McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure

McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure is a licensed platformer/puzzle title by Treasure released for the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1993.

PLOT
One day, as Ronald McDonald was walking in the Magical Forest he found a small piece of paper under a big tree.

"What's this? It looks like a piece of a treasure map." Ronald mused. "I wonder where the rest of the map is?"

What Ronald didn't know was that three bad guys each had a piece of the map.

"Ok," Ronald said with a smile, "let's go on a treasure hunt!"

And so, with a piece of the map in his hand, Ronald begins his adventure...

Gameplay
The player takes control of Ronald McDonald and guides him through four locations within McDonaldland, starting with the Magical Forest, heading into the Magical Town, across the Magical Sea and eventually travelling to the Magical Moon.

As well as being able to jump, Ronald is capable of firing off a magical blast of sparkly stars to defeat the enemies of his world, and can use a scarf rope like a grapple hook to pull himself up to higher platforms.

Ronald's magical blast can be upgraded by picking up bags of gold and spent in an in game store. As well as powering up Ronald's magical attack you can also purchase balloons which will rescue you should you accidentally fall into a pit, extra lives, life items that increase Ronald's health bar and continues.

Ronald's health bar is represented by jewels, which can be restored by grabbing flowers(or rings in the Japanese and European release). If you're at max health, the game allows you to bank these additional items until you require them to restore your health.

Ronald's health jewels are also vital to defeating boss enemies in this game. Ronald must let the boss devour one of his health jewels in order to put them into a vulnerable state at which point Ronald can attack them.

Aside from platforming, you can also play a Columns inspired mini game to earn more items.

Trivia

 * Treasure originally approached SEGA interested in getting their first game, Gunstar Heroes, published but SEGA rejected them as Treasure was a new start up company. They did however offer them the rights to make this game, which Treasure accepted using it to fund Gunstar Heroes finishing touches. Both games were released and published within the same year thanks to SEGA being impressed with this title.
 * Alongside Ronald McDonald, other McDonald characters such as Grimace, the Hamburgler, Birdie the Early Bird, the Fry Kids and the Professor all put in appearances in this game.
 * McDonalds Treasure Land Adventure is considered one of the very best license games released during the 16-bit era, scoring highly with critics, and being praised for it's visuals and level of quality not seen in many others of the time.