leisure suit larry

Leisure Suit Larry is the title character of a series of adult adventure games written by Al Lowe and published by Sierra On-Line from the 1980s to the present. The character, whose full name is Larry Laffer, is a balding, dorky, double entendre speaking, leisure suit-wearing (but still somewhat lovable) "loser" in his 40s who spends much of his life trying (usually unsuccessfully) to seduce attractive women.

The "Larry" games were one of Sierra's most popular game series during the genre's heydays. As such, they remain well-known among fans of the type today. The series stands out among Sierra's catalog in that they are the only games the company produced that contain significant sexual themes and nudity.

In general, the games follow Larry's escapades as he attempts (and mostly fails) to convince a variety of young nubile women (rendered with increasing sophistication throughout the series) to have sex with him. A common link between the games are Larry's explorations of luxurious and cosmopolitan hotels, ships, beaches, resorts, and more commonly, casinos. One of Larry's trademarks is his manner of introducing himself: "Hi, my name is Larry; Larry Laffer."

Because of the nature of the games, the first and third episodes of the series featured an age verification system, which consisted of a series of questions to which the authors reasoned only adults would know the answer. However, many of the questions were American-centric and this frustrated some non-American gamers. Also, the multiple-choice questions did little to deter adolescents with some patience and a notepad. (The verification system could be skipped by pressing Alt-X in episode one, or Ctrl-Alt-X in episode three.) Commentator Becky Hogge has suggested that the inverse of this method be used to identify and prevent internet pedophiles from visiting sites intended for children.

The games

• Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (1987, remade 1991)
• Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places), or Leisure Suit Larry 2 (1988)
• Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals (1989)
• Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Missing Floppies (fictional name; the game exists only in theory)
• Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work (1991)
• Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! (1993, CD version in 1994)
• Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail! (1996)
• Leisure Suit Larry 8: Lust in Space (cancelled)
• Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (2004)
• Leisure Suit Larry: Pocket Party (cancelled)
• Leisure Suit Larry: Cocoa Butter (2006) Scheduled to release Sept 14, 2006 (PS2) Dec 28, 2006 (X-box) (rumored to be cancelled)

Other Larry products

• The Official Book Of Leisure Suit Larry (1990) (written by Al Lowe and Ralph Roberts, containing background information and hint guides).

(Note: The book, like other Sierra books such as "The King's Quest Companion", was revised and edited so that there was a second (1991) and third edition (1993). If there's a 4th edition, someone can add that in too.)

• The Authorized Uncensored Leisure Suit Larry Bedside Companion (1990) (written by Peter Spear, it contains the stories of the first three Leisure Suit Larry games, as well as detailed walkthroughs, point lists and maps)
• The Laffer Utilities (1992) (a parody of the Norton Utilities package)
• Leisure Suit Larry's Datebook (1992) (Mentioned in a 1992 Sierra Catalogue as "Larry speaks! Custom Larry screens pop on to tell you about meetings, birthdays, work habits, and hard-drive hygiene! Let Larry organize your life. Scary, huh?" however was never released. In fact according to Al Lowe it he didn't know it existed and had no plans to make it.)

• Leisure Suit Larry's Casino (1998) (a standalone version of "LarryLand" from the ImagiNation Network and Lowe's last production ever)

Collections

Several Larry collections have also been compiled:

• Larry 3-Pack (1991): this collection included the first three games that were available at the time.
• Leisure Suit Larry's Greatest Hits & Misses (1994): this 1-CD collection included all the Larry games up to #6, including both versions of Larry 1, the VGA version of Larry 6, the Laffer Utilities, and the original Softporn game. A limited edition print of the Leisure Suit Larry book was also included.
• Leisure Suit Larry: Collection Series (1997): this 2-CD collection included everything the previous collection contained, plus the SVGA talkie version of Larry 6, a Larry 7 preview, and Larry's Big Score: Pinball.
• Leisure Suit Larry: The Ultimate Pleasure Pack (2000): this 4-CD collection was, again, otherwise identical to the one before it except that it also included the 1998 Larry's Casino and the full version of Larry 7: Love for Sail.
• Leisure Suit Larry Compilation (2006): this collection, rather than simply containing all the previous Larry games updated to be compatible for Windows XP, only contains Larrys 1-6 (except for the VGA version of Larry 1). The reasons for not including the rest of the Larry games are unknown.

External links

• MobyGames' entry for the Leisure Suit Larry Series
• Al Lowe's Leisure Suit Larry Troubleshooting page
• Al Lowe (creator) Interview - Adventure Classic Gaming
• The Leisure Suit Larry Series at the Open Directory Project
• Al Lowe's Leisure Suit Larry page
• New Statesman article on Leisure Suit Larry's age verification system