Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude

Australia

Vivendi Universal Australia handed the Australian classification board the US version of the game to review, which happened to be the version that contains less nudity. Unfortunately, the censors were not satisfied with this version, giving it an RC (refused classification) rating. This means that as of 9 September 2004, it is illegal for the game to be sold, hired, or exhibited in Australia. At the end of the day, Vivendi refused to submit a revised version because doing so would have ruined the gameplay.

Development

Magna Cum Laude is the first Leisure Suit Larry game that did not involve Al Lowe, Larry's original creator. He left when Leisure Suit Larry 8 was canned by Sierra in 1998. Some working titles were Lust in Space and Welcome to Uranus. This makes Magna Cum Laude unofficially the ninth in the series, with two games missing: fourt and eight. It also the first game in the series released on the consoles.

ESRB

The US Windows version has only received a Mature ESRB rating. Vivendi toned down the nudity to avoid having it banned. However, they released an Uncut and Uncensored version in the US at the end of October 2004, with more explicit nudity. There are no gameplay changes as it is actually identical to the European version, which had no censoring at all.

Playboy

The character Luba Licious was one of three virtual women to appear nude in the October 2004 issue of Playboy magazine. A specially designed two page full frontal fold-out of Luba was part of a short article titled "Gaming Grows Up".

References

• When Larry is in the laboratory, he accidentally starts a futuristic looking machine. It's called an "Interocitor" and was featured in the B-Movie bomb This Island Earth, which was spoofed in the Mystery Science Theather 3000 Movie.
• The Delta Iota Omicron fraternity, DIO, is a more than obvious reference and salute to classic heavy metal bands, the first reference being Ronnie James Dio, one of the lead singers who were in Black Sabbath. The Sabbath references don't stop there; the main three frat guys on that house are nicknamed after Black Sabbath songs (Supernaut, Sweet Leaf and War Pigs).

Title

"Magna Cum Laude" is a Latin phrase meaning "with great honor".

Awards

• Computer Gaming World
  • March 2005 (Issue #249) – Biggest Letdown of the Year
• GameSpy
  • 2004 – Biggest Disappointment of the Year (PC)
  • 2004 - Biggest Abuse of a Classic License (Xbox)
• GameStar (Germany)
  • Issue 03/2005 - Worst Dub in 2004
  • Issue 04/2009 - One of the "10 Most Terrible Sequels" (It fails because the developers misinterpreted everything that made the series big: satire, narratives which ultimately are about love and a likable player character. Instead the game focuses on sex, obscenities and flat gameplay.)
• PC Powerplay (Germany)
  • Issue 01/2005 - Most Horny Game Hero in 2004 (for Larry Loveage)

Information also contributed by Chris Martin, ClydeFrog, Jiguryo, Sciere and Silverblade.