Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist - 1993
Developer(s): Al Lowe (of Leisure Suit Larry fame) & Josh Mandel (of Callahan’s Crosstime Station fame)
Publisher(s): Sierra On-Line
Engine: SCI1.1
Type: Graphic adventure
In the game, the player takes the role of Freddy Pharkas, an 1880s-era pharmacist in the town of Coarsegold, California which was the location of Sierra’s headquarters in 1993. Freddy was once a gunslinger, but sought a new career after his last gunfight, in which “Kenny the Kid” (a reference to the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid) shot off one of his ears. Throughout the town, businesses are either being bought or proprietors are being scared out of town. Someone is obviously trying to take over the entire area, but who? And why? The slimy sheriff, Checkum P. Shift doesn’t seem eager to help, so it’s up to Freddy to find out the details. The cast includes the town’s eccentric old man and story narrator Whittlin’ Willy, Srini (Freddy’s “Injun” sidekick – actually East Indian), Doc “Dizzy” Gillespie the drunken town doctor, the cafe owner Helen Back, otherwise known as Mom and her stereotypical Chinese chef Hopalong Singh (a reference to Hop Sing, the cook on Bonanza), the crooked banker Phineas (P.H.) Balance, town schoolmarm (and Freddy’s love interest) Penelope Primm, and Madame Ovaree, who runs the local brothel. The villain “Kenny the Kid” is a cartoonish version of Sierra’s then-president Ken Williams. Madame Ovaree’s name is an obvious parody of Madame Bovary and (as evidenced by her occupation) ovaries. Also, there are some anachronisms in the game, such as Srini mentioning him being on Pakistani time, but Pakistan did not exist at the time the game is set, as the region where the country was still a part of India at that time, and Pakistan did not become a country until 1947, 67 years after the game’s setting. – Wikipedia description
VOICE CAST
- Cam Clarke (MGS - Liquid Snake, Avatar TLA - Lao Bei Fong (Toph’s father, E.O.E. (PS2) - Josh Calloway) as “Freddy Pharkas”
- Lewis Arquette as “Whittlin’ Whittle” and “P.H. Balance”
- Bill Bryant as “Doc Gillespie”
- Michael Gough as “Kenny the Kid” and “Salvatore O’Hanrahan”
- Nicholas Guest as “Srini” and “Hop Singh”
- Jocko Marcellino as “Smithie”
- Richard Paul as “Chester Field” and “Sheriff Shift”
- Jan Rabson (LSL 6, 7, and Reloaded - Larry Laffer) as “Sam Andreas”, “Wheaton Hall”, and “Zircom Jim Laffer”
- Neil Ross as “The Narrator”
- Susan Silo as “Helen Black” and “Madame Ovaree”
- Kath Soucie (Rugrats - the DeVille twins, The Life & Times of Juniper Lee - Ray Ray Lee, Dexter’s Lab - Dexter’s Mom) as “Penelope Primm”
This game has copy protection. If anyone can find some copy protection answers on the internet, throw an ask!
chequerootlurks
