Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals

aka: LSL3, Larry 3, Larry Amusements, Leisure Suit Larry 3, Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti auf der Suche nach vibrierenden Muskeln!
Moby ID: 412
DOS Specs
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Description

Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals! is the third game in Al Lowe's Leisure Suit Larry series. Larry Laffer has finally found the woman of his dreams, and can happily live with her together on the beautiful tropical island... until he gets thrown out of the house by his wife. His boss, who happens to be his (now ex-) father-in-law, fires him. Larry is all alone, without a woman, without a job, on an island that has long ceased to be a "tropical paradise" and is exploited by entertainers, lawyers, and alike. But never despair! Dressed in his irresistible leisure suit, Larry is about to conquer the world (or at least its female population) anew. Watch out, fairer sex, because Larry is back to his swinging self!

The game uses the same text-based interface and the same graphical engine as the previous entry in the series. The structure of the game, however, is more similar to that of the first installment: most of the time, the player is confined to one large area which can be freely explored. Unlike the two previous Larry games, the player does not just control Larry, but also - in the second half of the game - the enigmatic and beautiful pianist Patti, helping them to reach an ending that will finally bring happiness into Larry's life.

Spellings

  • שעשועי לארי - Hebrew spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 75% (based on 24 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 84 ratings with 4 reviews)

All you need is love

The Good
The third game in the humorously adult adventure series is also the last of the trilogy that was initially conceived as such: later games appeared mostly thanks to the popularity of the franchise. Larry 3 wraps up an overarching story that started with a forty-year-old bachelor trying to find the love of his life in the city of Lost Wages. It is considered by many fans the highlight of Larry Laffer's earlier escapades. While it's hard to say which of the first three games is the best, this final entry is decidedly the most polished and well-designed of the bunch.

The first installment of the series provided a handy, convenient template for (mostly) futile seduction attempts: a small, yet open collection of recognizable urban areas. The sequel opted for a more dynamic, eventful, yet linear adventure. Larry 3 mostly follows the first school of thought: from the onset, you are free to explore an island with its places of interest which include a hotel, beaches, a jungle, a gym, a law office, and more. Like in the first game, several young women are strategically placed in different areas to provide the incentive for typically adventurous item-collecting and manipulation. You wander around, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and enjoying the familiarity with the formula. After having completed all the actions needed to seduce the "boss girl", i.e. the one female character you cannot woo without having previously charmed all the others, you feel somewhat satisfied and yet disappointed with the game's predictable flow and short length.

It is then that Larry 3 shows you its trump card: Patti. Just when you thought the game was nearing its expected end, it switches gears, putting you in control of the mysterious woman Larry has just conquered against all odds. The game's second half is smaller and much more linear than the first - and that's precisely what it needed to be. It is as if a large segment from the second game was attached to a variation of the first. The Patti section brings the much-needed dynamism and tension to the rather placid Larry-controlling gameplay. It is an excellent addition to an already very solid and competently made adventure, giving it more diversity and flavor.

Generally, the gameplay in Larry 3 is noticeably richer and more varied than in the opening entry. Some of the more convoluted puzzles of the Larry part are actually quite good and amusing. Exploring the island is a pleasant, laid-back activity. The amount of lethal situations has been greatly reduced compared to the previous game, and I don't think it is possible to get irrevocably stuck when playing as Larry. I was missing the nerve-wrecking traps and action of the second game, but then I got it all back in the Patti section. Thus, the third game offers the best of both in a generous gesture.

In terms of comedy, this installment may lack the social satire and the black humor of the predecessor, but makes up for it with its depiction of the island's life, with its cheap tourist attractions and greedy women crossing Larry's path. The game goes back to laughing at Larry and presenting his comically unsuccessful amorous encounters, which has always been the focus of the series' humor. Personally, I preferred the more varied laughs of the second game, but that's a matter of taste. Anyway, some of the situations Larry finds himself in are really funny. There is an entire comedy show you can sit through for a good chunk of points, its jokes featuring ethnicities actually selected by the player - lack of political correctness at its best! Also, the part where you meet the game's creator involves one of the best meta-jokes I've seen in a game.

Those who disliked the lack of love in the aptly titled second installment will rejoice at the fact that the third game is the raunchiest Larry episode so far. Not only there are more full-screened women than ever before - Larry actually goes much farther with them, with only comical accidents interrupting full-fledged coitus. Paradoxically, with this amount of meaningless sex, Larry 3 also manages to be the warmest and most soulful game of the entire series - the romance with Patti goes beyond carnal pleasures and culminates in what at least the heroes perceive as true love at the moment. This makes this installment much more emotionally intense and fulfilling than the previous adventures.

The graphics are roughly at the same level as in the second game, but the music has gotten a significant boost. This was the first Larry adventure with a memorable soundtrack - though in a way quite different from the tasty, jazzy tunes of its successors. The opening melancholic theme is surprisingly beautiful, giving an unexpected tinge of sadness to what is supposed to be a cheerfully nonsensical comedy, and making us see the beginning that involves a sudden divorce and loss of a job in a different, more serious light.

The Bad
Larry 3 tries to avoid dead ends and other unpleasant situations as much as it can; as a result, the game turned out to be a tiny bit too easy. There are a few fairly tricky puzzles, but also entire tasks that consist of walking from one place to another and asking simple questions. For example, the actions needed to seduce Cherri are so elementary that the result doesn't feel rewarding enough. In general, the few young women you almost get lucky with are somewhat underwhelming, lacking the spark that made the female characters of the first game less forgettable.

There is too much copy protection. I like the clever solution to the bamboo maze (it is well-hidden in the manual), but I don't quite see the necessity of having to resort to the supplied written materials for a mere input of a few numbers. In particular, the locker-finding and the combination needed to open it were rather superfluous.

The Bottom Line
Larry 3 is a powerful finale of the series' first trilogy. It takes what was best in its predecessors, expanding gameplay, correcting annoyances, and crowning itself with an ironically told, yet emotionally charged love story. The then-concluding chapter in a tale about a loser trying to get laid surprisingly reveals itself as one of the best adventure games of its time.

DOS · by Unicorn Lynx (181788) · 2014

A delicate flavor...

The Good
I'm not the kind of man who likes to play classic graphic adventure games. I wish I wasn't but I find watching someone who is trying his/her best to follow the scenario much more appealing than playing it by myself (at least my elder brother and some of my friends give more of themselves when playing these games; I never managed unfortunately, ever!). But wouldn't it be great if you had the chance to watch, for example LucasArt's "The Secret of Monkey Island" or "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"? I could watch them over and over and over again! As a movie buff I can honestly say that watching a good adventure game may sometimes become a more effective experience than watching a good movie (even if it is based on that movie and that was Indy's last crusade! :)

Well, I would be really very happy if I had watched Larry Laffer's third adventure. Maybe it was Al Lowe's "another humorous, harmless 3-D animated endeavor for adults" (I don't like his humor or Larry character much however he sometimes could create some nice snapshots) but what I liked most in the game was its outstanding atmosphere that set the scenes. You really can't help but admire Roger Hardy and William D. Skirvin's excellent piece of pixel art or Mike Dana's GREAT musical score. From the very beginning (lovely vista point) you already love their work.

I'm not inside the story much but in all of Larry adventures, to me, it was Larry's best adventure. From the jungle island to the amazon cannibal women, mad scientists to secret laboratories nearly all ideas were formed very well. The switching role with Patti was really fun and a nice change to see the story from another point of view...

I also liked the manual the game comes with. Different from an ordinary game manual its manual was designed like a guide to the island where you can find many absurd staff. Besides, the illustration William Eaken had created for "the Punk Flamingo Disco" was simply incredible, "dance your grass off at the disco in the beautiful downtown Nontoonyt Mall"!

The Bad
Well, hmm, let me think! Maybe "Polyester Patty in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals" was a better title. No! I thought again! It isn't. When I hear "Polyester" I always remember John Waters' movie of the same name. You know? Anyway, never mind. I reckon...

The Bottom Line
Even if you didn't play any Larry adventure before, this third part would be a perfect beginning. Yeah, it's time to meet Leisure Suit Larry and Passionate Patti!

DOS · by Accatone (5191) · 2000

Hey, this is way better than Dallas Quest!

The Good
The storyline and dialog in this game are among the best in animated adventure games. I mean, Larry's I & II were great fun and had excellent puzzles, but PPPPP has the sort of plot that really got me involved - I actually enjoyed the story as much as the gameplay. What with the excellent soundtrack (this was the first game I could try my brand new SB 2.0 on) and hi-res graphics this was top-notch technically as well as adventure-wise. Though the game is reasonably large (eleven floppies as I recall?), it holds together pretty well, and I never experienced a dull moment with it.

The Bad
Unfortunately, the Sierra way of doing hi-res EGA graphics was to use a lot of color rasters rather than using solid colors, which looked reasonably good back when the game was released but really gets on my nerves today. Also, most older Sierra games suffer from the sudden-death syndrome that can really drive a person used to Lucasfilm games mad (though this didn't bother me at the time).

The biggest bug (it must be a programming error, no one would implement it in an adventure game on purpose) in the game is the arcade sequence, where Patti has to ride a log on a river, avoiding all sorts of nasty obstascles. Its about as much fun as having your teeth bashed in with bricks, in my opinion. The maze I can live with, if Adventure had one or two, why shouldn't other adventure games? (Besides, the manual includes a walk-through of the maze, if you can find it.)

Oh yeah, installing the game off floppies was a real pain...

The Bottom Line
A funny and involving animated adventure game with loads to play and pretty logical puzzles. Not really all that raunchy, but does include animated sexual intercourse (in small 16-colour graphics), so its more like Larry I than the puzzle- and humour-oriented Larry II in that sense. One of the most enjoyable "old" Sierra games.

DOS · by Late (77) · 2001

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
KIXX version Edwin Drost (9288) Feb 21, 2017

Trivia

Age verification

Similar to the first game, the player has to answer a series of trivia questions when starting the game. However, this time failing to do so does not prevent the user from playing the game, but removes various instances of nudity and sex.

Cameo

The game's creator Al Lowe has been known to work himself into all his games. This is no exception, check the corner of the comedy club.

Polyester Patty

The game was intended to be named Polyester Patty in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals. When Larry encountered the female protagonist for the first time in his second adventure, her name was Polyester Patty. It was then changed to Passionate Patty.

Processor speed

Larry has to build his muscles in the Fat City health club by doing some heavy exercise on four stations. Each exercise needs to be repeated several times to be effective. However, the number of repetitions necessary is directly proportional to the clock frequency of your processor. The game was developed on an 16 MHz 386, which resulted in 21 repetitions each. That was quite manageable. Unfortunately, new processors tend to be faster each year. On a decent Pentium 233, Larry has to heave the weights 510 times; take that times four (the different machines) and times two (weight up, weight down), and you come to 4080 keystrokes. This is indeed heavy exercise.

The game also has timing issues, and if you have a processor higher than a Pentium, you'll encounter them if you decide to use the casino's elevator to go up to Patti's apartment, and it doesn't arrive immediately. You'll also encounter these issues if you watch Cherri Tart dance because she doesn't get tired. These issues are overcome by setting the game's speed to maximum and waiting 10-15 minutes.

References

There are many references to other Sierra games embedded into the third installment of Larry's adventure:

  • The game sets an adult level as Mother Goose level if the player answers correctly only one question. This is a reference to Mixed-Up Mother Goose.
  • In the piano room in the hotel where the player meets Patti, Roger Wilco from the Space Quest series appears on one of the chairs from time to time. Larry can ask him some questions about Space Quest or Two Guys from Andromeda but Roger replies that he doesn't know about them.
  • If you eat plants that grow on the cliff's edge, the narrator says that Patty has visions of Daventry - a kingdom from King's Quest Series.
  • By the end of the game, Larry and Patti end up in Sierra Studios where there is a set for Police Quest I. Further in the Sierra Studios there is a prop room with a tombstone with the remains of King's Quest IV programming staff, a staged set of a taxi cab from Leisure Suit Larry in The Land of the Lounge Lizards. There is also a cauldron from Black Cauldron, red marking flags from King's Quest, suits from Manhunter and shooting range sheets from Police Quest 2. In the next screen there is also a set from Space Quest II.
  • At the end of the game Rosella from King's Quest IV can be seen when on a set she is climbing on whale's tongue.

Awards

  • Amiga Power
    • May 1991 (Issue #00) - #54 in the "All Time Top 100 Amiga Games"

Information also contributed by B14ck W01f and MaiZure.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by MajorDad.

Amiga, Atari ST added by POMAH. Windows added by Sciere.

Additional contributors: -Chris, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, James Isaac, Alaka, Vaelor, Crawly, 6⅞ of Nine, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa, Jo ST.

Game added November 11, 1999. Last modified February 13, 2024.