....We can sing in the glow of a star that I know of / Where lovers enjoy peace of mind....

And yet another game has been given the boot from the Hall of Shame. Clean up your desk Leisure Suit Larry 6, you're outta here!

Original image located here. Accessed 28th August 2015

Compare to the other Larry games, this represents unfamiliar territory for me: I'd seen the other games whether being played or witnessing the box art. This however completely escaped my notice at the time. Why, I wasn't aware there was a Leisure Suit Larry 6 until I saw Leisure Suit Larry 7 in a game store! (and considering that this is a series that lacks a fourth entrant, that's saying something).

Anywho, having played Leisure Suit Larry 2 and 3, I can safely say that this game is a definite improvement. The character designs are superb, the locales are interesting and the voice acting is superb. Maybe it was case of the technology having advanced enough to make a decent game. Or maybe it was a simple case of having better writing then the preceding games.

I did call out Larry 3 for being ambitious but in Larry 6, the general goal is more scaled back (ie, attempt to sleep with as many women as possible). And that in turn provides a sense of focus. As a result, the jokes are great, the problems are solved through logical means and there is a clear beginning, middle and end. Leisure Suit Larry 2 and 3 may have been meandering but that doesn't seem to be the case here - and Leisure Suit Larry 6 is all the better for it.

And it's good to see that the unwinnable situations are less in number. True, I fell foul of two of them when playing this game and had to start over, but it's good to see that Sierra at this stage were starting to realize this flaw and were taking steps to correct it. True one could suggest that the games LucasArts were churning out may have made Sierra nervous but 'A' for Effort.

In addition, special mention must go the voice acting. Larry sounds pathetic and the ladies certainly have plenty of character that stretches beyond a character portrait. But the real star is the narrator, sounding smug, snarky and taking great delight in commenting on Larry's pathetic existence. Indeed, seeing as so many voices are spot on, it makes a fascinating contrast to the likes of Metroid Other M and the outrage it inspired when the previously silent character of Samus Aran was given a voice. 

All in all, Leisure Suit Larry 6 may have completely escaped my interest first time around - so it;s funny to see it turn out to be a such a superb game. And then, from Leisure Suit Larry 6 comes Leisure Suit Larry 7....