M.C. Kids

"It's not bad, but I think it's too difficult for the target audience."

Well the giant McDonald's arch on the front of the game should tell you everything you need to know. M.C. Kids (Which I think is actually pronounced "McKids", but anyway) was a game released by Virgin in 1991. In this game, Ronald McDonald's Magic Bag of tricks has been stolen by the Hamburglar, and you, playing as either Mick (The white kid with the baseball cap), or Mack (The black, afroed kid), must help him get it back. Along the way, you travel to the realms of other McDonald's characters whom you never seem to see anymore, like Cosmc, The Professor, and Grimace.

Graphics: 5/10- Your character is fairly well done, though he has that Pillsbury Dough Boy look (Especially Mick). He's even animated well, using more than 2 frames of animation. The enemies are also well animated, and there a quite a few of them too. The backgrounds, however, are nothing to write home about. They're simplistic and there's no parallax scrolling. Just look at the mountains in the first level and you'll see what I mean. As you collect cards (More on that later), though, you see a decent picture of each character's face.

Sonud: 7/10- I'll admit it, the music is catchy (Though that doesn't necessarily make it good). Some of the themes, from the more mellow wandering around the map theme, to the happier level 1 theme, really does put you in a happy mood (It reminds a person of McDonalds in a subtle way too). I'm not sure I'd say it fits the mood of whatever stage you're in, but overall it has a happy tone to it. The sound effects are your standard "boops" and "Beeps" as you hit enemies with blocks, grab blocks, or get hit.

Control: 5/10- In general, the control is pretty decent. Your character responds well to the buttons and control pad. But there are 2 MAJOR problems I see with the control. First, in order to run fast, you need clear space (Runway space, let's say). The problem with this is there's no turbo button, as there is in say, Super Mario Brothers. You just run faster whether you like it or not. Also, when you grab blocks, you don't throw them NEARLY far enough. Well, I correct that. They go far enough, assuming you have room, but hitting enemies with them is almost impossible because they hit the ground almost as soon as you throw them, and from there BOUNCE (HUH?!) along the ground, sometimes going right over enemies' heads. Being able to reverse yourself and explore the stage upside down is pretty cool though.

Story: 7/10- Yes it's pretty cheesy ("Get Ronald's bag of tricks back from the Hamburglar"), but at least it's not "Save the world from the Evil Meanie(tm)" (Though it may be that in disguise), so it gets a 7.

Challenge: 7/10- Getting through the stages themselves isn't that hard, but there's a whole other element to progressing (And here's where the game falters). It's kind of like Super Mario World, where you have to explore every nook and every cranny of every stage. This is so you can find "Puzzle Cards". If you don't find enough of the cards, you can't leave the world you're on (Or rather, you can't progress to the next one). In each world you meet a McDonald's character who tells you to find more Cards so that you can go on. The problem I have with this, is that it seems to me with McDonald's characters in a video game, you're going for a pretty young audience (5-10 years old or so). This kind of exploration should not be necessary for that type of game.

Replay Value: 7/10- There are many cards to find, and it's a pretty big game, so you'll probably play it awhile. However, Mick and Mack have no differences in their abilities, and so other than trying to find EVERY card, there's not much reason to play this game many times (It doesn't even keep score).

Overall: 6/10- Actually, it probably deserves better than a 6, but as I said earlier, the game is too complex for younger gamers (Whom I'm pretty sure was the target for this game; I mean look at it, it's more or less a huge McDonald's advertisement), and older gamers may be turned off by its cuteness. Once you can force yourself to ignore the McDonald's memorabilia contained within, you'll actually find a deep, satisfing game, kind of like an NES Super Mario World but without a save feature.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99