Treasure president and project programmer Masato Maegawa mandated that the game had to be faithful and respectful to the McDonald's licensing and characters during production.

[1] Ronald can shoot a forward-moving magic attack to defeat enemies, and can use his scarf to attach to grapple hooks to reach higher platforms.

[2] These stores sell a variety of items, including additional jewels, power-ups that increase the strength of his magic attack, and balloons that allow him to safely glide over enemies and obstacles.

[2][4] Maegawa formed Treasure in 1992 after he and his team became frustrated with Konami's growing reliance on developing sequels to established series, such as Castlevania and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and wanted to focus on creating new and original titles.

[5] Sega instead contracted Treasure to develop a game based on the McDonald's fast food franchise, specifically its McDonaldland marketing campaign.

[13] Mean Machines Sega writer Paul Gus shared a similar amount of surprise: "Why on earth Treasure would want to devote so much effort to a game only to make it so very easy is a mystery.

[16] A reviewer for Electronic Gaming Monthly complimented the large, item-filled levels and cameos from other McDonaldland characters,[11] as did Consoles+ writer Richard Homsy.

[14] Retrospective feedback on Treasure Land Adventure has also been positive, though critics believe it lacks the same polish and technological power present in its other works like Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy.

[1] Kotaku's Luke Taylor commended the game for being far above the usual quality of licensed titles, with an interesting graphical style and solid gameplay.

[2] Paul Staddon, a writer for Retro Gamer, found some of Treasure Land Adventure's ideas innovative for the genre, and possessing fun gameplay and colorful visuals.