Summary
Designer:
Virgin Games
Year:
1991
Genre:
Side Scroller,
Promotional Game
Platform:
Nintendo Entertainment System (
NES)
M. C. Kids was a promotional
game about two kids who sleep out in a
tent and read a
book about how
Mick and
Mack (a black kid and a white kid, respectively) retrieve
Ronald McDonald's
bag of magic from the
Hamburglar. You play as either Mick or Mack (there is an
item called the "Mick Mack'r" which toggles your avatar. It is placed at the beginning of the game and in all bonus games), and you travel through different levels retrieiving
puzzle cards to reveal the face of one of the
McDonald's characters. After you have reached a certain amount of
cards, the character whose face you have made allows you to pass on to the next stage.
M. C. Kids didn't do well on the market, since
McDonalds refused to put out a promotional
Happy Meal Toy, and
critics said it was a "
Mario rip off," because of the level arrangement. The maps of the
worlds were configured somewhat like
Super Mario Brothers 3 in that you did not have to go to every single level in order to get to the end. The game is not, however, like
Super Mario Brothers 3 in the respect that if you skip a
level, you are unable to get the card for that level, and thus unable to pass to the next
world. If you pass through the
gate at the end of the level without getting the
card (which is
hidden somewhere in the level), you can pass to the next level, but you don't have the card, and won't be able to pass to the next world. M. C. Kids, in that respect, is much more
challenging than
Super Mario Brothers 3.
When confronted with an enemy,
Mick or
Mack can throw an object at them (a
block, a
boat, a
beveled block or a
snowball) to
kill them. One of the challenges in the game, however, is that if the place an
enemy usually roams gets off the screen, when you return to that place, the enemy will re-appear. However, when a block is thrown, it is gone for good. Given the limited amount of blocks and the unlimited amount of enemies, retracing your steps is not reccomended :).
Levels
Ronald's Clubhouse
- The Garden
- Gopher Grove
- Lazy Leaves
- Mountain View
- Hidden Glen
- Towering Trees
Birdie's Clubhouse
- The Stratosphere
- Slippery Slopes
- Icy Maze
- Secret Suprise
- Frozen Caverns
- Frosty Mountain
Grimace's Highlands
- Clifton Heights
- Moose Bridge
- Lumberjack Lane
- Fry Kid Falls
- Danger Lake
- Far Fall's Forest
Proffesor's Workshop
- Ports Comets
- Dino Dunes
- Magic Forest
- Desert Cave
- Captain's Ship
CosMc
- Moon Monster
- Swisserland
- Constellations
- Spring Fever
Hamburglar's Hideout
- Burning Bridges
- Lava Belts
- Molten Madness
- Magic Cave (final stage)
Items
Block - The basic throwing and climbing item for the entire game. Pick it up with B, throw it with B, it will bounce around, kill enemies it hits, and then fall off the screen.
Beveled Block - This looks like a block, except the bevel is larger, it is an advanced throwing and climbing item. It can be used like a normal block, but it has two special features. First, it will not fall off the screen when thrown onto the ground. Second, if there is a floating dotted outline of one, if you put the beveled block into it, you can jump on it and it becomes a moving platform
Reverse Arrow - A black block with a yellow arrow in it. Touching it shoots you to the beginning of the level.
Puzzle Card - A red card with a gold M in it. Grabbing it with B gives you a corresponding piece of the puzzle.
1 Card - A red card with a yellow 1 in it. Grabbing it with B gives you an extra life.
Up/Down Block - These blocks are use in the Bonus Game. They go up and down corresponding to their arrow, and switch between up and down at random.
Mick Mack'r - A block with a crescent moon in it. If you hit against it, it toggles your avatar between Mick and Mack.
Springboard - A red board on a black pipe. You jump on it and it shoots you high into the air
Super Springboard - A large red board with yellow dots on a black pipe. Jumping on it shoots you a little into the air, but jumping onto it while holding a block makes it depress fully, and launch you far into the air.
Banana Leaf - This is a large green leaf that falls (soem of them just look like they are falling and stay in place). You usually use them to jump from place to place.
Zipper Warp - A zipper in the fabric of reality (virtual reality). Pressing B on this will transport you to another place. Usually a gift level with lots of arches and 1 blocks, or the location of a puzzle piece.
Arches - McDonalds arches. I haven't determine why one collects these, because they don't give extra lives or extra hearts, but they reset at 100 and you lose 10 of them if you are hit by something.
Flipper - A wheel-like thing at the end of a platform. Running at top speed on it reverses the gravity in the level so you can play it upside-down. One of the most fun things in the game.
Snow Pile - A pile of snow. Hitting B while on it grabs a snowball from the pile.
Snowball - A block of sorts, used to kill enemies. You can get them from a snow pile.
Boat - A red little paddle boat that your character uses to get around in water without fear of pirahna attack. While inside it, pressing down and B takes the boat into your characters hands (so they can carry it to another body of water, presumeably).
Enemies
Gopher - A gopher that paces on whatever platform it is on.
Ice Gopher - A gopher that is in a block of ice. It does not move, and hitting it with blocks slides it along. You have to kill it by pushing it to the edge with blocks.
Fin Gopher - A small gopher that paces on a platform quickly, holding a fin (so it can be seen over the clouds).
Piranha - A red fish that kills you on contact (not lose a heart, lose a life).
Pink Fish - A little pink fish that jumps out of the water in one place, then falls back in another. It is quite possibly the most annoying enemy in the game.
Fat Bird - A small, fat, yellow bird that bounces up and down, occasionally bouncing higher than normally.
Dodo - A red bird that looks similar to a Dodo, but flies directly forward (passing through objects in their way)
Snail - A slow-moving, greenish snail that paces back and forth on its platform.
Hermit Crab - Basically a bigger snail.
Abominable Snowman - A creature made of snow. It shoots small snowballs directly forward and paces on its platform.
Spring - A red creature that looks like a spring, or the bottom of a lightbulb. It stays as close to you as it can without running into objects.
Elk - An Elk. It walks peacefully normally, but when you are in range it puts down its head and charges at you.
Drill - A drill that comes from the ground and drills upward.
I don't really know the official names of all the things, just what I've called them (I didn't make up the Mick Mack'r, I was calling it a "Moon Block"), so if you know what something is really called, /msg me about it. Also, if you notice that I am wrong about something or mising something, /msg me and I'll change it. Thanks.