M.C. Kids

"McDonalds successfully ventures into the game industry"

This is one of the games I remember playing the most as a little kid! We were never fortunate enough to own a Nintendo, but many years later I finally did purchase one. This was the very first game I bought for it. Why? Well, I like to think of games that were really hard when I was really little and then buy them and beat them really quickly as revenge for all the torture I went through trying to beat them when I was little. This game fit the description perfectly!

When I put it in to try it out, I thought it was just some crummy ripoff of Super Mario Brothers, not to mention just another promotion for McDonalds. If you watch the opening sequence with Ronald saying, “Help! Help! Someone’s stolen my Magic Bag!” or something to that extent, you’ll understand why. Surprisingly enough, the game turned out to be very original and quite stimulating! I had to leave my Nintendo on all weekend for it! Here’s what I thought:

Controls 9/10: Very easy to figure out, however there are some times when Mick and Mack would rather just run straight forward down a cliff instead of jumping to the next platform. Having played Mario games for so long before this, I found myself constantly holding the B button, urging Mick and Mack to run faster, when really the B button is just for picking up items. I wasted a LOT of lives by trying to jump on enemies instead of throwing blocks at them. I knew they couldn’t die that way, but I just kept on jumping and jumping. Old habits die hard.

Gameplay 10/10: I left my Nintendo on all weekend for this game! On a long weekend! Using the BIG TV! Everyone in the house wanted turns playing it too. It’s just challenging enough that little kids can make it through the first coupla levels or so in less than an hour, but if you’re serious about it and want to go all the way you’ll probably need to leave your Nintendo on overnight. Everything in this game combines so well that it’s easy to spend hours and hours playing it. One of the nice things about this game is that you don’t have to beat every level to get to the next area.

Plot 8/10: Well, it’s a good plot, but I have to say it’s not the most original one ever. In the first 5 minutes of this game you’ll most likely notice a similarity between this game and all of the Mario games for NES. However, I must say that the whole idea of collecting puzzle cards to find Ronald’s magic bag is pretty interesting. I never did understand why you had to make puzzles, though. The cool thing about the plot, in a childish sort of way, is that you end up visiting some REALLY cool places! Plus, visiting Birdie, Ronald, and friends is pretty neat too.

Graphics 10/10: If I could give this game 11/10 for graphics, I would! The colours are very bright and vivid, not to mention pretty realistic for a NES, things move the way they should (I guess a better way to say that would be that they obey the laws of physics), and there’s a whole plethora of different items and locations. The McMoose is by far THE cutest character in any NES game. I let myself die multiple times just to look at it and go, “Aww, it’s SO ADORABLE!” even though I could have just paused and looked at it. In my opinion, the graphics in this game are better than some games for the Super Nintendo. The only bad thing I can say about graphics is that occasionally there were a couple of little glitches where I was half-invisible, but that might just have been my NES protesting at being left on all weekend.

Sound 7/10: Nothing memorable, but not too bad either. I like the sound enemies make when you hit them with a block, hehe. It’s… bouncy.

Replayability 10/10: This game is very replayable. There are seemingly endless amounts of secret areas, secret cards, and secret levels to be found. In addition, the game itself is just so enjoyable that it doesn’t get boring when you play it again. Once you’ve found Ronald’s bag, you can amuse yourself by getting all the secret cards and even just passing all the levels.

Overall rating: 9/10

Final Recommendation: Buy it! It’s definitely not one of those games you can just beat in 2 hours and leave to rot on a shelf. You can play it with almost anyone and there’s always something else to find or to do in this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/06/03