Let's get medieval
Ubi Soft's Sir Fred (aka Fred) was released in 1989 and is a platform/beat 'em up. It was programmed by Tuan Do Cao and Philippe Villain, who were inspired by older games I played back in my Spectrum days.
Our adventure begins with an intro animation depicting our fearless knight tragically zapped into a midget by an angry dwarf. Shocked by this, he shakes his fists at his foe, but they cannot help themselves and burst out laughing. Adding salt to his wounds is a gnome who completes Fred’s mockery. A brilliant intro!!
That's the basis of the game: we need to heal our wounds. Wanna see some screenshots...
Now come on, who would have ever expected rude gnomes to be our enemy?
Hang on, these are armed. They might be little, but they're evil little b4s@£@s!
A garden centre platformer?
As a miniature warrior, we first explore the spooky forest to battle those garden gnomes. Other beasts lurk in the woods and castle grounds - skeletons, snakes, headless axemen, and ghosts. Everything wants you dead! So kill them with your arrows - these will even reach the baddies off-screen, which is kinda cool.
Fred is a nimble chap who can walk, leap and roll his way through his quest. However, these controls often got me into trouble: turning around reminded me of Black Lamp feeling laborious and lethargic. This cumbersome method of turning around spoils the action because our ability to react is hampered by that speed.
The graphics are interesting beyond looks, using a multi-layer arrangement. This effect is used to climb steps and bypass obstacles, to represent a 3D feel. At first, this feels odd when too high/low (behind/in front of objects). It's a good idea, but awkward in battles because both parties need to be on the same level.
Energy levels are indicated by three apples, and once they're gone, you're dead as a dodo. These don't last long, but your death produces a hilarious effect as our hero drops his sword in agony. This is just one more aspect of the visuals that is brilliant. As you can see, there are some cool ideas implemented for Fred.
Enough reading, let's see those graphics! Yes, it's screenshot time...
I love the details and the murky palette, which is perfect for the creepy scenario.
Check out that headless axeman and the gnome's facial details are astounding.
Aesthetics
Jean-Marc Torroella and Jerome Guerry should be forever proud of what they created. This is one of the best-looking games for the Atari ST, with colourful landscapes and stunning attention to detail. The palette is as eerie as it is comical with its superbly animated sprites. Even the rude ones who stick out their tongues!!
The audio is (almost) as good as the visuals, with a crunchy sampled tune on the title screen and intro. Charles Callet did great, but I'm more of a chiptune guy. In-game sound effects are sampled, and I love these. From the firing of arrows and clanging of swords to the silly screams of your enemies. Absolutely superb.
We've just enough time left to see a couple more screenshots. Keep on scrolling...
Those darn gnomes are a pest, even the rude ones lol
Oh no, is that a skeleton or a zombie? Whatever it is, I should run away!
The CryptO'pinion?
Fred is a good game, but it's difficult thanks to the fudgy controls that need to be quicker. Also, more checkpoints were required to prevent restarting from the beginning (so annoying). Don't get me wrong, this is a good game, but it looks better than it is. Am I right? Let me know in the comments what you guys think.
Grab a sword and boot this up on a floppy disk or on your hard drive.
