Don't let looks fool you. It may not look like a good game, but once you start playing, you will be surprised!
What game is this, I am talking about? A wacky little game called McDonald's Treasureland Adventure!
As always, I will begin this review by telling you the story of this game.
The game opens with Ronald the clown taking a walk through the Magical Forest (nice to know he exercised back then), minding his own business, when all of a sudden, he found a piece of paper at the foot of a tree. Being the nature lover he was, he gladly picked up this trash and cleaned up the little mess, only to discover that this so-called trash is, in fact, ¼ of a TREASURE MAP! What a discovery! But, where is the rest of the map?
Well, as it turns out, it seems that he wasn't the only one with a piece of the map. Three other baddies had a piece as well, and were probably also wondering where they could find the rest of this map. Ronald, unaware of the danger of wandering around with a part of a treasure map that three other tough guys wanted (by any means necessary), he decided to go on his own little treasure hunt, using what little info from the map he could read to guide him on his quest to find the treasure.
Now, the story is a little silly, yes. But at least it isn't totally bad. After that little intro, you are kicked into the first world, the Magical Forest.
The moment you begin the level, you will quickly notice how lovely the graphics are. Bright and colourful, no matter where you are, be it a dark cave or a space ship (yes, there is a space ship in this game, believe it or not). The sprites for the enemies and other characters are also well done, the enemies especially. So many of them are wacky and strange. One thing is for sure, they truly fit in within the world of Ronald McDonald, a pretty crazy place to begin with.
The music in this game is also great. From happy and cheery, to cool, and even to relaxing. I love the music in this game, and I bet you would find a tune in this game you will love too.
When it comes to sound, though, it's pretty ok. But there are times when the sound effects are just plain stupid sounding. Other than that, it's passable.
After taking a moment to admire the graphics and music, we proceed into the game. Another good thing about this game is its controls. You press C to jump, B to use your self-defence magic, and A to use your scarf, which you need in order to get across some tricky parts in the game. They all work fine, which is a good thing indeed.
As for the level design in the game, I must say, they are ok. You won't get stuck or lost very easily in this game, and it isn't too hard to get around as well. Sure, you are bound to find some tough spots, but other than that, it's not too harsh. Of course, being aimed at kids, I guess this isn't much of a surprise.
Throughout the game, while you traverse the world of McDonalds on your quest for treasure, you will find all sorts of items and enemies, as well as other things and people. One such item is gold, which you will need to buy things at shops throughout the game. Another item is flowers (Or, in Japan, rings). These act like a kind of backup HP. When you take damage, any flowers counters you have fully filled (you have two counters, one for white flowers [which needs three to be fully filled], and another for gold flowers [which needs two to be fully filled]) will automatically replace any lost health. Of course, after that, you need to refill it again after using it. You can easily find flowers scattered about, but you can also buy them at shops, like pretty much all items in the game. You will also find balloons, which is a very important item. With it, it will save you from a fall, should you fall into a bottomless pit. It is very useful, but shouldn't be wasted. They are not very common, and buying them costs a lot of money. There are other items as well, like a magic powerup, which makes your magic stronger, and gems, which replenish your health.
Speaking of gems, that brings us to an interesting thing in this game. In the game, you will quickly notice that your health is represented by these little orange gems. What you don't know is that, although they look like normal gems, they are in fact magic rock candy. That's right. MAGIC ROCK CANDY. How do I know this? Well, oddly enough, besides being the thing that gives you health, they are also important items to carry around if you want to continue the game. One such example is how at some parts, you will meet up with friends of Ronald's, who will ask you if you could spare some of your gems to them. If you give them to your friends, they will let you progress (Or give you hints that could help you out). One such case is when you give some gems to that big purple fatso Grimace, who is too tired to get up and sitting in front of the door to the next room (Or, simply put, keeping you from advancing the game), he eats them for energy and finally gets out of your way. Although this is a late example, another more earlier example is found during the boss fights.
How does a boss fight work, you ask? Well, it works like most boss fights back in the day. Only... Whenever they use their mouth beams, you must NOT avoid it, and you have to get hit by it and take damage if you wish to deal damage. As strange as it is, that's the only way you can hurt the bosses in the game. Because while they are "chewing" on your gems, you can use the time they take to chew to deal a few hits. Thankfully, no matter the difficulty, most boss fights are really simple, so you won't lose too much health during them.
Wow, would you look at that! Already, we got through the first levels of the game, and beat the first boss in the game. That didn't take too long. And in doing so, you earned a part of the map as well that will help you continue your quest. With the first baddie down, and another map part in your hands, you can now advance to the next area of the game.
You know, another odd thing about this game is how all the areas are named. There are four areas in the whole game: Magic Forest, Magic Town, Magic Sea, and Magic Moon. Why everything is known to be magic, I'm not too sure. Then again, I guess that's just how Ronald's world is like.
Oh-ho, sorry, have I been blabbing on for too long? Heh heh, sorry, it's a habit. Well, to avoid spoiling too much of the game and feeding you useless info, why don't we just wrap this up?
Although this game may not look like much, it is in fact, far more fun then you will believe. Sure, the story may not be the best (you should see the ending), and the sound effects may be average, but when it comes to graphics, music, control, and gameplay, it's worth a play. Give it a shot. You won't be disappointed.
I hope I did a good job with this review. Now, if you excuse me, I need to rest. It's late. Yawn...