Wait, what? Treasure did a game based on a license? And McDonald’s? Really? For all their wild creativity, Treasure has made its share of games based on licensed property. This was the first, but they would eventually craft games based on Bleach, Astro Boy, Yu Yu Hakusho, and others. Surprisingly, it’s a quite competent platformer. It’s not too tough, which makes sense, given the audience, and it’s actually quite full of the zaniness that one would expect from Treasure.

You play as Ronald McDonald, naturally. And he can jump, throw magic, and use a kind of grappling hook or glove to ascend on hooks. Astute observers will note that this mechanic would come back into play in another, later Treasure platformer. There are shops with which one can purchase gems (and gem extensions), lives, continues, and other items, adding a small layer of depth to the game.

An interesting conceit is the boss battles. You can’t just wail on the bosses at the start. Instead, in an almost Galaga-esque fashion, you must allow them to steal one of your gems (which serve as your life), which makes them vulnerable to your magic for a limited period of time. It actually adds a touch more strategy to the game, even if it doesn’t make the game significantly harder.

There are a lot of slick graphical tricks that Treasure does with the hardware, which also certainly aligns itself with their usual modus operandi. It’s something that we will see from Treasure time and time again, generally pushing the hardware to its absolute limits with virtually no slowdown.

All in all, McDonald’s Treasure Land is an above-average platformer, and much more than one would expect from the license.

Article by Lee Hathcock

GameSpite Journal 12: Gunstar Heroes