Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown

Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown is a 2001 fighting video game for the Game Boy Color, published by TDK.

It is notorious for being one of the worst fighting games of all time. Many criticisms mention the wonky controls and horrendous music being key factors.

Gameplay
Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown is a 2D fighting game with similarities to games such as Street Fighter. Two characters (one controlled by the player and the other being CPU-controlled) fight each other on a stage with the goal of depleting their opponent's health. Characters can use offensive and defensive moves, as well as jump. Upon winning a battle, the player is given a password. This password can then be entered to progress from that point. Three game difficulties are available: Easy, Medium, and Hard. The game is primarily (if not wholly) inspired by the first Shrek film, featuring characters and locations from that film.

Game modes

 * Play Game - The main mode of Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown. The player selects a character and progresses through nine stages (each against a single opponent) in order to become the champion. If the player wins a battle, they progress to the next stage.
 * Password - The player can enter a password to progress from a specific point in the game.
 * Practice -
 * Options - The player can set the game's difficulty to Easy, Medium, or Hard.

Characters
There are a total of 9 playable fighters in Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown. 6 of these fighters are available from the start, while the other 3 must be unlocked before they can be played as. In addition, Donkey makes a non-playable appearance as a menu cursor. One of Farquaad's knights also appears on the title screen.

Default

 * Shrek
 * Big Bad Wolf
 * Pinocchio
 * Monsieur Hood
 * Princess Fiona
 * Thelonius

Unlockable

 * Ginger Bread Man (unlocked upon defeating him in Dungeon)
 * The Dragon (unlocked upon defeating her on Bridge)
 * Lord Farquaad (unlocked upon defeating him in Mirror Room)

Stages
There are 9 stages in Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown. Some stages have hazards that can knock out players instantly (eg. if the player falls on the Swamp stage, they will be knocked out immediately and the opponent will win). They are listed here in the order they are played in through the game's main "Play Game" mode.
 * Forest
 * Village (a village at nighttime, possibly in Duloc)
 * Dungeon (the dungeon where the Gingerbread Man is interrogated by Lord Farquaad)
 * Swamp (Shrek's swamp)
 * Dark Forest
 * Bridge (the bridge leading to Dragon's Keep)
 * Castle (inside Dragon's Keep)
 * Wrestling Ring (the arena where Farquaad's knights battle to see who would be granted the "privilege" of rescuing Fiona on his behalf)
 * Mirror Room (a room inside of Lord Farquaad's Castle)

Power-ups
While progressing through the game, the player can unlock power-ups that assist in battles.
 * Invincibility (unlocked upon earning 800 points)
 * Speed (unlocked upon earning 1,500 points)
 * Ogre Strength (unlocked upon earning 2,000 points)

Trivia

 * This is the only 8-bit Shrek game.