We previously reported on the announcement of Freddy Farmer, the latest retro arcade-style title from the ever-reliable indie retro publisher Flynn’s Arcade, this time bringing us a game from indie developers Catcade Games, who specialize in creating new games in the style of those 8-bit and 16-bit classics that we all love, even today. We’ve finally managed to get our hands on a copy of Freddy Farmer for Nintendo Switch, so here’s what we thought of it…
Freddy Farmer was released on Nintendo Switch on February 27th, 2025, with a Steam release following closely behind on March 4th.
Despite the name ‘Freddy Farmer’ suggesting that we might be in for a cozy farming sim, Freddy Farmer is absolutely nothing of the sort and is an altogether more frantic proposition, being a single-screen platform game inspired by the likes of Donkey Kong, Popeye and Lode Runner. In the game, you play as the titular Freddy Farmer, who in an apparent case of nominative determinism, is indeed, a farmer himself! But there’s no farming to be done in this game, because ol’ Frederick Farmer’s daughter has been kidnapped by a dastardly dragon, and saving the captured Miss Farmer will be no picnic, as you’ll need to collect the requisite ingredients to cook up a magic potion in order to poison the dragon and save your daughter. To collect said ingredients, you’ll need to leap and climb your way through a succession of single-screen platform levels, jumping over enemies, climbing ladders, and, of course, collecting those all-important ingredients. Most importantly, Freddy Farmer is a lot of fun to play, with challenging levels in the style of 80s arcade single-screen platform games. Indeed, if Freddy Farmer had been released back in the day, then no doubt it’d be seen as a well-loved arcade classic by now!
Even Catcade Games’ logo is utterly adorable, setting out the game’s arcade influence from the get-go. Once we get into the game proper, it’s clear to see that the gameplay and design of the game are both firmly rooted in 1980s arcades, but somewhat in opposition to this, the graphics and presentation of the game actually have more of a 16-bit feel to them, evoking the SNES, rather than 80s arcades. The game employs a level selection map, which brings to mind SNES games such as Super Mario World, and in addition to the platforming arcade action, Freddy Farmer also tells its story via single-screen still images with text underneath, again, a device that perhaps owes more to the SNES than the 80s arcade era. Indeed, the animation showing the dragon capturing Freddy Farmer’s daughter has been done in the style of the SNES’s famous ‘Mode 7’ graphics mode, which just adds to the SNES-like feel of the game. Speaking of the graphics, Freddy’s death animation is particularly entertaining (which can only be a good thing in a game this tough, as chances are you’ll be seeing it quite often!) In his death animation, we see poor old Freddy collapse into a heap of bones, which is just cartoonish enough to avoid feeling too gruesome, and speaking of the game being tough, and dying, upon contact with an enemy, Freddy dies instantly, and is sent right back to the start of the level, which was the norm in the arcade games which inspired Freddy Farmer, but it might feel punishingly unforgiving to the modern gamer.
Although Freddy Farmer does tell the story of Mr Farmer and his daughter, the gameplay itself is pure arcade action, making Freddy Farmer an endlessly replayable game whose evergreen gameplay could make the game become a perennial favourite with retro fans. A nice touch is that jumping over enemies scores you points, which is an especially satisfying way to score points. Also adding to Freddy Farmer’s potential longevity are unlockable minigames.
Overall, then, Freddy Farmer is yet another neo-retro arcade winner from the Flynn’s Arcade stable, and its marrying of 80s gameplay and 16-bit presentation make it grow a little taller than some of the other games that have been planted in the same patch. Freddy Farmer comes highly recommended if you “dig” either 1980s arcade platformers, or games with a 16-bit SNES-style aesthetic, and here at Retro News we love both of those elements, so for us, Flynn’s Arcade have cultivated yet another smash of a game in Freddy Farmer.
