Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards

The Good
I think the music is very interesting. They used Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as dance music for disco - very funny! Also the taxi music was very nice. The graphics are excellent and very colorful. Although I am a girl, I found those women in the game very attractive and sexy. I was really happy when I thought I got a woman ;-) The creator of the game had some fantastic ideas. There are lots of hidden things to discover. The usage of language is very humorous. It was very exciting to always find new things.

The Bad
Sometimes you can die too suddenly, like in the toilet! I didn't expect it. In the convenicence store, I just stole some stuff, but was killed by the owner ;-)

The Bottom Line
In a word, that's a wonderful game, I enjoyed it very much.

The Good
After Sierra was done releasing one or more of their major “Quest” titles, they thought of remaking the original games using their newer SCI engine, which provides support for VGA graphics and Sound Blaster. The result is the same quality as Leisure Suit Larry 5.

If you haven't had the chance to play the original Leisure Suit Larry from 1987, here's the lowdown. In the game, you play as Larry Laffer, a 40-year-old man who is yet to lose his virginity. He vows to spend one night in Lost Wages, trying to score with three different women. The game was designed by Al Lowe, who wanted to make an adult-only game based on Softporn Adventure, the only text adventure released by Sierra.

As such, the player is asked six questions only an American adult would know, with the six question relating to the brochures that come with the game. Even if they enter the three-key cheat that allows them to bypass the majority of the questions, the player is still asked the “copy protection” question. Whatever sex scenes are present, there is a “Censored” sign covering the characters, and I think this is another safety barrier in case children lie about the age and discover the cheat keys.

The typing interface has been replaced by a point-and-click interface, which can be accessed by a colorful icon bar at the top of the screen. As well as the look, talk, pick up, and walk icons, you now have a zipper and taste icons. These icons have a special purpose, and I enjoyed clicking both on different things and laugh at the amusing messages. There are brilliant hand-drawn graphics, and the animations are top-notch as well.

LSL1 provides a fair dose of humor. I stood outside Lefty's Bar long enough to let a poodle take a whiz on my foot. Likewise, the flasher at the wedding chapel is actually two midgets standing on top of each other. The highlight, however, is getting reconstructed after getting attacked by a thug in the alley, where everything is done inside a blender rather than at Sierra's headquarters (which is a bit of a shame, because the original's was better).

The soundtrack is excellent, and it blends in with what you are doing most of the time. My favorite piece of music comes when you are traveling inside the taxi, as well as when you are looking inside the convenience store. If you like the music in this game, you can play most of them by using the jukebox inside Lefty's, but at a price. The sound effects are right up there with those from Leisure Suit Larry 5. You don't get the bodily function sounds when you press the function keys, but who cares?

The Bad
Catching a taxi between locations is quite expensive, and unless you are prepared to win at least $1000 at the casino, you will find yourself running out of money real fast. Also, the game can be quite short, especially if you know how to pick up women in real life.

The Bottom Line
This is a great Sierra remake that takes Larry Laffer in the Nineties, complete with stunning graphics and sound. However, the problem that exist in the original version are still present here. If you brought a PC in the Nineties, chances are that you already played this version. But if you happen to own one of the compilation packs, you will get the best of both worlds. Play both of them, and decide which one you like best.

The Good
The Leisure Suit Larry series is perhaps my favorite to date. While this one wasn't my favorite game IN the series (mostly because it was so short and less-than-eventful when compared with LSL 6 and 7) it was definitely a milestone in my young life. I played this game for the first time when I was about twelve or thirteen and have been a contemptible, corrupted person ever since ;c) In all honesty though, Al Lowe...I applaud your creation of this wonderful, wonderful game series which changed my life (and probably not for the better).

The Bad
As I said, it was a bit short and relatively dull in content, particularly when compared to classic Leisure Suit Larry's, like "LSL 6: Shape Up or Slip Out," or "LSL 7: Love for Sail!" All in all though, I loved the remake from the original (thank God for remakes) and would highly recommend every game in the series for someone wanting to laugh until their guts hurt.

The Bottom Line
This one has all the necessary ingredients to make any guy happy. A good soundtrack (with jazz music created by Al Lowe and his band), Some of the most hilarious material of any game I've ever played, beautifully rendered artwork (particularly in the women of the game) and enough humorous mishaps to make regular guys feel a little bit better about themselves. I found myself saying, "Oh wow...I'm glad that wasn't me!" more often than not. A+, I highly recommend this game series (though it's hard to find them in stores nowadays). Just...don't ask me about Leisure Suit Larry's Casino because I don't even consider that worthy of having Leisure Suit Larry in its title.