When one thinks of point-and-click adventure games, titles like King's Quest, Monkey Island, and The Walking Dead come to mind, but another has to be Leisure Suit Larry. These were some of the first adult-orientated games, and despite their notoriety because of that, anyone who played the titles knows that they were successful for different reasons. The six original classic Larry titles helmed by series creator Al Lowe are great and hold up mostly.

However, it was just recently announced that the classic Leisure Suit Larry games are being delisted from Steam and, probably, GOG, too. Finding a way to play these games after they're delisted will be much harder. I should know because I tried to play these games back in 2013, around the time the Kickstarter remake came out. The games weren't on Steam yet, and I had a hell of a time going through loops trying to play these titles. These are some of the best comedy games of all time, and you must buy them before they're gone.

How Impactful The Leisure Suit Larry Games Were

Started A Revolution In PC Gaming

The classic Larry games were a milestone point-and-click adventure series that changed the business, frankly. These were some of the first titles to use sexy aspects to get an initial purchase, but like future games such as Dead or Alive, that's not why they continued to be successful. What's awesome about Al Lowe is that his own website has several design documents for his games that give more insight than ever as to why these titles work.

25% of past sales is massive for 1996.

The design document for Love for Sail explicitly states that the initial purchase may be for the babes, but people return for the humor, and that's 100% true. These games do have some dated elements, which will be looked into later, but for the most part, they're still incredibly funny.

Like good horror, good comedy never ages, and the scenarios Larry gets into and how he repeatedly gets the short end of the stick is always great. The fact that the women always come out on top is important because it may surprise you that for a game centered around a guy trying to get laid, the series has quite a large female audience. In the design document for Love for Sail, it states:

Women 25% of past sales; we'll lose them if there's too much video or realistic women or graphic sex

25% of past sales is massive for 1996. For games that lean on the sexy side, it's important to capture a female audience still, and that can be seen in games like Dead or Alive Xtreme, which have a noticeably large female playerbase, and that all started with Leisure Suit Larry. I'm also pretty sure Leisure Suit Larry was the first series to skip a sequel entirely in the vein of Goat Simulator or ThanksKilling.

The Leisure Suit Larry Games Don't Always Age Well

The Ace Venture Problem

All the Larry games are very reliant on their humor, and while they hold up mostly, there are some rough spots. For one, the games can get into topical issues at points that will go over most modern audiences' heads. For example, in Larry 5, there's social commentary about the controversy over 2 Live Crew's music.

For those unfamiliar with hip-hop history, 2 Live Crew pushed explicit content so hard in the genre that it's considered historically significant. As someone familiar with what was going on at that time, thanks to my dad, the commentary worked, but most others will have no idea what they're satirizing.

To boot, some moments don't age well at all. In Larry 6, there's a moment that's exactly like the transphobic scene from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. It's extremely jarring, just like the Jim Carrey movie, because besides that one scene, the game's still funny. I'm having a good time, and then that scene happens, and all the energy is sucked out of the room. Thankfully, the sequel, Love for Sail, doesn't have any moments like that, and if there's only one game to buy before the Larry titles get delisted, it's this one.

Love For Sail Is One Of The Best Adventure Games Ever

They Saved The Best For Last

The final Leisure Suit Larry game by the original developers at Sierra, Love for Sail, has to be one of the best adventure games ever made. First off, the cartoon art style looks fantastic. This art style was actually done first in King's Quest 7: The Princeless Bride, but it looked rough in that game. Larry 7 refined the cartoonish look, and it still holds up all these years later. The game's still funny with clever parodies of Hollywood actresses, and Sierra put a ton of additional features in this game to give it that "wow" factor Al wanted.

There are wallpaper rewards for the various women, which was a novel concept in 1996. Love for Sail added a bit more sex and nudity into the game, but not too much, as they're mostly put in Easter eggs, meant to be a reward for clever players finding them. There's a 100% reward for finding all Easter eggs, getting all the points, and finding all the collectibles, leading to an interesting scene, I'd say. You can now perform text prompts as well as the traditional point-and-click movement around the screen, which was a nice addition.

There's even a scratch-and-sniff mechanic, which must have been wild then. One of the funniest parts of the game has to be the ending, which straight up gives a sequel teaser, "coming in 1998". Only in the late 90s could a title be so confident as to give a sequel release window in-game. That would never happen today. Frankly, I'm glad that game never came out because it makes the ending so much funnier. Love for Sail is so good that it deserves a remaster, and all the classic Leisure Suit Larry games are worth your time.

Source: Al Lowe