16 people found this review helpful
Not Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 3.7 hrs on record
Posted: Aug 18, 2014 @ 7:13pm
Updated: Aug 18, 2014 @ 7:17pm

As a remake this works in the ways it should. Graphically it's charming for the most part, despite a conflict of styles when talking to people close-up, and the soundtrack - bloodless lounge jazz though it may be - is the highlight. It fails in a couple of major ways, though.

Sierra games from the era of the original were in a bit of a transitional stage from text adventures to what we'd think of as a point-and-click nowadays. The remake replicates the awkwardness of this, but goes a stage further by adding to it: you now have three ways to access your various options, be it walking or picking things up. Yes, you actually have to cycle to walking as an action, like the 'good' old days. The purpose of a remake is surely to streamline and remove the clunkiness of this kind of thing, but this seems to be more about recreation rather than improvement.

Another thing adventure games of this era were known for was insta-death on making a mistake. This is gone, you'll always be resurrected at the time before you made a particular mistake, but in its place is a weird reliance on money and gambling. You can literally - and I'm using literally in the correct sense here - get completely stuck and not be able to finish this game without doing a dance of saving and reloading as you play slot machines, as there is no way to move around the map without paying to do so. If you go broke you will tediously have to build your way back up from $10, but nobody does that as they reload when they lose. Broken game mechanics right there.

On top of this... well, it's Leisure Suit Larry. Never as funny or as naughty as it thought it was, just that pub bore who has one joke and a mean streak that becomes more apparent the more you talk to him. Play it for the nostalgia maybe, but then move on.
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1 Comments
Dryspace Aug 6, 2015 @ 9:33am 
I don't believe that 'walk' as a distinct action was standard in that era? I know that King's Quest IV (1988)--which was the first of the series I played when I finally got a compatible computer--had arrow key and joystick support for movement. And I'm not sure since I didn't play them when they were released, but didn't the very first King's Quest (1984) use the arrow keys for movement?