back to article Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards

Reg Hardware Sex Week I'm actually surprised that it took till 1987 for someone to make a real effort and bring sexy time into a computer game. This new sub-genre effectively combined sex, comedy and gaming into a somewhat sleazy but hilarious adventure. It's all about the polyester leisure suit and gold chains... feel that …

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  1. ratfox
    Paris Hilton

    It did not take until 1987...

    The precursor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softporn_Adventure was released in 1981. According to Ken Williams, it sold 25,000 copies for the Apple II, when there were only 100,000 Apple II in circulation.

    1. Greg J Preece

      There's also the slew of Atari porn games from Mystique in '82.

      http://www.gametrailers.com/video/angry-video-screwattack/23884

      1. DrXym

        Custer's Revenge

        Control an aroused General George Custer as he dodges arrows to rape an native American tied to a pole. Widely regarded as one of the worst games ever.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It did not take until 1987...

      "The precursor [Softporn_Adventure] was released in 1981."

      It goes further than that- from what I understand, the first Larry game was merely a graphical remake of Softporn Adventure with the same puzzles. (Wikipedia confirms this).

  2. DZ-Jay

    Ahhh... Larry, old friend!

    Leisure Suite Larry is one of my all-time favorite games. Some time during the late 1990s Sierra Online released the Ultimate Larry Collection, which contained all games, 1 through 7, in all versions available, EGA/CGA and VGA. Every few years I fire up DosBox and go at the whole series.

    Very entertaining, indeed.

    Another favorite of mine that I would like showcased here is the Space Quest series. Similar in humorous style and tone (minus the sexual innuendo), irreverent and unapologetic of its silliness; and just as good--especially for the sci-fi inclined geek.

    Now, excuse me while I configure my DosBox...

    -dZ.

    1. Greg J Preece

      There's a similar Space Quest pack that got released some years back, comes in a DVD slim case.

      1. DZ-Jay

        Yes indeed, and I own that one too. :)

        Actually, the one I own was released in the late 90s, before Space Quest 6 came out. So it includes only 1 through 5. However, I purchased SQ 6 when a bit later when it was released, so I'm all covered. :)

        -dZ.

  3. Pete Foster
    Thumb Up

    Classic!

    Ken sent me.

    Scott me up, Beamie.

    1. Mike Smith

      And

      She certainly seems to enjoy that gum.

  4. Mr Brush
    Headmaster

    No sexy times till 1987?

    The adult themed Beat 'em and eat 'em, Batchelor Party and the dire Custers Revenge were all around in 1982.

    They were grim though.

  5. Ian Yates
    Thumb Up

    Adult-only

    As an early-teen, I remember finding my dad's LSL floppy-disk and had great fun learning the answers to the age protection questions, mostly around 1970s American politics, I seem to recall.

    Don't think I got too far in the game, though.

    Surprised you didn't mention Police/King's/Space Quest, which were essentially the non-adult version of LSL. All fantastic puzzle games.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Plenty of 'Adult' games on the ZX Spectrum from 1983 onwards.

    http://www.worldofspectrum.org/sex.html

    Including the 'classic' - "Soho Sex Quest 2: Herpes or Bust".

  7. disgruntled yank

    LSL

    "Lost Wages" is a nickname for Las Vegas, a city that must have had a pretty fair density of lounge lizards when the species flourished--maybe it still does.

    Years ago I worked with some computer operators who were finding their way through the game. About that time, one of them came up with a 1970s "Playboy". It later turned out that he had taken it from somebody's desk elsewhere in the building. As he said, "Larry would've done it."

  8. SiempreTuna
    Thumb Up

    I seem to recall that ..

    .. the rumour at the time was that the 'bang' LSL finished with an early PC virus

    Kinda fitting

    1. Tim99 Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: I seem to recall that ..

      There were a lot of "copied" disks around with viruses on them.

      We had an external engineer who had just come back from the USA to service some equipment. He showed LSL to two of our people who really liked it. They installed it on their PCs. The PCs were on Novell networks interconnected on a WAN - Two days later we had a few hundred infected machines. It was the first big infestation that I saw.

      1. Daniel B.
        Pirate

        Re: Re: I seem to recall that ..

        Heh, the virus-infesting game in my times was Prince of Persia ... maybe I was too young to play Larry and thus didn't know about this? ;)

  9. Mondo the Magnificent

    OMFG!

    Man I remember this! We used to play it at work on our XT systems.

    This is probably one of the first "work time waster" games I ever saw crop up. All those little questions in the beginning to 'ensure you were 18 or older' and the sprite based game play that took us on an adventure.

    The Spearmint flavoured ribbed condoms also raised a giggle or two.

    We then got a UNIX version that was ported to our Siemens Nixdorf mainframe. LSL on the graphics capable dumb terminal :¬)

    Those were the days

    Another trip down memory lane, thanks El Reg.

    1. Egons Proton Pack
      Happy

      Was it this one that had the stand up comedian on stage complete with rim shot after the jokes.

      Or am I thinking of a different game?

      1. phil 21

        no, you are correct, the same game :)

        I played this on my Atari ST loads and loads, it certainly got easier when someone told me you could SAY "TAXI" to move about, rather than getting stabbed or run over :)

        according to various magazine walkthroughs, it's possible to finish the game with 204 out of 200 points by doing various daft things, one of which is ringing the (real at the time) sierra help line from the pay phone.

    2. Graham Wilson
      Thumb Up

      Re: OMFG!

      I have to agree completely. No point me repeating the same thing so it's a thumbs-up. and 'like'.

  10. gaz 7
    Coat

    Preferred Leather Goddess's of Phobos myself

    Title says it all really....

    Still not into graphical adventures. Must try and find a copy and playt it again though.

    Mine's the dirty mac

  11. Craig 12

    Larry, Kings Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest... I loved them all on our Atari ST, at the tender age of 12.

    All the Sierra games were amazing for their time, and humorous throughout.

    Hopefully someone has made a flash version of Astro Chciken for me to play this lunch time...

  12. Shonko Kid
    Happy

    True classic

    Haven't played it in aeons, but it still brings a nostalgic smile.

  13. SpaMster
    Trollface

    This game was fun, but Kings Quest was better :)

    1. dynamight
      Thumb Up

      Blimey...

      ... it'll be Chuckie Egg next.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "HD" remake?

    I'm surprised the article doesn't mention the recent announcement of a remake?

    http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/10/replay-games-shoots-for-nostalgia-with-leisure-suit-larry-revival/

    Hope that hasn't gone down the drain...

    Defintitely one of my favourite games.

  15. earlyjester
    Thumb Up

    Bring back the "boss key"

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    failure to complete

    I remember leaving the machine on after playing it for a bit (dosbox Im sure) and find the ``other'' ending to the game, which hapens when the internal game clock has decided it's day again, and you havent completed your mission.

  17. JDX Gold badge

    "slack slots"

    Nice.

  18. zen1

    While going through an old box of clothing..

    I stumbled across one of the T-Shirts I received from the good folks who published this App, Sierra, if I remember correctly. And at the time was one of those games that had the best graphics.

    On the front, the shirt read Liesure Suit Lary.. On the back, it read "what do you want, good graphics or good taste?"

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ahh...

    I used to play this with my sisters on our BBC Master - It had a 512 board with a 186 (!) processor.

  20. That Awful Puppy
    Go

    A very educational game, oddly enough

    I'd have never learned English if it weren't for the promise of monochrome pixelated boobs in this game.

  21. Spotswood
    Thumb Up

    Much Love

    Sierra Quest Games is what got me into computers, gaming, and inevitably a career in IT. I owe them everything! I also get those bouts of Nostaligia, go and fire up a Dos Box, and off we go. I've still got the originals on 5 1/4" somewhere!!

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Larry Laffer?

    Larry Ellison more like.

  23. darkmage0707077
    Thumb Up

    The Whole Lineup of Quest titles

    Ahhh, Leisure Suit Larry. So many fond memories of those and other Sierra "Quest" games...

    King's Quest 1-7 (MoE is not 8, same as Highlander has no sequals): a great medieval fantasy series, and one of the great grand daddies that started the whole movement of 3D-looking adventure games. A fun romp through all of the western fairy tails we liked to read as kids, with some twists to keep things from getting too predictable.

    Space Quest 1-6: First sci-fi based comedy adventure game ever. Love the protagonist, and there's plenty of sci fi toungue-in-cheek references for ANYone to choke and die on. Ah, for the good old days before games were worthy of notice in courts...

    Police Quest 1-4 (and probably SWAT 1, sort of): First game series to seriously look at what it took to be a cop. Was used by at least one precint to help train new cops on proper police procedures. Warning: can actually inspire some people to become cops if young enough (my hand's up).

    And my absolute favorite:

    Quest for Glory 1-5: One of the first Adventure-RPG hybrids ever, and certainly one of the first worthy of anyone's time. Distinct character classes with unique solutions to puzzles depending on class/abillities (yes, stats help determine if you can solve a puzzle or not), quirky-yet-serious atmosphere (first game: quirky=just about everywhere, serious=Brigands' Valley), and very realistic in-game features (eating, sleeping, time, day/night, etc) for Adventure games (and even some RPGs!). Could make my own review about the series, but I'll leave others to do it.

    For those who haven't, I highly recommend fans of these series also trying to snag a copy of the respective Companions for each. Not for the help getting through the games (why when we have Internet?) but for the wonderful stories that help bring elements of the games to life. My old dog-eared coppies were ready from front to back over and over when I was a kid, and they still sit proudly on my shelves to this very day!

  24. Rudy

    And what about the successor to LSL? Passionate Patty in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals. Great title but I never got to finish it.

    1. Corborg
      Facepalm

      PSPIPOTPP was Larry 3, larry 2 was goes looking for love in several wrong places (GLFLISWP).

      Silly

  25. Sequin
    Windows

    I still remember how I cheated the casino in this game - there were two ways:

    1. At the DOS prompt type RANDOMIZE 1 - this would set the random number generator to the same seed, meaning that the same winning sequences would also appear

    2. Gamble all of your money. If you win, save the game, then gamble again

    4.If you lose, load your previously saved game and try again, repeating until you do win

  26. frunkis
    Linux

    Was there anything better than the Sierra Online games back then? I was fortunate enough to witness Al Lowe modify a bit of code for the Police Quest series one day. He showed me how a line of code could correct the bug I had discovered. I didn't understand what he had done, but was able to see the results. It fascinated me and I believe that moment and the Sierra Online game series had a lot of influence on where I am today.

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