Freddy Pharkas is the hilarious protagonist of this frontier western spoof released in 1993 by point-and-click adventure guru, Sierra. It is a humorous Old West adventure that was dubbed the Blazing Saddles of the gaming industry by Computer Game Magazine.
After losing one of his ears in a gunfight, Freddy Pharkas decides that slinging lead is not the job for him. He turns, instead, to a more quiet profession. However, Freddy’ town of Coarsegold, California is in dire straits. Corruption and violence abound, and all of the town’s legitimate businesses are either being bought out by bad guys or losing employees due to threats and violence.
Freddy Pharkas is the hilarious protagonist of this frontier western spoof released in 1993 by point-and-click adventure guru, Sierra. It is a humorous Old West adventure that was dubbed the Blazing Saddles of the gaming industry by Computer Game Magazine.
After losing one of his ears in a gunfight, Freddy Pharkas decides that slinging lead is not the job for him. He turns, instead, to a more quiet profession. However, Freddy’ town of Coarsegold, California is in dire straits. Corruption and violence abound, and all of the town’s legitimate businesses are either being bought out by bad guys or losing employees due to threats and violence. It is up to Freddy to find and expose the bad guys, make friends and allies, and become reacquainted with the hero
he once was before Kenny the Kid took his ear.
The characters in this spoof are side-splitting. Freddy must deal with every stereotype from the Old West imaginable, from Indians to cat house madames. Freddy’s “Injun” sidekick is actually an Indian…he is Srini from East India. There is a soundtrack in the background with some funny, although uproariously cliché tunes. They can also be heard on the jukebox in the saloon. The player can pick from “tear in my beer” cowboy ballads to perverted versions of chopsticks, adding great flavor to this goof. The puzzles are fairly complex, but even if they can’t be solved immediately, there is enough humor surrounding them to keep the gamer trying new things. There are also plenty of silly extras like the bouncing ball karaoke option on the opening ballad. And the graphics, with their over-exaggerated caricatures and bright color will keep even the most discerning gaming critic interested. The close-ups are well presented and the backgrounds are also colorful, appropriate and well drawn.
The gamer should bear in mind during the download, that “The Modern Day Book of Health and Hygiene,” a manual that came with the original game, is necessary to complete many of the puzzles, and therefore, the game. It makes an excellent funny addition to this game as well, since some of the content within is also humorous. In total, Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist gets two enthusiastic thumbs up.
