Good old Larry Laffer. Long before an endless stream of American Pie movies made audiences laugh at sexual shenanigans, there was the man himself, a lovable romantic dressed in a polyester suit, looking for love in all the wrong places.
The original series of Leisure Suit Larry games quickly evolved from text-input adventures to the point and click genre with decent animation, but the franchise never lost sight of what made it special along the way, namely risqué humour and dozens of in-jokes that were scattered throughout the levels. And then along came the next-gen games Magnum Cum Laude and Box Office Bust.
More than just terrible games, these crimes against humanity basically killed this guilty pleasure of a franchise, but fear not guys, because the original lounge lizard himself is coming back.
Replay Games recently announced that they had obtained the rights to the franchise, and that a re-release the original series, in commemoration of its 25th anniversary, was on the cards. Replay Games founder and CEO Paul Trowe will be teaming up with series creator Al Lowe for the remakes, with the first Leisure Suit Larry game being developed for almost all available gaming platforms.
Depending on the success of the first remake, players could get to experience the rest of the games in the seven part trilogy, even the fabled missing Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Missing Floppies, albeit in the new form of LSL4: The Missing Digital Download HD.
The remakes will feature upgraded visuals, sound and control, while retaining the games’ signature puzzles and sense of humour. Speaking to EGM, Al Lowe explained how the franchise went drastically wrong when they ignored the most important aspect of the series, namely Larry’s’ unique personality, while he elaborated on how glad he was to be back to develop more Larry games.
“I’m overjoyed to see Larry released from his digital dungeon after all this time, and be placed in the hands of someone who understands him and wants to see him, brought back to the forefront by people who love him and understand him”, Lowe said.
“As a software salesman, I think Larry would feel right at home [in today’s Internet age], and would stay current, at least with pornography. I can see Larry going on Match.com. I’d love to see that series of outtakes”.
“I’ve been trying to get the Larry rights for 10 years”, partner Paul Trowe said. “I grew up in the Sierra family, starting beta-testing at 12 years old. To work with such amazing talent, like Al and Robertta is one of my life-long passions. These guys were way ahead of their time, and to be a part of this magic makes me really happy”.
A cornerstone game of anyone who grew up with a PC that ran DOS games, its glad to see good ‘ol Larry making a return, and not in the form of some god-awful quick cash-in. Forget the birds and the bees speech, this game was far more educational about the perils of unprotected sex and risky prostitutes than a whole weeks worth after-school seminars.
Last Updated: October 11, 2011
