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by i_c_b 1095 days ago
This isn't even the first legitimately interesting video game connection to McDonalds, weirdly.

Treasure is an influential game development studio that did a lot of really interesting work in the mid to late 90s, responsible for games like Gunstar Heroes, Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, Bangai-o, Silhouette Mirage, Dynamite Headdy, Mischief Makers, Alien Soldier, and others. They were a bunch of ex-Konami developers (who had worked on games like Contra 3, Axelay, Super Castlevania 4, the arcade Simpsons) who were tired of making license games and wanted to make their own original games. A few of their games did well in the market, but they and their particular approach to innovation in action game rule systems has had a much, much bigger impact on other action game developers since.

And their very first game when they left Konami and started their own studio, the game they had to make to stay afloat to make Gunstar Heroes, was... a Sega Genesis McDonalds game, the 1993 "McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure".

Longplay here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNbmJyL872c

I've never played it, but it looks really solid and vastly better than it has any right to be.

12 comments

Not even the only McDonald's branded game of the era! I played MC Kids growing up on NEWS and it also was a dramatically better game than it had any right to be. Not quite the same storied history but still recommend playing if you're looking for some hidden NES gems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nKywTkMnAs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.C._Kids

The guy who programmed MC Kids did a writeup on the game's engineering that serves as a wonderful introduction to programming for the NES.

https://games.greggman.com/game/programming_m_c__kids/

Man, that video was nostalgic. I played this so much that I remember the song...
I played the crap out of that game as a kid and it WAS better than it should have been. You can play it here: https://www.playroms.net/sega-roms/mcdonalds-treasure-land-a...
Don't forget the legend of the lost Mcdonand's Training DS Game: https://kotaku.com/we-can-all-finally-learn-how-to-make-big-...
And don't forget Nick Robinson's fantastic mini(?) documentary on it: https://youtu.be/-e6xOBCAVvA
That game's music is particularly special. Listen to the final boss theme! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJaWgvWvvgc.
Not bad, ... but I was secretly hoping for a chip tunes cover of Pair-a-Buns by Mac Sabbath :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7kFfLRcHjU

Sounds a lot like some stuff on Dynamite Headdy, very nice.
And predating that by a year is M.C.Kids for NES [1], which I remember from my childhood

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.C._Kids

Let's not forget Mick and Mac (Global Gladiators?).
That's right, Global Gladiators > https://www.guardiana.net/MDG-Database/Mega+Drive/Global+Gla...

A cool game, fun and dynamic, with a bonus stage where you have to pick up garbage falling from the sky faster and faster, and sort it for recycling.

Because, yes, it was a game that wanted to brainwash you into thinking McDonald = environmentalism. What a joke.

This might contain the only original music Tommy Tallerico wrote and recorded for a video game.
Yep, thanks for posting. I have it on my Batocera rig right now.

Also let’s not forget about the long tradition of Pepsi video games including the interesting Japanese Pepsiman and the PlayStation release!

https://youtu.be/lNF3dBiSH4M

I've seen Pepsiman played at a GDQ[0] event and it is such good entertainment. I forget which year it was but I remember commentary about how the community found the guy who did the acting ("Pepsi for TV Game!") in the game and how he claimed to have been specifically directed to use broken English.

(2016: https://youtu.be/C33Xo1hE9XE 13:00 for the quote)

[0] https://gamesdonequick.com/

I played that alot as a kid. I struggled with staying focused to beat a game, especially with the infamouse Sonic 3 Carnival Night Zone before the age of Youtube. This game was one of the first I was able to beat as a kid.
Gunstar Heroes is still one of my favorite games, it had so much stuff, and fun co-op.
and there was a crazy freaky 3d test Easter egg found just 2 years ago for the first time. https://youtu.be/BvGC5dJg3E8
Love the knowledge drop! Thank you!
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