Wooden Spoon

Whew, what a job writing that Best Gaming Heroes post was. That folks, was the end result of hours of effort: Deciding what to say, reaching into the heart to say it and agonizing who will make the cut and who wouldn't. It wasn't an easy job - and indeed it was a lot harder than writing the Best Gaming Heroines list but it's finally done! And I'm really pleased with the end result.

So were there any characters that didn't make the cut? Funny you should ask: One of the more challenging decisions was Leisure Suit Larry. Whilst his more recent games have been total crap I did have fond memories of planning his previous games but there did lie the question of whether he belonged in the list. Sure I liked him but not exactly for the right reasons. And I clearly stated that this was, more or less, the dudes I'd call when trouble rears it's ugly head - thus it became increasingly clear that Larry was terribly out of place.

Eventually I gave in and dropped Larry from the list (thus making way for Leon) - it was, more or less, a twelfth hour decision and not one taken lightly. I did however a write up about Larry planned so what the hey: May as well give it a home here:

10 - Leisure Suit Larry (Leisure Suit Larry series)
These days, protagonists in games are usually out for killing a large number of dudes. Sure they claim they’re fighting for freedom/preventing global destruction/saving some clueless wench but really they’re not fooling anyone: They’re only in the game to have a big gun and kill anything dumb enough to get in their way. That being said, the Leisure Suit Larry games in this day still remain a shining beacon in a sea of blood.
I played these games when I was a kid (didn’t we all?) and some of them still hold up years later. Primarily because Larry has one goal: Getting laid. He’s not hiding it and he’s prepared to go to bizarre lengths to make it happen. But the way the narrative is written that makes it a treat: Larry is a pathetic loser whom nothing seems to go right for and endlessly mocked by an unseen narrator commenting on his miserable life. And thus Larry is an everyman: Someone defying the odds stacked against him even when he is an obnoxious prat who deserves all the disasters and misfortune lumped upon him.
Indeed, it is the lengths that Larry is prepared to go to get laid that still maintains appeal to me (Wander has nothing on this guy!) – In a way he’s kind of like Kratos. But whereas the latter is determined to undo his mistakes at any cost, Larry wants to get laid and will stop at nothing to do so. Sure Larry is, at the end of the day, a jerk but very few game heroes can boast getting caught in comedic situations that would do Benny Hill proud.
In fact you know what? Forget Lara Croft – Larry is one game character that needs his own movie series.