~Leisure Suit Larry......

Leisure Suit Larry's Greatest Hits & Misses

Reviewed by Martin Keen


Hold yourself together. Try not to laugh TOO much at the title of 
this collection of games. While English magazines continue to snarl 
at one of the most well known series of computer games ever produced,
the Americans still can't get enough of their hero... 
Leisure Suit Larry.

This compilation CD contains every single Larry game and gadget ever
created (apart from the talkie version of LSL 6) and was available
at the time of writing for less than 13 quid. So thats LSL 1, 2, 3, 
(there never was a version 4), 5, and 6 plus Larry 1 with its tarted
up interface and graphics along with a few video clips of the author, 
a pinball game, a collection of useless utilities, and even a few 
demos.

Thats not bad value for money - in fact if the Leisure Suit Larry
series was any good this might quite possibly be the bargain of
the year. 

The highlight of the package (other than the witty manual which
suggests the creator of Larry, Al Lowe, is actually capable of being
funny) is Larry 1 enhanced. The graphics and interface still just
about cut the standard even today, and the gameplay isn't too 
tedious either.

Sierra are often accused of milking a game for all its worth to such
an extent that they even put the sequel mad movie industry to shame. 
Leisure Suit Larry 1 enhanced is of course based on the original 
Larry 1. That game itself was a sequel too, containing exactly the
same plot as the first Larry game ever, a text-only adventure called
Soft Porn.

But just for once Sierra got it right and LSL 1 contains one 
ingredient which sets it miles apart from all its sequels - Larry 1
is actually funny. 

Its hard to get the balance right between sexual orientated humour and
schoolboy smut but Al Lowe got it right once. The rest of the games
border on the pathetic. Comments such as "you straighten out your suit
spending considerable more time in some areas than others" are quite
frankly more than a bit sad, and should not form the entire basis for
a computer game.

Recommending this compilation CD is difficult. Larry 1 is a classy 
adventure but the rest are either very poor and outdated (such as
Larry 2), or just plain humourless (Larry 5 for example). But if you
have a burning desire to have the entire Larry collection on one CD
or you just can't live without seeing the video interview with Al
Lowe in German then this collection is for you. 


Copyright (c) 1995 Eurowave Leisure Ltd.