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McDonald's just came out with BILLY'S GIANT EGG this Thursday and I just got one of the few remaining units. The packaging has a typo on it and only says BILLY' GIANT EGG.

BILLY'S GIANT EGG is the second last electronic game in the Sega 3 series and I got a Cheeseburger Happy Meal but didn't eat it (told the McDonald's server that I only wanted the game, but I took the drink). ;)

The manual is printed like the previous iterations of the McDonald's / SEGA collaboration - it's a single sheet of paper with instructions on how to play the game - in this case BILLY'S GIANT EGG, another Sonic franchise character.

BILLY'S GIANT EGG also comes in a clamshell design and has two directional buttons in the shape of eggs. The premise of the game is to get Billy to collect fruits while the egg gets bigger and bigger (three sizes) while avoiding hazards.

Here is a screenshot of the action - BILLY'S GIANT EGG was way too easy for me. I finished the game on the first try and consistently managed to get through all three levels and hatch the egg. It was a total contrast to the previous unit's hard gameplay.

Collect 20 fruits to advance a level and hatch the egg!

McDonald's came out with the 3rd iteration of their McDonald's / SEGA video game franchise partnership and this time it's free with every purchase of a Happy Meal. I collected the first McDonald's / SEGA collaboration [sixthseal.com] as well as SEGA 2 [sixthseal.com and I wasn't about to miss the third.

TAILS SKY ADVENTURE is the first electronic game in the Sega 3 series and David was kind enough to get it for me while I was in the hospital (it was the very last set). It came with a Cheeseburger and Corn Happy Meal if that interests you, which I don't think it does. ;)

The manual is printed like the previous iterations of the McDonald's / SEGA collaboration - it's a single sheet of paper with instructions on how to play the game - in this case TAILS SKY ADVENTURE, a Sonic franchise character.

TAILS SKY ADVENTURE opens up like a clamshell phone to reveal the game which has two directional buttons and an action button. The premise of the game is to shoot down rogue squadrons by moving left and right and pressing the button while navigating TAILS to victory.

Here is a screenshot of the action - it's a little harder than the previous games, or perhaps I've just lost a lot of my hand eye coordination from the benzos and antipsychotics I'm taking coz I couldn't even finish it after the sixth attempt!

Bring down the enemy ships! Good luck!

The Sega2/McDonalds mini video game promotion has ended. McDonald's released a new mini video game made by the Sega team every week on Thursday. It's a joint promotion that continues where the first one left off, thus the name Sega2. The mini video games retails for RM 6 each with every McDonald's meal purchase. There were six different mini video games in total, and it's all reviewed and linked here:

Sega2 Mini Video Games #1 - Sonic Skateboard [sixthseal.com]

Sega2 Mini Video Games #2 - Cream Flower Catch [sixthseal.com]

Sega2 Mini Video Games #3 - Tails Soccer [sixthseal.com]

Sega2 Mini Video Games #4 - Shadow Basketball [sixthseal.com]

Sega2 Mini Video Games #5 - Amy & Rouge Tennis [sixthseal.com]

Sega2 Mini Video Games #6 - Knuckles Baseball [sixthseal.com]

The Sega2 series is a definite improvement over the first Sega series. I'll love to see a third promotional run.

This is the last mini video game in the Sega2 mini video game promotional tie in with McDonalds - Knuckles Baseball. It just came out this morning and it's the sixth and final one in the series.

The packaging of this one has a slight difference from its previous five predecessors. This one opens up at the top and bottom instead of from the sides.

Here's what Knuckles Basketball looks like. It has a dark orange color scheme, with the usual transparent cover. It only has two up-down directional buttons though, to make Knuckles go in three possible positions to catch the baseball.

The manual indicates that this is a simple game, and true enough, I finished it on the first run.

Here's the pre-printed color background. It shows a baseball field and Sonic as the batter.

I caught your curve ball Sonic, try harder!

Amy & Rouge Tennis is the latest game in the Sega2/McDonald's joint promotion. It just came out today and it's the first one to feature different covers on each side. The one above shows Amy, and the picture behind that shows Rouge.

This is Rouge. The non-mirror image packaging is novel, I postulate it's coz this game features two protagonists instead of one. I think Amy is meant to be cute and Rouge meant to look like some faux bad ass.

Here's the plastic shrink wrap it came in. It's the now standard, relatively thick covering with the name of the game on it.

This is the manual. I'll be honest and say that I can't make head or tail (no pun intended) of the game rules. I don't know how to play it. This is definitely the hardest to understand game in the series - it has the most complex game play by far.

Here's the mini video game in all its glory - pink motif, and a nice sticker with the characters on it.

This one also follows in Shadow Basketball's footstep in the controllers - it has two left and right toggles to move the character(s) and a blue button to hit the ball or something. I think you switch from Amy to Rouge at some point.

The pre-painted background is the most colorful one to date - the two characters are represented at top right and top left with colored detail and the game field shows a full length tennis court.

This is not something I could finish just by repeatedly pushing the button. I still can't finish it. I don't know how to play it. I can't finish it! Does that make me stoopid?

This is the latest mini video game from McDonald's - Shadow Basketball. I reckon Shadow thinks of himself as something of a bad ass, posing in that confrontational attitude. ;) Unfortunately, the game places you on his side, so you can't do a full on body block to show him who's in charge of the court here.

The plastic wrap shows Shadow in either a "come get some" or "I'm doing some serious air" pose, I can't decide which. ;) The color theme of this mini video game is black, with a see through black casing.

The manual now comes in the double printed English/Chinese instructions we saw in the previous game in the series.

Here's what the Shadow Basketball handheld game looks like. It's on a vertical play field.

Shadow Basketball is the most complex game to date - it has two yellow arrow keys to move Shadow left, right or center and a red button for Shadow to take a shot.

Here's a look at the pre-painted color background...it shows the three pointer circle of the opponent's end.

Shadow Basketball starts out with one robot looking defender trying to block your shots at the hoop. Shadow can score if the robot is not in front of the shot angle. He can also score if the robot is in front of the shot angle, but the robot's hands needs to be down, or "off guard". The robot blocks the shot when its hands are up during an attempt at the hoop. The game increases the number of robot defenders up to three and also steps up the speed of their repetitive blocking attempts.

I took a video of the game play, including the final stage, and the winning animation. This is taken as macro as the first video is barely viewable. Rest assured, this one is perfectly clear:

Download: Shadow Basketball [sixthseal.com]

I don't know why I kept referring to Shadow Basketball as Knuckles Basketball in the video. Something must have confused me. ;) It's Shadow Basketball.

Despite the apparent complexity, it's not that hard to make blind shots and win. I won during the first attempt and the winning animation shows Shadow taking shots from all three angles.

Tails Soccer is the third in the Sega2 and McDonald's joint venture promotional series. Basically, you get to purchase one with every McDonald's meal for RM 6. Tails Soccer comes in the now standard spiffy Sega2 packaging, with box and all the frills.

The plastic wrap it comes in is also the standard Sega 2 packaging, with the name of the game and the character printed in monotone on the outside and the game with a manual (a nice word for a piece of paper) inside.

The manual is superfluous really, its just the same three stage, game goes faster as you up a stage, left-middle-right movement typical of the Sonic Team Sega2 games.

What I found unusual is that the back of the manual has the instructions printed in Chinese (Mandarin) as well. That wasn't the case with the others in the series.

Tails Soccer itself is molded like a console game controller, but it seems to be meant for smaller hands than mine coz it wasn't really comfortable to play. There is no flip-top clamshell design this time, just a standard mini video game design. It's interesting to note the similarities in the Sega2 Tails Soccer and the original Sega Knuckles Soccer [sixthseal.com]. Probably used the same chipset with minor mods.

Here's the pre-painted background...same old, same old.

Tails! God dammit, you missed the ball!

Cream Flower Catch is the second one in the McDonald's and Sega mini video games promotional tie in. It comes in a nicely designed cardboard box with a yellow motif, showing whom I presume to be Cream from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series.

The box has the McDonald's logo, it's "i'm lovin' it" tagline...

...and the SEGA logo as well.

This is the contents of the box - a nice plastic wrap with the manual and the mini video game. The Sega2 series is much better than the first Sega promotion - the new ones all have a box with colored printing and a higher quality plastic wrap. The first ones only come in a small plastic wrap.

Cream Flower Catch also features the same flip top, translucent clamshell design that was in Sonic Skateboard. However, Cream Flower Catch is longer, with a very vertical design and a yellow based theme.

Here's a look at the back of the Cream Flower Catch mini video game - it shows all the internal circuits, including the battery. There is a red on/off toggle switch as well. It's a definite improvement from the more boring first iteration.

The manual from the Sega2 series remains similar to the original Sega mini video games though - it's just a piece of one-sided printed paper, with minimal instructions. The game play is typical of handheld systems - the usual repetitive motions with everything moving faster with each level increase.

This is what Cream Flower Catch looks like in its open state - the yellow top flips up to reveal a sticker on the back of the top with Cream and her...er, friend. There are two red buttons to move Cream left, middle or right.

The Sega2 series maintains the standard of a pre-painted color background with grayscale game play elements superimposed on top when it's switched on.

Go catch the flowers, Cream!

The Sega/McDonald's promotional tie-in is back again, and it's better than ever. The aptly called Sega2 series is the second batch of mini video games from the original Sega mini video games [sixthseal.com]. The first one in this series is Sonic Skateboard. Sonic is the flagship intellectual property of Sega and Sonic Skateboard looks to be one of the better mini video games in this McDonald's and Sega promotion with its see through flip top clamshell design with all the internal ICs visible.

I did not actually know about the second promotion until it was too late - Sonic Skateboard had already sold out! Luckily, the store manager has one in her possession and was willing to part for it for RM 50. She assured me that it was in mint condition, but it didn't come with the nice packaging and manuals, so I offered her RM 30 instead and she agreed. The normal retail price is RM 6 with any McDonald's meal.

The design seems to be the same as the first batch of Sega video games which came out last year - a grayscale screen with pre-painted backgrounds and two buttons for movement control.

The game play is still the basic simple arcade style handheld video game which can be finished in 10 minutes.

There are three levels to Sonic Skateboard. Basically, the game play requires you to use the two red buttons to move Sonic to one of three possible positions - left, right and center. You have to avoid the landmines while controlling Sonic, who's on a skateboard on a half pipe, while collecting rings. It's simple and fun.

Download: Sega2 Sonic Skateboard video [sixthseal.com]

Here's a video of me playing the first mini video game in the joint McDonald's/Sega promotion. The person who's taking the video is Bernice, one of my coworkers.