Anthony's Film Review - Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail! (Video Game, 1996)

Raunchy and hysterically funny, this is Leisure Suit Larry at its finest...

Leisure Suit Larry, a series of humorous sex-oriented (though not pornographic) adventure games for mature audiences, still managed to stay strong even after a decade in existence. Ten years after the release of the first LSL game in 1987, game designer Al Lowe developed Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!, a game so hilarious and fun that it's easily the best game he made. It's informally referred to as LSL7 even though it's the sixth game. (Long story short, Al originally intended to make only the first three Larry games, but popular demand kept the series going. Al went from LSL3 to LSL5 to break away from continuity of the earlier games. This is why Al continues to joke about the "missing" fourth game.)

The story of Love for Sail! continues where LSL6 ended. Our lovable loser Larry Laffer is scoring with a babe from the previous game, but she decides to leave him. In doing so, she leaves Larry tied up in bed and takes his money. To make matters worse, the bed is accidentally set on fire. You begin the game by trying to find your way out of this predicament. Afterwards, you decide to take a cruise on a ship called the PMS Bouncy, which sounds like it has plenty of women for you to try to score with. (Hopefully, that is.)

There are many places to go to on the ship, including a casino, a horseshoe throwing area, a library, a clothing-optional pool, and many more. But remember, your objective is to score with babes. You have a chance because there are various contests aboard the ship, and the grand prize for winning the most contests is a date with the lovely Captain Thygh. Of course, you can also try to score with other women you meet along the way.

The women aren't just really sexy. They also have funny names, because they are puns on the names of Hollywood actresses. Expect to meet a nudist named Drew Baringmore, a fashion designer named Jamie Lee Coitus, two buxom twins named Nailmi and Wydoncha Jugg, a dice player named Dewmi Moore, and a librarian named Victorian Principles. Speaking of names, also expect to see a few male characters named after euphemisms for the male phallus, like a barman named Johnson. The weirdest character name of all, though, is Xqwzts, which, for some reason, Larry can't pronounce.

I won't say anything about the game's puzzles, other than the fact that they are not too easy and are definitely clever. I'll just talk about the humor. In case I haven't made it clear, this game is Larry Laffer and Al Lowe at their funniest. Every situation is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. I don't think any player can play the whole game with a completely straight face. Al was even crazy enough to include a small feature where you can substitute your own picture for Al's photo seen in a few places in the game. Oh, and the game comes with a scratch-and-sniff card to smell when the game tells you to.

All I can say about Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail! is that it's a masterpiece. It's too good for any computer adventure game fan to pass up, especially a gamer who likes sexual innuendo in a game. How does Al do it? I don't know, but I don't care how he can be a comic genius for this long. All I care about is that he is for sure. To sum it up, if you play only one Larry game, it would have to be this one. Just be prepared to laugh a lot, because it is THAT funny.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!, visit the Internet Movie Database and Moby Games.