WHO CAN forget lovable lounge lizard Larry Laffer? The virgin computer programmer taught more than a few young men about the birds and the bees during his sexcapades back when video games were nothing more thab a few bright pixels and blocky 2-D characters.
But alas, even the most successful swingers get old and eventually have to pass the torch to the younger generation.
And so we're introduced to his not-so-lucky-in-love nephew, coincidentally also named Larry Laffer, as he tries to follow in his famous uncle's footsteps in a resurrected version of Leisure Suit Larry.
In Magna Cum Laude, Larry is desperate to be a contestant on a dating show that has come to the Walnut Log Community College campus.
HOT BABES
To get a spot on the show, Larry needs to show the host he has what it takes to score with every hot babe on campus.
And if there's one sex-crazed place on Earth where you can find and exploit every possible stereotype, it's the college campus. And, boy, do they milk it for all it's worth.
They're all here. The annoying guy. The math nerds. The lesbian. The frat boys and the granola-crunching activists.
These characters are just as likely to tell lovable loser Larry to f-off as they are to entertain his cheesy pickup lines or tolerate his interrupting behaviour.
Then there are the ladies.
The naive country bumpkin. The nerdy girl who likes cats and studying but could look good if she let her hair down and lost the glasses. The Russian exchange student. The Italian mafia princess. The geeky band girl.
Just because it seems a little twisted ogling cartoon hotties, Vivendi mixed in some scantily clad real-life models of the video game vixens in various states of undress on the much-too-frequent load screens. Think Maxim magazine meets a tame Playboy.
But as offensive as it is on the surface, Leisure Suit Larry is really a sly parody, poking fun at just about anyone and everything through its risque but witty dialogue and over-the-top stereotypes. Too bad the gameplay isn't quite as original.
The game is essentially a collection of mini-games (and drinking games) such as quarters, dancing, bartending and chatting up the ladies.
Unfortunately it relies on the same games (with varying degrees of difficulty) over and over for each girl you meet.
The learning curve on these challenges isn't steep, and they aren't so much puzzling as they are repetitive.
It severely handicaps the replay value since the only thing that keeps you playing is the chance to see a few provocative shots of half-dressed cartoons and to find out what outrageous thing Larry will say next.
And even that isn't done quickly. The wait times are infuriatingly long, with the game constantly stopping to load the next level, area or mini-game.
Despite the obvious flaws in this game, you can't help but give Vivendi Universal credit for pushing the limits without losing the spirit of the original franchise.
This game's target audience clearly isn't females (at least not the sensitive ones). So if you're easily offended, you better leave Leisure Suit Larry on the shelf.
Is Leisure Suit Larry crass? Yes. Vulgar? You bet. Immature? Of course.
Funny? Downright hilarious.
If you're looking for a video-game romp with a lot of off-colour and racy humour, you've hit the bull's-eye.
