Larry II

Looking for love is all that I need
My lust for love is more than greed
Since all I want is love, yeah!
'Cause all I want is love, yeah yeah!

I need them girls to live my life
I always live on the edge of a knife
Since all I want is love, yeah!
'Cause all I want is love, yeah yeah!

So in a bar I met this girl
Boy, she made my toes go and curl
Since all I want is love, yeah!
'Cause all I want is love, yeah yeah!

She took me home and we had fun
A nice and cosy love affair begun
She matched to me just like a glove, yeah!
And now I thought I found my love, yeah yeah!

But next day she was there no more
And I felt worse than ever before
So I'm now again looking for love, yeah!
Always looking for love, yeah yeah!

A song someone wrote but didn't publish
(If he had, he wouldn't now be lying in the gutter
clutching a brown paper bag)

LEISURE SUIT LARRY II - LOOKING FOR LOVE IN SEVERAL WRONG PLACES
by Richard Karsmakers

Yeah, you're right.
I had better not write this at all, since it's no decent intro
novelette like the ones you're used from me (or from Stefan, for
that matter).
Before the actual review of this game starts, I'd like to
emphasise the fact that everything you read in the first part of
this article has nothing to do whatsoever with the game this
actual review is about; instead, it's more of an outburst in oral
exhibitionism that I thus found to be able to function as a
replacement for the aforemeant intro novelette.
Those of you who are not interested in my life and the things I
do had better skip this part and go on after the "*****".

As you might have read already elsewhere in ST NEWS, I have
recently decided to quit my Biology study. It was a tough
decision to make, because I was afraid my dad might never want to
see me again then (he's that type of guy, though he's pretty OK
for the rest). But I cut the knot and quit, whatever the
consequences might be.
My dad didn't particularly like it, but he refrained himself
from the lines I had feared to hear and I guess everything's
still allright now. But he couldn't bring up much understanding
and was gravely disappointed, even after I had explained all the
reasons behind me wanting to quit. These reasons included a
devastating lack of motivation, a need to sit down and write a
novel, and the need to catch up on all the things I still had to
do but that just kept piling up. Among others.

The motivation went rapidly after I discovered that Biology
wasn't just Biology; it was also Chemistry (which I hate), Maths
(which I hate) and Physics (which I hate). So when another course
(Physics, to be more precise) popped up that I found quite
uninteresting and superlatively difficult, my decision was made.
I also hated the fact that one still had to prove oneself doing
tests every now and again. I hated the pressure.
I hated the entire structure of education.
Boy! I hate much, don't I?
Anyway, my motivation went so I went too.

Then there's the novel.
Have you ever had the feeling that there's something gnawing at
your heart, gnawing at your brain, gnawing at your fingers,
gnawing at your very inner self? A gnawing feeling that drives
you to only one thought: An all-consuming desire to put past
feelings and emotions into words, to describe situations and
experiences into lines?
I think I have that feeling. I feel that I need to write a
novel to get rid of all cropped up emotions that sometimes
manifest themselves in me. Emotions that sometimes make me feel
sad an instant after being relatively filled with joy. Emotions
that make me wake up in the middle of the night, longing.
Emotions that make me wonder why I am. Emotions that make
material welfare completely unimportant. For I feel that I have
been through an experience truly unique to man, and all I want is
to put that experience into words, onto paper.
I don't think it's hard for you to guess which girl I have
captured in my thoughts and in my sadness that sometimes pop up,
especially not if you've read the previous two issues of ST NEWS.
As I write this down, I know that Stefan will object to these
very lines. So I'll cut it short. Who knows. Maybe, one day,
there'll be a book lying somewhere on a forgotten shelf in a
store. Maybe.
There's a lot of 'maybes', and I fear I sometimes tend to
neglect these and make them 'sures'. That's what hit me.
It's like Jimi Hendrix once wrote, on the evening before he
died:

The Story of Love
Is Hello and Goodbye
Until we meet again...

The driving force behind this project will be a desire above all
desires: A desire to let this particular girl know what I felt
(and feel) for her. And a desire to let anyone know who chose to
ignore.
I will probably lock myself up in my room for a couple of weeks
with lots of romantic video tapes with sad endings as well as
Cola, Vieux, old (and very sentimental) photos, crisps and lots
of canned food, during which I will finish the whole thing in one
sitting.

But the reasons of me quitting were not only explainable by mere
weakness or incomprehensible needs to be artistic.
No.
I often used to look under my desk and then I would sigh deeply
- my mind occupied with a picture of an ever increasing pile of
mail and virus killer orders. Nightmare!
The pile grew and grew. It even grew to such epic proportions
that it become virtually impossible to get rid of it without
spending at least a whole WEEK of constant corresponding. This I
would never be able to achieve when still studying.
So there I had another factor that hastened my decision to quit.

Will I now take full charge of ST NEWS again?
Of course not - don't be ridiculous!
ST NEWS is now as much Stefan's as it is mine, and I think he
made it better and much more well known during his time as chief
editor. I feel perfectly satisfied with being a special
correspondent, and I would never like all this to change. I still
find most things that I do very inspiring, and each time we
finish an ST NEWS issue we have the best of fun!
And, of course, there's a second major reason: I will be joining
the army in a little less than half a year - after which I will
be off this earth for a massive 14 months (unless I can get
myself thrown out of it earlier, which I will try). I will then
have even less time, though I will try desperately to continue
writing as much as I can for ST NEWS.

Wow. I am terribly glad I got this off my chest.
Yeah....oral exhibitionism (or diarrhoea, whatever you want to
name it), subtle or no, surely is good for its author. Enough for
this article, though! Let the review start....

*****

There is an even deeper reason behind the fact that this review
does not contain a 'real' introductory novelette: I felt that,
whatever I would write, it would be an utmost meagre reflection
of the game that was to be reviewed here: "Leisure Suit Larry II
- Looking for Love in Several Wrong Places" (henceforth to be
called "Larry II"). The game features a very funny and enchanting
story plot on its own, and you would just have to get it to
experience it. Our dear friend Lucas already wrote an article
about it as well, and I feel that he's much more capable of
doing that than yours truly.

In "Larry II", you become Larry Laffer. Larry is the prototype
of a nurd - but one dressed to kill in his white polyester suit,
genuine gold-lacquered chains, the "steppin' out" elevator shoes
and the "Saturday Night Fever" bouffant haircut.
His mom was fed up having a 38-year old 'confirmed bachelor'
around and decided to do the only noble thing she could...
She kicked Larry out of the house and bought herself a singles
condo in South Florida.

In the game you control Larry, and you do not only have to find
him a soul mate, but you also have to make sure he stays out of
the hands of the KGB and destroys the fearsome Dr. Nonookee on
some remote Pacific Island with a far too large volcano.
Yes: You read it right! In "Larry II" you are not only having
trouble keeping some of Larry's hormones from overtaking control,
but he also has to stay ahead of Russia's most dangerous secret
service. You will see Larry get dressed in female clothing
(including a blond hairdo), jump out of a plane, visit nude
beaches, blow up an airport hall, win a prize of prizes in a TV
show, and lots, lots more.
All in all, the programmer and designer (Al Lowe) succeeded in
adding extra dimensions to "Larry II" that make it even better.
And the joked are still knee-slapping though I feel that it could
have been a bit naughtier here and there (everywhere, in fact).
"Larry II" is less naughty, definitely. But there's a whole lot
of enormously hilarious situation that will get you acheing with
belly-laughter anyway.

The first thing that attracts the attention when playing "Larry
II" is that the graphics have been greatly enhanced. Not only
have a lot more animated sequences been added, but the graphics
are now also more detailed. The consumer did have to take his
toll for this, though: "Larry II" comes supplied on three DOUBLE-
SIDED disks (you have to go through quite some phoning to get
some single-sided ones at Sierra, as far as I've understood - and
even then, six disks that have to be swapped is quite a mess).
Another thing is that some of the animated sequences (especially
the ones in the uncharted jungle) are boring after seeing them a
couple of times. And some of them have to be seen a couple of
times before the game can be solved.

The program comes supplied on three disks (I already said that),
and also includes a user manual/introduction and a catalogue of
Sierra stuff that's out. The packaging is up to the standard that
all software should have, and I think that it is definitely worth
its price.
Pity that the joystick can no longer be used to control Larry -
you now have to use either mouse or keyboard.

"Larry II" is a very good and sometimes kneeslapping game, with
good graphics, typical music and hours of potential fun (although
at times somewhat boring). There aren't many games that get me
hooked, especially not where RPGs are involved, but this time I
have found THREE that I wanted to complete, of which "Larry II"
is one.
Sincere thanks have to go to STRIKE-a-LIGHT, who sold me their
original program (even including registration card - thanks
folks!). I will now surely not get bored!

Game rating:

Name: Leisure Suit Larry goes Looking for
Love - in Several Wrong Places
Company: Sierra-on-Line
Author: Al Lowe
Graphics: 8
Sound: 7.5
Playability: 9
Hookability: 9.5
Value for Money: 8.5
Overall rating: 9-
Price: £24.95 or 89 Dutch guilders
Hardware: Color or monochrome. Double disk
drive only
Remark: Not so naughty anymore but a step
ahead technically

"Larry II" can be obtained at Sierra-on-Line in the United States
or England:

In the U.S.A.: Sierra-on-Line Inc.
P.O. Box 485
Coarsegold CA 93614
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

In England : Sierra-on-Line/Activision
Blale House
Manor Farm Road
Reading
Berkshire RG2 0JN
ENGLAND