Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards

The Good
I was very little when I played this game... all I knew about games was 'a little guy that jumps and shoots and gets the bonuses'. I was very impressed that here I could really 'communicate' with the PC.

It's really hard for me to say the 'pros' of the game. The graphics were not good however they were ok for that age. The women's portraits were extraordinary!!

There was not much sound but the classic music theme (known as 'For your thighs only') was also good and imaginative for that time.

There was also a bunch of humorous circumstances, like where you die and return to a Sierra lab to be re-assembled. I liked this point. The various comments of the text parser were humorous but not characteristic of Al Lowe, known from the later games. Compared to them, the text and humor is primitive or rather premature. Normal, since this was his first attempt. However there are still many things to 'look at'

Larry is also an open game. You have much to explore from the beginning. This might frustrate some, but gives an impression of freedom. The overall atmosphere (a 'developing' city at night) is always there

The Bad
Ok, I didn't like the poor story and zero character development. Larry is just no-man coming from nowhere. All known about him is in the manual. Same for everything else. But could I forgive this due to the game's oldness? Characters were not very developed back then

Other things also irritated me, like dying where in real life you couldn't (like, flushing a toilet), but could they also be forgiven due to the game's humor??

Irritating were also the card and slot games you HAD to play. Thank goodness you are allowed to save and restore as much as you want. But in that time, such methods were a trick to hold the player to the game as long as possible with as minimal programming as possible. Mazes and mono-games like slots were the most frequent solutions.

Oh, and that age test!! Even Al Lowe admitted the test could be solved only by an adult from the USA (thank the cheat code!)

The Bottom Line
A classic. A must see for all adventure-types, no matter how outdated. Many things someone won't like, like poor graphics etc but those can be overlooked in such an old game. If you can't, try the remake.

The Good
In 1987, a Sierra employee named Al Lowe played the Apple ][ game, Softporn Adventure, written by Chuck Benton. He decided to make an update to the game, adding graphics and sound. He also added a central character that players were free to move around and interact with. And so Leisure Suit Larry was born.

The plot is nothing new as it is loosely based on Softporn Adventure, Sierra's only text-only adventure game for the Apple ][. Lowe basically remade the game, adding a central character, and incorporating graphics, sound, and a humorous parser. The story centers around Larry Laffer, a polyester leisure suit-wearing, 40-year-old sick of being a virgin. He decides to search the streets of Lost Wages for the girl of his dreams. Just like in real life, he must give each of his targets gifts in order to impress them, and do things that every girl likes.

Before the game begins, players are warned that the game is aimed at adults and are asked five questions that only an adult will know the answer to. Most of these questions are based on American knowledge, so as a non-US citizen, I had a bit of trouble with the questions regarding US presidents, sporting greats, or former actors. One question that I found amusing was a question regarding Bo Derek. One hassle about this quiz is that you have to sit through it every time you load up a game, and you can't load up a game immediately. It's brilliant that you can press three keys simultaneously to bypass it.

Leisure Suit Larry was made in 1987, so the game uses Sierra's old AGI graphics. This is the engine that gave us chunky graphics, text input, and PC Speaker sound. The buildings in each of the five areas (which include the bar, casino, disco, store, and wedding chapel) as well as their interiors are designed well, even with a resolution of 160x200. People who play this game today may be put off with the quality of the game, but that is what technology was like back then. Maniac Mansion wasn't any better, but at least there was mouse support!

The music is okay, if you can stand a single beep coming from the PC speaker. It sounds better if you have access to a Tandy computer. The sound effects are the normal Sierra standard. I like the extra features built into the game that acts as a boss key and software program. I wonder if they actually worked.

One thing I like about LSL1 lies in its humor. You can type almost anything in the game, only to get funny responses most of the time. Throughout the game, you are reminded to use your breath spray through funny responses such as "Your breath smells like a motorman's glove". When you wait long enough in a location - no matter where you are - a black dog approaches you, piddles on your leg, then goes away. Finally, when you die at your starting location, you get a humorous look at how Sierra's characters are made.

You are supposed to meet the girl of your dreams. There are only four girls in this game, but three of them are beautiful. You are allowed to get a close-up view of her face. In fact, that's required to complete the game. The one I set my eyes on is Eve, the girl in the jacuzzi. She has some gorgeous tea cups that I wanted to fondle.

The Bad
When Sierra made games in the mid-Eighties, they decided to insert mini-games that you can play at the casino. In LSL1, you have a choice of either blackjack or slots. This is necessary due to the increasing costs of taking a cab and the hundred of dollars you have to pay just to get it on with a girl. Everywhere you read urges you to save the game if you win and restore if you lose. But it is too much restoring that made me stop playing the game for a while.

The Bottom Line
Al Lowe has created an adventure game designed for adults based on Sierra's earlier works, and he was pretty serious about his intended audience too, by introducing a quiz that only an adult would know the answer to. Inside the game, it is humorous in the way that you can type anything in the text parser and it produces a funny response. The sound and graphics were okay at the time, and there are some nice girls. The only problem with this is the gambling part, but this is important to get through the game. So in conclusion, LSL1 is a nice entry to Sierra's adult adventure series, and anyone into humorous adventure games should check it out.

The Good
I have already played quite a few adventure games as a gamer, but Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards is one particular game that really stands out from the typical adventures made by Revolution, Lucas Arts or Sierra themselves. And that is mainly because of its style, presentation and laugh-out loud humor.

In this game you play as Larry Laffer and the objective of the game is to find the woman of your dreams! And that is it, no saving the world or finding a long lost treasure, just getting laid. Yeah baby! But Larry is not your typical womanizer, on the contrary. He is no pretty boy, neither is he someone with, as the French call it, savoir-faire. He is unhandy, nonathletic, shy and he is already balding well before his forties, not to mention that he is homeless, poor and unemployed. But despite all that, you cannot help but feel sympathy for Larry. Because behind his wacky appearance and clumsiness hides a good soul and most of the time his chances with the ladies get screwed up by nothing more than bad luck or by falling for the wrong women. He is a just a simple guy for who life has been quite harsh and who now finally decides to take control over his life and to find happiness and love. And let us not forget his iconic white leisure suit!

Gameplay-wise, Leisure Suit Larry plays like your typical late eighties Sierra adventure game. You move around using the keyboard's directional buttons and type in commands such as look, pick up, talk, etc. And there is a scoreboard, like in most classic Sierra adventure games. Do not expect to reach the full score by just doing the stuff you need to do to complete the story. You will have to explore and experiment with everyone and everything you encounter in the world of Larry. I wish this scoring mechanic remained in adventure games. since they give you a good reason to replay the game to find out what you missed the first time.

In my opinion, the best aspect of this game is the humor. And it is not juvenile humor or anything. Larry's humor consists mostly of sexual metaphors and just overall goofiness. Very often, the humor is nothing short of outrageous. One of my favorite scenes is in the store when you order condoms. I will not spoil it for you if you have not played this game yet, but you will certainly be laughing out loud!

The Bad
Like many Sierra games of that time, Leisure Suit Larry's gameplay consists of a lot of trial and error. You will have to look around a lot and because you do not have a cursor which marks all the important objects, improvising is quite a necessity.

If you dislike sexually themed humor, than stay away from this game like die hard Catholics avoid Slayer music. This is a game made by adults for adults with a healthy taste for entertainment with a little sexual flavor.

The Bottom Line
While I do not consider Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards the best adventure game of all time nor the best game in the Larry series, I would certainly recommend it to you even if you have just a little interest in the adventure genre. The game is, along with its VGA remake and the other classic Larry titles, available for a small fee on GOG.com so check it out.

The Good
This game had great graphics for its time, and a good story that kept you laughing the whole way through. It took adult matter and presented it in a way that was humorous, yet risque. This game definitely follows in the Sierra trend of fun adventure games. And don't forget one of the funniest text parsers -- truly infused with Al Lowe humor.

The Bad
My one problem with the game is the fact that it was a little too short and on the easy side. I think that they wanted to make this a game the would introduce people to computer games, which sometimes made it a little to simplistic.

The Bottom Line
Old style adventure game with a great text parser.

The Good
This game is funny! Live the life of Leisure Suit Larry as he wanders around town trying to lose his virginity. This is the entire plot. All the ladies you meet require some inventory items & puzzle solving before you can get together. Played this game with friends back in the 80s & wasted days seeing what shenanigans Larry would get into next. Remember to use protection! The music is acceptable by the standards of the time, the main Larry Laffer theme will be recognizable forever after. Graphics are pixels which adds to the sex comedy vibe of the game. No actual nudity involved.

The Bad
The gambling mini-game is repetitive & boring. Also the game kills you for such offences as crossing the street or going too far down the block. No actual nudity involved.

The Bottom Line
We've all met this loser in a bar. Now you can live his life!

The Good
Everyone should play this game at least once cause it's a classic just like Zork. It's part of the computer gaming history.

The Bad
In fact I think this is the weakest of the games when it comes to the plot. The graphics are as bad as all the old sierra games but, in for example the Police Quest-, Space Quest- and Manhunterseries, it didn't matter cause they had such great gameplay and atmosphere. I like the VGA-remake of this game more.

The Bottom Line
A classic game that everyone who had a computer in the 80's have played.

The Good
i like the town that it's set in and i like the honey moon suit the best. I'm a BIG leisure suit Larry 1 collector. I know almost everything there is to know about the game! i know almost all the age quiz answers.

The Bad
the only thing i don't like about this game is that Larry sold his car and you don't have anything to drive around lost wages.

The Bottom Line
i would tell everybody that it's a great game and that they should buy it or trade for it or download this game. it's great!!!!

The Good
While I disapprove of the text interface (I still think it's annoying, slow and limited (and no, it's not because I'm a slow typer, 100 words per minute ain't slow!)) I have to admit there's something about this game which makes it one of the best adventure games ever made. Is it the sexually compromising remarks? Is it the idiot "censor" sign when you do the wild thang? Nope. It's just that Larry is such a pathetic character you can't help but like him :-)

The graphics are OK, the text parser is as good as they got (which is why I only gave it 3) and the music (when there is any) is OK too.

I liked the VGA version better though.

The Bad
It's really easy, up to a point in which I always get stuck (getting the wine).

Again, the annoying text parser.

The Bottom Line
A really good adventure game you shouldn't miss.