Fiendish Freddy broke the mould before it ever really had a chance to set.
The Good
+ Fun for friends and family, a true party game
+ A nice array of events that keep thing’s varied
The Bad
- Not a single-player game in any way, shape or form
- It’s sadistic nature may not appeal to everyone
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This was a rather obscure game, released at a time when sports event titles such as California Games began to enter the fray. Funnily enough Fiendish Freddy broke the mould before it ever really had a chance to set; with it’s dark humour and graphic violence that really should have came with a warning label. In fact it’s pretty surprising how little attention the game drew, especially when you take into account the widespread controversy that surrounded Mortal Kombat - a game released almost two year later.
The plot is pretty simple, a businessman has bought out a circus and is about to flatten it to the ground to pave way for a new structure. It’s your job as one of the circus’ current performers to try and save it by earning $10,000 to cover the costs. You attempt this by competing in six events, each one testing your skills as a performer to their very limits. If that wasn’t hard enough you also have Fiendish Freddy waiting in the wings, a sadistic clown hell-bent on you failing, something he is pretty successful at.
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The six events are:
Diving - Here you jump from four different diving boards into various water-filled objects, starting off easy and ending with you attempting to land in a glass of water. Freddy attempts to blow you off course with a hairdryer.
Tightrope - Here you must attempt to walk a series of tightropes in a certain amount of time, take too long and Freddy will cut you clean in half - ouch!
Juggling - Here you juggle balls for as long as possible. Freddy throws in a few bombs every now and again to keep thing’s interesting, these need to be thrown back at him before you turn to mulch.
Trapeze - Here your aim is to swing from one rope to the next whilst navigating thing’s such as rings of fire, take too long and Freddy will come along with a large pair of scissors.
Knife Throwing - Here you must throw knives at balloons on a spinning wheel, as well as concentrating on not hitting the lovely assistant in the middle you’ll also have to watch for the bombs that Freddy is throwing into the mix.
Cannonball - The final and most definitely the toughest of all six events. Here you fire yourself at a small target from a cannon, calculating the right amounts of gunpowder and the correct angle is the key to success here. Freddy doesn’t play much of a part in this one, he will blow you up if you take too long though.
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The graphics are well done and the attention to detail really brings it’s cartoon-like appearance to life, there are also however menacing undertones in place and despite it’s appearance there’s always a sense of unease that you can’t quite place your finger on. The sound accompanies nicely, giving you your fair share of haunting carnival melodies.
Despite Fiendish Freddy’s zany charm playing this game alone won’t provide any satisfaction whatsoever, it’s most certainly been made with multiplayer in mind and that’s where it shines. Bringing this out at parties or family gathering’s is guaranteed to get everyone laughing and generally having a blast; quite literally.