I used to have this memory of a game where you had to reach the top of a maze and couldn't remember which one it was, thought it might be the slimey lower maze from Finders Keepers but that didn't have an exit at the top. Then I watched the RZX of Fred and that was it! The excitement of reaching the top level and seeing the stars came flooding back! One of my most nostalgic moments on a Speccy game.
Those cyan walls give it an eerily cold atmosphere, and the graphics are sweet -
nice hat and that omnipresent smile is a winner.
Loved it back in the day... Tried it again, a while ago and didn't get the same "vibes" as in my youth ;)
Have to play it again, with better time. Not a bad little game, for it's time, though!
One of my favourite games...and I was pretty good at it. I never thought of it as slow..I thought it was near perfect. There was a Russian website featuring speccy games with a leaderboard some years back..and my Fred score was top for ages.
Someone mentioned the ghosts looking like loaves of bread...would I be right in thinking it was supposed to be a billowy "dress" with the two bulbous parts at the top being short sleeves...that's what I always thought they were.
Someone mentioned the ghosts looking like loaves of bread...would I be right in thinking it was supposed to be a billowy "dress" with the two bulbous parts at the top being short sleeves...that's what I always thought they were.
I always thought the left 'blob' was the head, tilted backwards, and the right 'blob' was the visible forearm (with the other one behind it).
Someone mentioned the ghosts looking like loaves of bread...would I be right in thinking it was supposed to be a billowy "dress" with the two bulbous parts at the top being short sleeves...that's what I always thought they were.
Hah, I never saw the ghost as a "billowy dress with the two bulbous parts at the top being short sleeves" before, but I can see see what you mean (now).
To me the ghost always seemed a bit cartoony with the left 'blob' being the head, tilted backwards, and the right 'blob' its nose.
Just had another look - I reckon you might be onto something with the "two arms" idea...
I always perceived the whole blob to be the head, but is this (highlighed) bit meant to represent the other arm, on the other far side of the ghosts head?
And the name doesn't fit for a brave archeologist. It would be better for some fat butcher
Weirdly he was called "Roland" in the Amstrad version (on UK TV that name was made famous by a fat kid in the TV series Grange Hill)... ("Roland on the Ropes").
According to Wikipedia, Roland was created by none other than Alan Sugar. :-O
Not sure if "Sir Roland" would have had the same impact either.
Well in my theory it was headless...the dress being visible but the body wearing it not (being a ghost)...hence the long dress and empty sleeves with no head.
Looking at that blown up image though the right blob looks like a head leaning back in profile as someone mentioned...with the other blob representing the arms held out in front all ghost/mummy like.
Played it last night and got to level 4 for the first time ever. I was lucky on level 3 though as there was one really long rope that went almost from the bottom to the very top. Level 4 is insane!
Never considered that the blob could be a nose, do you mean something like this (eyeball and smiley mouth added):
The more I look at it the more different things I'm seeing... :-?
It's Danger Mouse wearing a cloak :P
Oh, no. Every time you turn up something monumental and terrible happens.
I don’t think I have the stomach for it.
--Raziel (Legend of Kain: Soul Reaver 2)
Fred is a great game, I first played it at the school festival, for want of a better word, anyway, some kids had brought their Spectrums in to make a little arcade type stall, and Fred was one of the games, anyway, for 10p a go I played it a few times and thought it was excellent, that is, until one of the kids needed to leave and take his joystick interface home with him while I was playing, needless to say they tried to take it out with the machine on..
Anyway, there's a good nostalgic memory for me attached to this game, and as a C64 owner only at the time, I was very happy to see that there was a C64 version every bit as good as the Spectrum one, which I got as soon as I can and played it loads.
I can see why some believe it to have aged badly in hindsight, it's a simple maze game after all, but at the time, the graphics were big and bold with good cartoonish definition and design, there was much to love about it. As far as comparing it to Ultimate games, it's obviously not on par with Atic Atac onwards era Ultimate, but I reckon it holds its own with the earlier games. But to me most comparisons to Ultimate are more valid on a technical level, I found Fred more playable than a few of the Ultimate games myself..
The more I look at it the more different things I'm seeing... :-?
I could never work out what that was either, always saw it in a 3D way, but looking at it as a 2D graphic now it looks like an Easter Island statue with a comical nose.
Comments
Those cyan walls give it an eerily cold atmosphere, and the graphics are sweet -
nice hat and that omnipresent smile is a winner.
@luny@mstdn.games
https://www.luny.co.uk
There wasn't written anywhere in the thread that it's only for people who love it :)
I didn't know Fred during the 80ties.
Now I checked it. It seems slow, jerky, with simplistic graphics made of about 5 different tiles and repetitive gameplay.
And the name doesn't fit for a brave archeologist. It would be better for some fat butcher.
I suppose for 1984 it's okay but still far below Ultimate games quality.
Maybe I'm wrong though and the object of the game is to climb to the top just to stick your head in the sand.
Have to play it again, with better time. Not a bad little game, for it's time, though!
Now you mention it, I think you are right.
@luny@mstdn.games
https://www.luny.co.uk
Managed to get to level 3. Eventually I died due to a combination of backtracking and lizards.
A few observations - I don't remember there being such big clusters of
hedgehogsrats:Secondly, it's definitely stars at the top. :D
...Anyone ever been in the following situation with one square of health left?
Yeah, several times. It's depressing!
The best thing of the game comes at third level onwards, IIRC. Bats and scary mummies make the task nearly impossible.
I always thought the left 'blob' was the head, tilted backwards, and the right 'blob' was the visible forearm (with the other one behind it).
To me the ghost always seemed a bit cartoony with the left 'blob' being the head, tilted backwards, and the right 'blob' its nose.
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
I always perceived the whole blob to be the head, but is this (highlighed) bit meant to represent the other arm, on the other far side of the ghosts head?
[Edit]
Weirdly he was called "Roland" in the Amstrad version (on UK TV that name was made famous by a fat kid in the TV series Grange Hill)... ("Roland on the Ropes").
According to Wikipedia, Roland was created by none other than Alan Sugar. :-O
Not sure if "Sir Roland" would have had the same impact either.
Looking at that blown up image though the right blob looks like a head leaning back in profile as someone mentioned...with the other blob representing the arms held out in front all ghost/mummy like.
Never considered that the blob could be a nose, do you mean something like this (eyeball and smiley mouth added):
The more I look at it the more different things I'm seeing... :-?
It's Danger Mouse wearing a cloak :P
I don’t think I have the stomach for it.
--Raziel (Legend of Kain: Soul Reaver 2)
https://www.youtube.com/user/VincentTSFP
@luny@mstdn.games
https://www.luny.co.uk
Anyway, there's a good nostalgic memory for me attached to this game, and as a C64 owner only at the time, I was very happy to see that there was a C64 version every bit as good as the Spectrum one, which I got as soon as I can and played it loads.
I can see why some believe it to have aged badly in hindsight, it's a simple maze game after all, but at the time, the graphics were big and bold with good cartoonish definition and design, there was much to love about it. As far as comparing it to Ultimate games, it's obviously not on par with Atic Atac onwards era Ultimate, but I reckon it holds its own with the earlier games. But to me most comparisons to Ultimate are more valid on a technical level, I found Fred more playable than a few of the Ultimate games myself..
I could never work out what that was either, always saw it in a 3D way, but looking at it as a 2D graphic now it looks like an Easter Island statue with a comical nose.
@luny@mstdn.games
https://www.luny.co.uk
I ALWAYS thought that was a BIG BONE!
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