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In an unexpected turn of events, McDonald's has started a new marketing campaign, announcing the return of their beloved McDonaldLand characters, like Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, Hamburgular and the McNugget Buddies, as well as promoting a new ice cream shake "Grimace's Birthday". However, that wasn't the only way in which McDonald's is making said promotions.

McDonald's opened a new website titled "grimacesbirthday.com", and users are greeted with a surplus of ad-like images containing McDonald's marketing material, and the most interesting of all, is a free-to-play game in the website, appropriately titled "Grimace's Birthday". At first glance, and for those who have been in the internet for quite some time, the title might seem like your typical Java or Flash game running in the website, but the reality of it is entirely different.

"Grimace's Birthday" is actually an entirely new GameBoy Color ROM developed by Krool Toys, a new release for the GBC system in 2023, more than 2 decades after the device has been out of stores.
Those interested in playing the game can do so directly through McDonald's website, but a dump of the game has also been making its rounds online in ROM format.

UPDATE: The game "Grimace's Birthday" was made specifically for this celebration in 2023, and it was done with the use of GB Studio.

Grimace's Birthday website
GB Studio Central article

 

[Timbo303]

I just tested the rom on sameboy emulator with retroarch. I noticed some weird stuff going on that lags and glitches out the emulator on sameboy when you do score attack or freeskate and then it will somrtimes do weird stuff. You can beat the main game though. Gambette seems to work fine.

Post automatically merged: Jun 14, 2023

Access denied. Looks like they wisened up. Anyone got a link?

Im able to download it.

 

[impeeza]

Access denied. Looks like they wisened up. Anyone got a link?

the URL is working fine just now.

 

[Rabbid4240]

So they can just make a GBC game whenever they want, but can't repair the ice cream machine for shit

 

[fst312]

This game is actually not bad. I’m not great all the time with touch screen controls but I still managed to play well. Will be playing this with actual buttons when I get a chance.

 

[K3Nv2]

At least YouTube knows McDonald's released something new

 

[AkiraKurusu]

Actual Game Boy Color ROM file is here: https://grimacesbirthday.com/bX4TvUeiUEfKRw8bkPGaB
Just add the .gbc extension and it will work in every emulator.

Wait, does that count as "sharing warez"? Honestly asking.

 

[Blauhasenpopo]

Wait, does that count as "sharing warez"? Honestly asking.

No, it's a free to play title

 

[Chelsea_Fantasy]

Access denied. Looks like they wisened up. Anyone got a link?

They uploaded a new revision of the game and changed the link, here it is:
https://grimacesbirthday.com/bX4TvUeiUEfKRw8bkPGaB.gb

Wait, does that count as "sharing warez"? Honestly asking.

It is just sharing a link to the file hosted in the official website... Nothing illegal there...

 

[ciaomao]

Bonus, now that my batteries are charged - here's what you get when you run it on an older Gameboy:

View attachment 377744

damn it, I am locked out from the party. thx for the hint, saved me some time. how can they be so heartless and only think about the kids with the newfangled color video game devices!

 

[lordelan]

They uploaded a new revision of the game and changed the link, here it is:
https://grimacesbirthday.com/bX4TvUeiUEfKRw8bkPGaB.gb

Thanks. Gotta admit that was unexpected as f*ck.
GB Studio games are spawning like crazy here and there. Everyone who's a little bored seem to put one out and I appreciate it because even if only 1 out of 100 is decent it means I get a decent new GB game (Reddit helps a lot finding that 1 out of 100).
However seeing this from one of the biggest (fast food) franchises of the world, that worked together with Nintendo many times in the past, is a real surprise because, it definitely seem to be an unofficial aftermarket game. Legit but surprising. I take it.

 

[duwen]

Cool. I just grabbed the rom (I found two; one with a .gb extension and another with a .gbc extension, but both seem identical other than the file extension) and I'll give it a go on real hardware.

 

[RupeeClock]

Cool. I just grabbed the rom (I found two; one with a .gb extension and another with a .gbc extension, but both seem identical other than the file extension) and I'll give it a go on real hardware.

The file I downloaded from the official site yesterday (without a correct file extension), and the .gb file I downloaded today have different hashes, so it may be a revision for minor bugfixes, content changes, etc.

 

[Bladexdsl]

they make a GBC game but can't put real chicken in their nuggets?!

 

[Veho]

Oh great, China gets a McNugget shaped handheld for McD's anniversary, and we get a game for a 30 year old console

 

[diggeloid]

I love everything about this. Would it be too much to ask for a physical cart in a happy meal? I'd celebrate my own damn birthday at McDonalds if they did that

 

[HarveyHouston]

Okay... the BIG question... Does it work on the Analogue?

 

[RAHelllord]

Okay... the BIG question... Does it work on the Analogue?

It does, I tested it yesterday and posted a photo here.

 

[SylverReZ]

This is a really fun game, better than M.C. Kids.

 

[gnmmarechal]

That's rather unusual, nice to see though.

 

[Maximumbeans]

Are they going to open up birthday party bookings again next?