The Larry franchise makes its return after a long sojourn with Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude. This time around, gamers control Larry Lovage, the hopeless nephew of the famous polyester playboy Larry Laffer.
Lovage, a freshman at the Walnut Log Community College, is keen to continue the family tradition of scoring with nubile lasses. Unfortunately for him, he has inherited his uncle`s ability to scare away any woman within 10 yards of him. It seems that Lovage is destined to spend his days at college alone in his dorm room.
Just as all hope seems lost, he hears the Swingles dating show is coming to campus and they are looking for contestants. Seeing that the winner of the show gets to choose which one of three gorgeous models spends the night with him, Lovage is desperate to enter. However, the host of the show, Uma Yasmine, believes that no woman would be willing to sleep with such a loser and it would be bad to have him as a contestant.
Lovage convinces her to consider him if he brings her the tokens of affection he received from women who have slept with him. Now a man on a mission, Lovage is looking for candidates (or should that be victims?) to sleep with him.
Let the games begin
Magna Cum Laude marks the departure from the quest nature of the previous six titles in the series. The title consists almost entirely of mini-games that take place when Lovage talks to key characters.
While this might sound like a good idea in theory, developer High-Voltage has not quite pulled it off, thanks to the lack of variety on offer. With only a handful mini-games, there tends to be a lot of repetition. Also, many of these are a pure button-mashing affair.
This turns the franchise into an in-your-face affair, losing much of its cerebral eroticism. Magna Cum Laude does succeed in offering gamers a title that captures the humour of the typical college comedy movie. Fans of movies like American Pie and Euro Trip will be right at home with this game.
If you are looking for something subtle and politically correct, then you need to give this one a wide berth. Older gamers who grew up playing the original Larry and those who were too young to appreciate the original Larry will find this title enjoyable, albeit for a short time.
A free history lesson
Leisure Suit Larry: The Land of the Lounge Lizards
This is the game that got it all started. Introduced by Sierra-Online in 1987, Leisure Suit Larry became an instant hit. Winner of the "Best Adventure/Fantasy Role-Playing Game of 1987", this game was designed for adults and allowed players to roam the streets of Los Angeles (LA) in search of true love.
Filled with silly humour and tangy colour graphics, Land of the Lounge Lizards allowed players to become the lovable nerd Larry for one fabulous night. You danced, drank, gambled, and if you played your cards right, you got to meet the girl of your dreams.
Leisure Suit Larry 2: Looking for Love
Looking For Love begins with Larry leaving the home of the last woman of The Land Of Lounge Lizards. Once again, you start the day looking for new love after your old one rejects you. This time, luck is on your side. You win the lottery, but you also have the Mafia chasing you.
This game is much more entertaining than the original. Not only do you travel through LA, but you also have to sail a cruise ship, hide from Mafia members, get through a heavily guarded airport and find your way around two islands just to find the true love of your life.
Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals
This game starts with you at the home of the girl you found in your last episode. Once again, the girl of your dreams dumps you. The action shifts to the island where you ended your adventure in Looking For Love.
Just like its predecessors, you go looking for your true love. What is unique about this title is that you now meet Passionate Patti. Patti is a singer who meets a distressed Larry and immediately falls in love with him. After a pleasant time in bed, Larry misunderstands the situation and leaves Patti.
You now have control over Patti and, instead of looking for the woman of your dreams, you must find the man of Patti`s dream, which happens to be Leisure Suit Larry.
Leisure Suit Larry 4
No part four.
Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work
When the game starts you are back as Larry and have a job in LA. However, Larry has brought Patti along with him. He cannot seem to remember what happened between him and Patti in part four.
In part five, you no longer had to type in your commands. Everything was controlled via a mouse interface. The graphics were now in VGA. You got to control both Larry and Patti (who are in different locations). Every time you rode Aerodork Airlines, you switched to the other character.
The point of this title was not to find true love but to help Larry find Patti, and help Patti, who now works for the FBI, solve her case. By controlling both characters, you are able to work on two different adventures. The hard part about the game was that you could only do a certain thing once. If you were successful in completing both adventures, you help Larry and Patti get back together.
Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out
In part six, the Larry life seems to start from scratch. Patti is no longer there and the story does not start with a situation from the previous title (like the other four did).
The game starts with Larry visiting the beach and then being recruited to play in a dating show. He loses but as a consolation prize for his humiliating performance, Larry wins two weeks at the fabulous Lotta Spa. The entire game is played within the perimeters of the hotel.
Surrounded by nine smart, beautiful women, it seems guaranteed that Larry will meet Ms Right. Right? Wrong!
As a player, you have to help Larry overcome all the odds and experience true love.
Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail!
In this adventure, Larry finds himself on a cruise ship called PMS Bouncy. Once again, Larry roams his surroundings looking for a good time. But Larry 7 offers more than a sex adventure. Yes, for the first time, you can actually put your own voice and face into the video game. Not only that, but included with the game was a scratch and sniff card which allowed you to smell your surroundings.
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