The year was 1987, our protagonist in this one was Larry Laffer, a 40 years old virgin (ouch!). Leisure Suit Larry marked the beginning of a lengthy series following the exploits of his quest for true happiness, but before all else his mission was to lose his virginity. While the game contained plenty sexual innuendo, it was by no means a pornographic title, as there was no nudity. Plenty of semi-adult comedy though.

The Game

Alright, let’s start with some math: The game was released in 1987, which means at the time writing, it’s 25 years old. In it, Larry is 40 years old. So.. wow, that would make him 65! Much as I love this series, a sequel today, with Larry being a senior citizen and all, would likely go down in gaming history as one of the worst releases ever. But let’s pretend it’s 1987 and that Larry is still 40 years old, for the sake of this review, and move on.

Since it contained an adult theme, upon starting the game the player would have to go through a brief quiz, consisting of questions that non-adults were unlikely to be able to answer. This part could however be skipped by pressing Alt+X.. so much for age verification!

“Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards” (never did understand that title), utilized the Adventure Game Interpreter engine, which meant none of that fancy point’n'click interface we’re spoiled by in modern adventure games. Instead, his actions were handled by typing commands such as “open door” or “use name-of-item” – just like in Zork, but with actual graphics. This could have lead to frustration, had the list of words understood by the game been as bad as in Space Quest, but thankfully most common words and phrases worked and I rarely found myself lacking words (get it?). If I was too far away from something I wanted to interact with, the game would let me know and moving Larry around a bit before retrying solved that problem.

It’s a good thing that one did not have to struggle with the dictionary, because an invisible timer was implemented in some versions, making things a bit complicated. Then again, most people never saw the timer reach zero before completing the objective that got rid of it, but.. it was still there.

Those who dislike the amount of hand-holding found in games today, would feel right at home here, as you were rarely given any clear indication as to what your next objective was, and often had to scavenge the various locations for items. This sometimes lead to a game over screen, since forgetting to acquire an item prior to triggering an event was quite possible; so here’s an extremely helpful tip: Save often and in more than one slot! You’ll likely regret it if you don’t.

Minor problems aside, the game was far from frustrating overall, as the puzzles at least made sense – provided you were able to find the items that is. Even with only a handful different locations in the game, a cab ride was often your only option for getting around. If you weren’t sure where the action was, the driver was more than willing to talk about his favorite locations in the fictional town of Lost Wages, where the game takes place.

From the beginning of Larry’s adventure outside Lefty’s bar all the way to the credits was not a long journey, provided you knew what to do at least. I recently finished a playthrough in a few hours, but I did also know exactly what to do and I only got 212 of 222 points, so I didn’t do everything possible. An adventure game lasting but a few hours may not sound like much, but please do not make the mistake of judging a quality title like this on its length. Also, the story continues in its many sequels.. just do everyone a favor and pretend that “Magna Cum Laude” (2004) and “Box Office Bust” (2009) were never released, as they are horrendous on top of being made without any involvement from Al Lowe (Leisure Suit Larry’s creator).

How Does It Hold Up Today

It’s been 25 years since Larry first set foot in Lost Wages, but this is one game that has aged quite well and there’s frankly nothing quite like it even after all this time (except for the sequels), making Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards a true gem to anyone looking for a blast from the past; provided you can pass the quiz, or know how to press two keys simultaniously to skip it, that is.

Not a fan of the original game’s visuals? Here’s some good news for ya then: Back in October 2011, Replay Games announced that they’re working on bringing the first game back – in HD!

[Al Lowe][Replay Games][Leisure Suit Larry HD announcement]