Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals
Encyclopedia
Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals is the third entry in the Leisure Suit Larry
series of graphical adventure game
s published by Sierra Entertainment
. It was developed for multiple platforms including DOS
, Atari ST
and Amiga
. The game utilizes Sierra's Sierra's Creative Interpreter
(SCI0), resulting in a graphic style similar to its immediate predecessor, as well as a larger repertoire of MIDI
music.
This installment abandons the linear progression of series predecessor Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places)
in favor of the dating sim
aspects of the original title. The plot follows series protagonist Larry Laffer
, fresh from an abrupt divorce, as he combs through a tropical resort looking for love.
The game takes place on Nontoonyt Island, the tropical setting from the previous game which has since been transformed into a resort. Like the city setting of Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
, the island has several areas and is fully explorable at the game's start. The controls feature a mouse-based interface and a text parser
for directing Larry's actions.
Littered throughout the resort are Larry's potential mates; whenever the player interacts with these women, they are featured in a close-up portrait, once again echoing earlier games in the series. The basic structure of the game involves Larry presenting each woman with gifts, although none of these items require money to obtain, unlike in the original Leisure Suit Larry.
Leisure Suit Larry III features a second playable character
, the titular "Passionate Patti", whom the player briefly assumes control over. Patti's portion of the game is much the same as Larry's, including multiple 'death' scenes and a detailed character portrait of her love interest, a male stripper
. However, the Patti sequences are more reminiscent of traditional adventure games, requiring players to navigate through a maze, as well as collect items for use in later puzzles.
The story begins years after the events of Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places). Following Larry's defeat over Dr. Nonookie, the tropical island of Nontoonyt has become a resort reminiscent of Honolulu, Hawaii
. Larry has settled into a high-paying job in "Natives Inc." and lives in a luxurious house with his wife, Kalalau (the daughter of the tribal chief from the previous game). After years of marital bliss, Larry's union comes to an abrupt end when Kalalau dumps him—for another woman! As Larry's current boss is Kalalau's father (now a development mogul, who changed his name from "Chief Keneewauwau
" to "Chairman Kenneth"), he soon finds himself out of a job as well. With this news, Larry retreats into a phone booth (a nod to Superman
) and swaps his aloha shirt
for his signature white suit, firmly announcing his return to the swinger
lifestyle.
The female characters include Tawni, a topless sunbather who is more interested in souvenir
s than dating Larry; Cherri Tart, a showgirl
who performs at the casino; Suzi, an attorney of law firm "Dewey, Cheatem & Howe
" willing to finalize Larry's divorce proceedings; Bambi, an aerobics instructor; and Passionate Patti, a jazz pianist in the hotel (the character appeared in the previous game under the name "Polyester Patty"). Larry's attempts to seduce each of these women are, in typical Larry fashion, doomed to failure—until he meets Patti, who can be won over if Larry collects the right items and performs the right actions based on his encounters with the others.
Ultimately, Larry and Patti spend the night together, but after a round of passionate lovemaking, Larry believes (mistakenly) that he hears Patti mumble another man's name in her sleep. Dejected, Larry abandons his new lover, eventually becoming lost in the uncharted jungle surrounding the resort area. It is at this point the game shifts perspectives; the player now controls Patti, who must navigate the hostile terrain and assorted perils of the jungle (usually by removing parts of her clothing in the process) to save Larry.
The final act of the game sees Larry and Patti get captured by lesbian
cannibals. In an example of breaking the fourth wall
, the pair escapes captivity through the use of a "magic marker"... only to end up at Sierra's Coarsegold, California
headquarters (realized in-game as a literal movie studio), where they must make their way through various set pieces from other Sierra games, including Police Quest
and Space Quest II. Finally, they come across Roberta Williams
directing Princess Rosella in a scene from King's Quest IV, and Larry is offered a job at Sierra. The game ends with Larry and Patti living in a California log cabin, and Larry writing an aptly titled series of computer games based on his adventures.
.
As was the case with Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, the game begins with a series of tongue-in-cheek questions to which the authors reasoned only adults would know the answer. As before, however, this process can be skipped by pressing Ctrl-Alt-X. The number of questions answered correctly determines the games "Filth Level", which displays itself on a scale from 1 to 5: The lowest level (Mother Goose
) bars players from viewing any of the game's titillating scenes; alternatively, the highest level (Totally Raunchiest) leaves all instances of nudity intact. Although the game contains several instances of nudity, none of Larry's sexual encounters are shown explicitly. On the higher "Filth" levels, players are also given the option to input an expletive
which is repeated throughout the game.
The ending sequence of Leisure Suit Larry III, which involves a rampage through Sierra's offices, includes many self-aware jokes which are prevalent in Sierra games. At its conclusion, Larry interrupts Sierra programmer Roberta Williams
as she is "directing" the whale escape scene from Kings Quest IV. Williams herself was featured on the box art of Softporn Adventure
, a 1981 Apple II
text adventure
which served as the basis for the original Leisure Suit Larry title.
Leisure Suit Larry (series)
Leisure Suit Larry is a series of adventure games written by Al Lowe and published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009. The main character, whose full name is Larry Laffer, is a balding, dorky, double entendre-speaking, leisure suit-wearing "loser" in his 40s...
series of graphical adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
s published by Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
. It was developed for multiple platforms including DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
. The game utilizes Sierra's Sierra's Creative Interpreter
Sierra's Creative Interpreter
Sierra's Creative Interpreter is the scripting language created by Jeff Stephenson of Sierra On-Line for its adventure games after the older AGI, and the runtime environment for such adventure games....
(SCI0), resulting in a graphic style similar to its immediate predecessor, as well as a larger repertoire of MIDI
General MIDI
General MIDI or GM is a standardized specification for music synthesizers that respond to MIDI messages. GM was developed by the MIDI Manufacturers Association and the Japan MIDI Standards Committee and first published in 1991...
music.
This installment abandons the linear progression of series predecessor Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places)
Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places)
Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love is the second game in the Leisure Suit Larry series of graphical adventure games by Sierra On Line. Like its predecessor, it was developed for multiple platforms, including DOS, Atari ST and Amiga...
in favor of the dating sim
Dating sim
Dating sims are a video game subgenre of simulation games, usually Japanese, with romantic elements. They are also sometimes put under the category of neoromance. The most common objective of dating sims is to date, usually choosing from among several characters, and to achieve a romantic...
aspects of the original title. The plot follows series protagonist Larry Laffer
Larry Laffer
Larry Laffer is a fictional character and the main character of the Leisure Suit Larry series of games. He was created by game programmer Al Lowe.-Biography:...
, fresh from an abrupt divorce, as he combs through a tropical resort looking for love.
Gameplay
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards is the alliterative title to an adventure computer game first released in 1987, the first part of the Leisure Suit Larry series. It was a completely graphical adventure game with 16 color EGA graphics. It utilizes the Adventure Game Interpreter ...
, the island has several areas and is fully explorable at the game's start. The controls feature a mouse-based interface and a text parser
Text parser
In an adventure game, a text parser takes typed input from the player and simplifies it to something the game can understand. Usually, words with the same meaning are turned into the same word and certain filler words are dropped .The parser makes it easier for the game's author to react on input...
for directing Larry's actions.
Littered throughout the resort are Larry's potential mates; whenever the player interacts with these women, they are featured in a close-up portrait, once again echoing earlier games in the series. The basic structure of the game involves Larry presenting each woman with gifts, although none of these items require money to obtain, unlike in the original Leisure Suit Larry.
Leisure Suit Larry III features a second playable character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
, the titular "Passionate Patti", whom the player briefly assumes control over. Patti's portion of the game is much the same as Larry's, including multiple 'death' scenes and a detailed character portrait of her love interest, a male stripper
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
. However, the Patti sequences are more reminiscent of traditional adventure games, requiring players to navigate through a maze, as well as collect items for use in later puzzles.
Plot
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
. Larry has settled into a high-paying job in "Natives Inc." and lives in a luxurious house with his wife, Kalalau (the daughter of the tribal chief from the previous game). After years of marital bliss, Larry's union comes to an abrupt end when Kalalau dumps him—for another woman! As Larry's current boss is Kalalau's father (now a development mogul, who changed his name from "Chief Keneewauwau
Ken Williams (gaming)
Ken Williams is an American game programmer and co-founded On-Line Systems, which later became Sierra On-Line, together with his wife Roberta Williams. Roberta and Ken married at the age of 19 and have two children...
" to "Chairman Kenneth"), he soon finds himself out of a job as well. With this news, Larry retreats into a phone booth (a nod to Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
) and swaps his aloha shirt
Aloha shirt
The Aloha shirt commonly referred to as a Hawaiian shirt is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawaii. It is currently the premier textile export of the Hawaii manufacturing industry. The shirts are printed, mostly short-sleeved, and collared. They usually have buttons, sometimes as a complete...
for his signature white suit, firmly announcing his return to the swinger
Swinger
-Entertainment:*Swinger , a 1976 album by Barrabás*The Swingers, a New Zealand rock band*Swingers , a 1996 comedy-drama film about the lives of single, unemployed actors living on the 'eastside' of Hollywood, California during the 1990s swing revival*Swingers , a Dutch feature film released in 2002...
lifestyle.
The female characters include Tawni, a topless sunbather who is more interested in souvenir
Souvenir
A souvenir , memento, keepsake or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. The term souvenir brings to mind the mass-produced kitsch that is the main commodity of souvenir and gift shops in many tourist traps around the world...
s than dating Larry; Cherri Tart, a showgirl
Showgirl
A showgirl is a dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show. Showgirl is also often used as a term for a promotional model in trade fairs and car shows, etc...
who performs at the casino; Suzi, an attorney of law firm "Dewey, Cheatem & Howe
Dewey, Cheatem & Howe
Dewey, Cheatem & Howe is the gag name of a fictional law or accounting firm, used in several parody settings. For example, a popular Three Stooges poster features the Stooges as bumbling members of such a firm...
" willing to finalize Larry's divorce proceedings; Bambi, an aerobics instructor; and Passionate Patti, a jazz pianist in the hotel (the character appeared in the previous game under the name "Polyester Patty"). Larry's attempts to seduce each of these women are, in typical Larry fashion, doomed to failure—until he meets Patti, who can be won over if Larry collects the right items and performs the right actions based on his encounters with the others.
Ultimately, Larry and Patti spend the night together, but after a round of passionate lovemaking, Larry believes (mistakenly) that he hears Patti mumble another man's name in her sleep. Dejected, Larry abandons his new lover, eventually becoming lost in the uncharted jungle surrounding the resort area. It is at this point the game shifts perspectives; the player now controls Patti, who must navigate the hostile terrain and assorted perils of the jungle (usually by removing parts of her clothing in the process) to save Larry.
The final act of the game sees Larry and Patti get captured by lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
cannibals. In an example of breaking the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
, the pair escapes captivity through the use of a "magic marker"... only to end up at Sierra's Coarsegold, California
Coarsegold, California
Coarsegold is a census-designated place in Madera County, California. It is located south-southwest of Yosemite Forks, at an elevation of 2218 feet...
headquarters (realized in-game as a literal movie studio), where they must make their way through various set pieces from other Sierra games, including Police Quest
Police Quest
Police Quest is a series of computer games produced and published by Sierra On-Line between 1987 and 1993. The original series was composed of four adventure games, the first three of which were designed by former policeman Jim Walls, with the fourth title designed by former LAPD Chief Daryl F....
and Space Quest II. Finally, they come across Roberta Williams
Roberta Williams
Roberta Williams is an American video game designer. She is most famous for her pioneering work in graphical adventure games, particularly the King's Quest series.-Career:...
directing Princess Rosella in a scene from King's Quest IV, and Larry is offered a job at Sierra. The game ends with Larry and Patti living in a California log cabin, and Larry writing an aptly titled series of computer games based on his adventures.
Development
With Leisure Suit Larry III, Sierra decided to return to the adult-oriented themes, which were almost absent from Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (In Several Wrong Places). The artistic style of the game's characters (particularly Larry) are more cartoony and exaggerated than in the previous game, which opted for a realistic approach. The instruction manual which was packaged with the game resembles a tourist manual, with several "advertisements" which function as codes for bypassing Sierra's copy protectionCopy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
.
As was the case with Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, the game begins with a series of tongue-in-cheek questions to which the authors reasoned only adults would know the answer. As before, however, this process can be skipped by pressing Ctrl-Alt-X. The number of questions answered correctly determines the games "Filth Level", which displays itself on a scale from 1 to 5: The lowest level (Mother Goose
Mother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
) bars players from viewing any of the game's titillating scenes; alternatively, the highest level (Totally Raunchiest) leaves all instances of nudity intact. Although the game contains several instances of nudity, none of Larry's sexual encounters are shown explicitly. On the higher "Filth" levels, players are also given the option to input an expletive
Expletive attributive
Expletive comes from the Latin verb explere, meaning "to fill", via expletivus, "filling out". It was introduced into English in the seventeenth century to refer to various kinds of padding—the padding out of a book with peripheral material, the addition of syllables to a line of poetry for...
which is repeated throughout the game.
The ending sequence of Leisure Suit Larry III, which involves a rampage through Sierra's offices, includes many self-aware jokes which are prevalent in Sierra games. At its conclusion, Larry interrupts Sierra programmer Roberta Williams
Roberta Williams
Roberta Williams is an American video game designer. She is most famous for her pioneering work in graphical adventure games, particularly the King's Quest series.-Career:...
as she is "directing" the whale escape scene from Kings Quest IV. Williams herself was featured on the box art of Softporn Adventure
Softporn Adventure
Softporn Adventure was a comedic, adult-oriented text adventure game produced for the Apple II in 1981. The game was created by Charles Benton and released by On-Line Systems....
, a 1981 Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
text adventure
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
which served as the basis for the original Leisure Suit Larry title.
External links
- Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals at Universal Gaming Database