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A playthough of Virgin's 1992 license-based platformer for the NES, M.C. Kids. This video shows all of the stages, including the ones unlocked by finding all of the secret puzzle cards, played through as Mick. I loved Kid 'n Play, so his fresh high top fade made the choice all too easy. Rounding out this week's marathon of games featuring the McDonald's license is M.C. Kids, a 1992 action game that feels an awful lot like Super Mario Bros. 3 in many ways. M.C. Kids features two kids, Mick & Mack, whom we see again in Virgin's pseudo-followup title Mick & Mack in Global Gladiators, for the Sega Genesis (which you can find here: ). If you've got a friend who wants to play along, the game supports alternating-play for two players. Mick and Mack aren't trying to save the environment, the world, a princess, or any other such thing in this outing. This time, the Hamburglar has made off with Ronald's “magic bag,“ and Ronald needs our help to retrieve it! Being the inconsiderate and entitled sort that he is, Ronald demands that we first find four of his puzzle cards before he shows us the way forward (guess he doesn't need his magic bag back so much after all!), and this sets up the basic structure of the adventure. Each new area requires that you find a mascot's' cards, and in return they each give you a way to progress. There are over forty stages in M.C. Kids, and most of them are quite sizable and non-linear. Most will contain at least one of these cards, a bunch of spinning M icons (think coins), and a small assortment of inconveniently placed enemies to keep things from getting too easy. But yeah, don't worry about sailing through M.C. Kids too quickly. Things start off simple, but some of the later stages will thoroughly test your reflexes and your aptitude for searching nooks and crannies. There are also a few fairly difficult puzzles to work out in the final set of stages if you truly want to see everything the game has to offer. Though you can't stomp on enemies, the game does resemble Mario 3 in several ways. The world map, the open stage layouts, the plethora of hidden areas and secret items, and the general feel of gameplay will all feel familiar to any NES fan. It doesn't fall victim to being a mere clone of Nintendo's mega-hit thanks to the additions made to the formula (the designers seem to *love* block puzzles), and the level designs are logically laid out and are genuinely fun to explore. There's some pretty sweet music here, too. I remember reading that this one sold pretty poorly, and that seems unfair for such a well-made game. Maybe it was the McDonalds license, or maybe it was because it was an NES game that released just past the Christmas season that saw the launch of the SNES - who can tell? But I can assure you that, if you're looking for quality, M.C. Kids rivals the likes of the excellent McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure on the Genesis ( ). If you're a Mario fan, you won't find it hard to absorb yourself in this one. There was also a Game Boy version of the game, but it was only released in Europe with the McDonalds branding. It was turned into Cool Spot when it was brought stateside. Here's a recording of the European version: _____________ No cheats were used during the recording of this video. NintendoComplete () punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!
