| Leisure Suit Larry | |
|---|---|
Cover art for the 1997 collection |
|
| Genres | Graphic adventure |
| Developers | Sierra Entertainment, High Voltage Software, Team17, Replay Games |
| Publishers | Sierra Entertainment, Codemasters, Replay Games |
| First release | Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards July 5, 1987 |
| Latest release | Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust March 31, 2009 |
Leisure Suit Larry is a series of adventure games written by Al Lowe and published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009. The main 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. The games follow him as he spends much of his life trying (usually unsuccessfully) to seduce attractive women.
Contents |
Originally stemmed from ideas of Sierra's adventure game Softporn Adventure created by designer Chuck Benton,[1] the "Larry" games were one of Sierra's most popular game series during the genre's heyday when it was first released in the mid 1980s. 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.
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", a reference to James Bond's introduction style, "My name is Bond; James Bond."
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 U.S.-centric and this frustrated some non-United States 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.)
After the gleefully seedy first game, the series - despite becoming infamous for its saucy content - gained something of a reputation for not actually featuring all that much raunchy material when analyzed, particularly the mid-entries to the series. This became even more evident in later years, when more genuinely racy games appeared in the market, like Cobra Mission. At most, the raunchier moments were usually hidden as Easter eggs. Things began to become racier again toward the end of the series, particularly in the (original) final installment, Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!.
In Shape up or Slip Out!, Love For Sail!, Casino, and Magna Cum Laude, Larry is voiced by Jan Rabson. Larry Lovage, the protagonist of Magna Cum Laude, is voiced by Tim Dadabo.
In March 2007, Vivendi announced Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail! for the mobile phone. This version will be a remake of the previous game where the player plays Larry from the Magna Cum Laude game. It is also announced that parts of this game will take place in a plane.
On the Howard Stern radio show on November 27, 2007, comedian Artie Lange mentioned that he had recorded dialogue for a character named "Big Al" in a new Leisure Suit Larry game. On May 20, 2008, Lange confirmed that he had completed recording dialogue for the game. His salary was thirty thousand dollars for work which took "about an hour and a half," amazing Howard and his staff. On July 29, 2009, Artie again referenced doing this work on Leisure Suit Larry but said that he made twenty five thousand dollars.
On January 17, 2008, Sierra Entertainment announced Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust for PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and mobile phones.[2]
Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust was developed by Team 17 and the publishing rights were offered to Codemasters who published the game in March 2009.
While making In the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Sierra On-line staff had to decide the character's name. They agreed that he should be named after Al Lowe's friend, Jerry (Lowe never made his last name known to the public), who had visited him at work and became well known in the Sierra studios. Jerry thought of himself as a great lover. He became an infamous point of comical reference among the staff, so the game creators agreed that since Jerry's character suited the game's "hero", they should jokingly tribute him.
However, since they thought it would cause the real Jerry offense or possibly provoke litigation, "Jerry" was then altered to "Larry", a similar name, in honor of famed injury attorney Larry H. Parker, Al Lowe's childhood friend. Lowe had to find a new surname, and having in mind the many L-words of the title, skimmed through the "L" volume of an encyclopedia in order to find a suitable word or name. He fell on the entry of Arthur Laffer, and the name caught his attention due to its phonetic resemblance to "laughter".
Arthur Laffer for years had no idea about the existence of the games until much later when Al Lowe sent a letter asking his permission for the publication of a program under the title Laffer Utilities, a Larry spin-off which could potentially confuse the public due to the ambiguous title. Laffer asked his secretary if she knew about the games and she told him that she had played them for years, but never made a connection. Laffer gave the permission and also paid a visit to the Sierra studios.
Several Larry collections have also been compiled:
|
||||||||