Leisure Suit Larry
Leisure Suit Larry is the title character of a series of adventure games written by Al Lowe and published by Sierra On-Line throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
The games involve Larry's escapades as he attempts (and mostly fails) to convince a variety of young nubile women (rendered with increasing sophistication throughout the series) to have sex with him. A common link between the games are Larry's explorations through high-luxury and cosmopolitic hotels, ships, beaches, and more commonly, casinos.
Because of the nature of the games, the first two games of the series featured an age verification system, which consisted of a series of questions to which the authors reasoned only adults would know the answer.
The first Larry game was based on a text only adventure called Softporn Adventure, created by Chuck Benton in 1981 for the Apple II and published by Sierra (then named On-Line Systems).
- Leisure Suit Larry 1 - In the Land of the Lounge Lizards (1987)
- Leisure Suit Larry 2 - Looking for Love (in several wrong places) (1988)
- Leisure Suit Larry 3 - Passionate Patti in pursuit of the pulsating pectorals (1989)
- Leisure Suit Larry 1 - VGA Remake (1991) (a remake of Larry 1 with a new interface)
- Leisure Suit Larry 5 - Passionate Patti does a little undercover work (1991)
- The Laffer Utilities (1992) (a parody of the Norton Utilities package)
- Leisure Suit Larry 6 - Shape up or slip out! (1993)
- Leisure Suit Larry 6 Talkie version (1994) (identical to Larry 6, but with spoken voice)
- Leisure Suit Larry 7 - Love for Sail (1996)
- Leisure Suit Larry's Casino (1998)
- Leisure Suit Larry 8 - Magna Cum Laude (To be released 2004)
NOTE: The series deliberately jumps from Leisure Suit Larry 3 to Leisure Suit Larry 5. This is becase Al Lowe guaranteed there would be no Leisure Suit Larry 4. The remake of Larry 1 is seen by some to be the fourth game in the series, as it introduced use of the new interface also used in Larry 5.
In the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Released in 1987, one of the first completely graphical adventure games with 16 color EGA graphics. It used the AGI (Adventure Game Interpreter) engine. It ran on DOS and the Apple II and was later ported to other platforms such as the Amiga, Atari ST and Sega.
In 1991, a remake was released by Sierra that used the same Sierra Creative Interpreter engine with 256 colours and icon driven graphical menu as Larry 5.
Larry Laffer is a near 40y-ish geek who one night decided to explore the sinister streets of the city, lose his virginity and maybe find true love in the face of the girl of his dreams, and spend his life with.
Looking for Love (in several wrong places)
The first sequel used the new engine by Sierra called SCI (Sierra Creative Interpreter), with 16 colours and midi sound. It introduced grand-adventure elements, changing through many places and sceneries (boat, islands, etc).
Eve, the girl of Larry's dreams he met at the end of the previous game, never thought she was supposed to live with him for ever, and ousts him as every one-night-stand girl should. Larry begins his exploration again, pursued by KGB and the agents of the evil scientist dr. Nonookee because a microfiche fell in his hands by mistake. His travels will lead him by chance to the tropical island Nontoonyt, Nonookee's headquarters where he will defeat him, again by chance.
Passionate Patti in pursuit of the pulsating pectorals
The third episode presented enhanced 16 colour graphics and the package offered a funny game guide in the form of a magazine, which also included a smart system with pages and tickets for copy protection. The game action takes place on Nontoonyt and was composed by two smaller parts.
The first part is like the two previous games: Kalalau breaks up with Larry and he is left again free to explore and meet girls until he finds his One true love, which this time is Passionate Patti.
The second part is after Larry and Patti break up because of a misunderstanding, and the gamer takes control of Patti in her adventures to find Larry again.
Love For Sail
Featuring more fleshed-out, cartoon style graphics and full voice acting, "Love For Sail" was the 7th installment in the LSL series. The formula was much the same, but the new gag was that Larry was a guest on a cruise ship populated by sexy, slutty spoofs on famous people. Among the other cruise guests were "Drew Baringmore" (Drew Barrymore,) "Dewmi Moore" (Demi Moore,) "Victorian Principles" (Victoria Principal) and "Nailme" and "Whydoncha Juggs" (Naomi and Wynona Judd.)
Leisure Suit Larry 8
Leisure Suit Larry 8, tentatively titled 'Leisure Suit Larry 8: Lust in Space' was in full development in 1998, when funding was cut. Shortly after Al Lowe left Sierra as Sierra's adventure games department was disbanded. Larry 8 was to be in full 3D.
In 2003, a surprising announcement was made from Sierra Entertainment, now a division of Vivendi Universal Games, that the Leisure Suit Larry franchise was being revived after being dormant for many years, an 8th Leisure Suit Larry game was announced, titled Leisure Suit Larry 8: Magna Cum Laude.
Quoting from the Sierra promotional website:
"College is tough for Larry - between classes, fraternities, and odd jobs there's hardly time for parties and chasing girls. So when a dating show comes to campus, Larry knows that getting on TV is his best chance ever to lay more than groundwork. Can Larry get on TV, get the girl, and not flunk out of college? It's all up to you in Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude!
"Magna Cum Laude brings back humor from the most respected funny brand on PC - Leisure Suit Larry. Updated for the 21st century with 3D graphics, engaging conversations, and a fully realized college campus, Larry is back to give gamers some loving. Coming to PC and consoles." — (Source: [1])
Al Lowe is not involved with the new game in any way, making this the first Larry game not by him.
Collections
Two collections have also been published:
- Leisure Suit Larry's Greatest Hits & Misses (1994): this collection included all the Larry games up to #6, including both versions of 1 and 6, the Laffer Utilities, and the original Softporn game. A limited edition version of the Leisure Suit Larry book was also included.
- Leisure Suit Larry - Collector's Series (1997): this collection included everything the previous collection contained, as well as Larry 7. The book and the Laffer Utilities were not included however.
- Leisure Suit Larry - The Ultimate Pleasure Pack(2000): this collection was identical to the Collector's Series, but also contained Larry's Casino.