Adventure Forums - View Single Post - Leisuire Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards

Deshrill · 11-21-2003, 05:56 PM

Here's my second shot at doing a review for this message board (I did a review of GK 1 a month or so ago... I've been busy with college since then, especially finals). With the recent release of the trailer for the new Leisure Suit Larry game online, I thought it might be interesting to take a look back in the original game in the series: Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards.

STORY
In the first game of the long-running series, you play the part of Larry Laffer, a guy so out of date he thinks that leisure suits are still in style. Having just turned 40, Larry decides to visit the seedy gambling city of Lost Wages to see if his love life will improve. Al Lowe wrote this game with Mark Crowe of Space Quest fame doing most of the graphics. A lot of the puzzles and structure of the game is actually based on an older Sierra text adventure called Softporn, but Al Lowe's sense of humor and the character of Larry make it a lot funnier than the game it's inspired by. The dialogue is pretty funny and the narration has a real smart-ass tone to it that works well.

GRAPHICS
Released in 1987, this game has graphics similar to King's Quest II: they still have a blocky look to them, but are detailed enough to make most objects recognizable. Some parts in the game have graphics that really stand out, notably the disco and the close-ups of various women's faces. It has a bit of a cartoony look to it, which is fitting since the game is humorous to begin with.

MUSIC
Al Lowe also composed the music for the game. There isn't a lot of music here, but most of it consists of PC speaker variations on various popular tunes. The Leisure Suit Larry music theme has a wonderful jazzy feel to it that fits the swanky personality of Larry.

PUZZLES
Most of the gameplay takes place in various locations throughout the city of Lost Wages. It's pretty easy to move from place to place (you just take a taxi), although a lot of the puzzles make it easy to get stuck at certain spots. Your main goal in the game is to have sex with three different girls, although it is not as straightforward as it sounds. The text parser works pretty well, although sometimes you have to fish around for the right word. There are also points in the game where you can die for no real good reasons. The deaths themselves are pretty funny, but ultimately make the game a bit more frustrating than it should be. Still, the game isn't too long once you know what to do.

Although dated in terms of graphics in sound, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards still holds up as a good adventure game. Although it's not the best in the series and is a bit too short, it still is an enjoyable way to spend an evening or two. For those who don't like using the text parser, in 1991, Sierra released a VGA remake of this game with a MIDI soundtrack; the puzzles remain the same, but it uses an icon interface similar to King's Quest V.

11-21-2003, 05:56 PM	#1
Deshrill Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Savannah, GA Posts: 260	Leisuire Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards Here's my second shot at doing a review for this message board (I did a review of GK 1 a month or so ago... I've been busy with college since then, especially finals). With the recent release of the trailer for the new Leisure Suit Larry game online, I thought it might be interesting to take a look back in the original game in the series: Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. STORY In the first game of the long-running series, you play the part of Larry Laffer, a guy so out of date he thinks that leisure suits are still in style. Having just turned 40, Larry decides to visit the seedy gambling city of Lost Wages to see if his love life will improve. Al Lowe wrote this game with Mark Crowe of Space Quest fame doing most of the graphics. A lot of the puzzles and structure of the game is actually based on an older Sierra text adventure called Softporn, but Al Lowe's sense of humor and the character of Larry make it a lot funnier than the game it's inspired by. The dialogue is pretty funny and the narration has a real smart-ass tone to it that works well. GRAPHICS Released in 1987, this game has graphics similar to King's Quest II: they still have a blocky look to them, but are detailed enough to make most objects recognizable. Some parts in the game have graphics that really stand out, notably the disco and the close-ups of various women's faces. It has a bit of a cartoony look to it, which is fitting since the game is humorous to begin with. MUSIC Al Lowe also composed the music for the game. There isn't a lot of music here, but most of it consists of PC speaker variations on various popular tunes. The Leisure Suit Larry music theme has a wonderful jazzy feel to it that fits the swanky personality of Larry. PUZZLES Most of the gameplay takes place in various locations throughout the city of Lost Wages. It's pretty easy to move from place to place (you just take a taxi), although a lot of the puzzles make it easy to get stuck at certain spots. Your main goal in the game is to have sex with three different girls, although it is not as straightforward as it sounds. The text parser works pretty well, although sometimes you have to fish around for the right word. There are also points in the game where you can die for no real good reasons. The deaths themselves are pretty funny, but ultimately make the game a bit more frustrating than it should be. Still, the game isn't too long once you know what to do. Although dated in terms of graphics in sound, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards still holds up as a good adventure game. Although it's not the best in the series and is a bit too short, it still is an enjoyable way to spend an evening or two. For those who don't like using the text parser, in 1991, Sierra released a VGA remake of this game with a MIDI soundtrack; the puzzles remain the same, but it uses an icon interface similar to King's Quest V.