Freddy Pharkas Frontier Pharmacist

[Discoalucard]

www.hardcoregaming101.net/freddypharkas/freddypharkas.htm

Another one of Sierra's, this is a comedy Western game akin to Blazing Saddles. It's another one I appreciated more that I'm older, as I thought it was only OK back when I was like 13. I still don't like the medicine mixing sections, though.

[Deleted]

I actually liked the pharmacy stuff...if anything, it felt like a spiritual successor to the magic spell copy protection in King's Quest III, which I also liked for some reason. I just remember finding out later that I missed out on some points from intended goofs (i.e., actually filling the Dr.'s prescription, drinking the water) when I'd just filled the right prescription to begin with, heh.

[Sac (a.k.a Icaras)]

This is another one of those games that really punishes you for doing the wrong thing at any stage. (But what Sierra game doesn't?)

I played it back when I was only a teen myself(Floopy Disk version, mind), so I'm sure I'd appreciate it more now. And I do recall being stumped by the alchemy bits, until I had the brainwave to dig out the manual

I actually want to replay this game, but unless I can get my hands on a CD boxed copy (or just a download of the CD version), I don't have much interest in playing it.

I'll also note that it's worth tracking down and playing the demo of this game, as it's actually a prequel to the main game, kind of like the demo for Space Quest VI. (Most other Sierra online demos tend to be continually repeating non playable affairs, the kind of thing you'd see on demo PCs in PC stores back in the early to mid ninties)

[syntheticgerbil]

Great article! This is one of my favorite Sierra games, even though I usually don't like many of their adventures outside of Space Quest, Gabriel Knight, or Leisure Suit Larry. I'm glad you included a mention of the demo in there. I had no idea the demo was a different mini-story until I loaded up it years after finishing the game from a Gobliins 2 CD.

I actually thing Freddy Pharkas is one of the more well designed Sierra games with some of the best art. The CD version is the one to get, although it leaves out the illustrated pharmacy guide and just gives you the sole recipes you need to complete the game. My only complaint would just be the verbiage that Josh Mandel tends to cram into every game he designs, but it's not like you have to click on everything.

I'm pretty sure you can't get stuck anywhere in Freddy Pharkas unlike other Sierra games. It was made around the time of Larry 5 that tried a similar approach by not allowing you stop the game because you forgot something hours ago. Sure you can die in Freddy Pharkas, but most of the deaths seem pretty clear cut on why.

The Pharmacy Manual, while annoying, was really just sort of going with Sierra's way of making extravagant copy protection. Probably a little bit too intense though.

[Discoalucard]

I had bought the CD version (boxed) and it came with the pharmacy guide. Maybe it was later releases?

[syntheticgerbil]

Oh wow, I guess I didn't realize there was a boxed CD version.

Yeah, I have the Sierra Original versions and an old disk boxed version. The Sierra Originals one has only the stuff you need in the jewelcase insert, nothing extra and no inserts.