is evident is that when the player is attacked by the enemy, arches that the player has collected falls out of the player, much like the golden rings in sonic games. The Mario aspects are pretty dominant throughout game-play, as many of the levels resemble Mario-like levels. Aspects include a modified method of destroying enemies, as well as level completion.
If a joystick is detected, the centre position is automatically calibrated as the game loads, to recalibrate, press C on the keyboard. The screen will flash, indication calibration of the joystick.
