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M.C. Kids, released in 1992 by Virgin Interactive, was originally conceived as a promotion for McDonald's, but fell into obscurity a few years after release. It's a basic platformer—the Hamburglar ran off with Ronald McDonald's bag of magic, and "Mick" and "Mack" have to get it back, meeting various McDonaldland characters along the way as they go through six platforming worlds. According to an interview at tsr's nes archive, it was under the direction of McDonald's Corporation (well, Virgin's contact at least) that no food be featured in the game but a big promotion for it never materialized because of a few reasons, part of it being was that it was a few months late, a complaint from Nintendo mid-way through that the maps looked too similar to Super Mario World, and McDonald's lost interest in the project anyway.
Platformer action! (Source: NES Ninja)
The "20-page strategy guide insert in Electronic Gaming Monthly" as mentioned in the interview was only sixteen pages and can be seen here. As for the game, it's very easy even for a NES game (though has no password or save functions). There's various themes to the six worlds you'll traverse (Hamburglar, despite being a rather light-hearted character even in the 1970s, hides out in the requisite lava world). However, there is the issue of just how incomplete it is. The first three worlds have six levels, but Professor's Workshop (the fourth) has five, and the last two have just four. (There's also a three-level bonus world).
What, not even a free thing of French fries? (Source: GameFAQs)
Even if you remember McDonald's characters in the 1990s (Birdie and Grimace, mostly), you're probably having trouble recalling who the Professor was. At the time of the game's release, the Professor hadn't been seen for a few years nor would ever be seen from again. He was dropped in the 1980s streamlining, along with Mayor McCheese and Officer Big Mac, both of whom could not appear in the game because of the "no food" ordering, but that leaves Captain Crook, who also wasn't directly food-related but likely got cut in the planning process (there is a level named after him, though).
That's the problem with licensed games, even if they could be good, they don't get the time of day. If McDonald's had a deadline, they probably should've contracted with Data East and polished up the 1987 Famicom-only game Donald Land with new graphics and extra features. Or heck, any game. Later that year, Capcom released Yo! Noid stateside (with the mascot of Domino's Pizza) and that originally wasn't a Noid-themed game at all, it was a localized version of an original title named Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru ("Masked Ninja Hanamaru"). Seems like they could've found anything.
On the other hand, since M.C. Kids' only real restriction was the fact that the NES was becoming outdated (and porting it to SNES would've only created more problems) it deserved better. Considering that "McKids" was already a store brand partnered with Sears (and eventually, Wal-Mart), it needed a new name, too. Maybe the idea of making it McDonald's-themed (sort of) was a mistake.
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