Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust - Is This Remake Any Good Or Does It Follow It's Title And Bust?

Larry Is Back…Only This Time His Nephew Larry Takes Control

Sadly Larry himself does not take the main role in Leisure Suite Larry Box Office Bust. A newer more improved Larry has hit the scenes, and the new main character is as inviting, alluring and charming as the original short bald guy, Larry.

Larry’s nephew is also named Larry. He actually takes the reigns in Box Office Bust.

Don’t be disappointed though, fans of the original Leisure Suite Larry will be happy to see that the horny short fella from games they remember playing on the PC has finally made it to the big top. Our original Larry now owns a gigantic Hollywood like community where movies are produced. Dirty movies of course.

So what does Larry’s nephew have to do with anything?

Well his nephew was called in by his uncle Larry to come work for him at his studio.

Like with good olé uncle Larry; his nephew will have to work up from the bottom to the top. In original titles of Leisure Suite Larry the goal was always to score. You knew that from the get go. In Box Office Bust though you are left wondering if Larry’s nephew will have the same type of goal, only you are not sure due to the added ‘mole plot’.

Anyhow, Larry’s nephew looks just like Larry once had, only his nephew sports more hair on the top of his head. Besides that difference though the appearances are pretty uncanny. They did however add a few more pounds to the original lovable Larry, and made him look older than what fans remember him originally looking like. The new changes though make sense.

Besides being called in to come work for his uncle, Larry Jr’s job is to also discover who the mole is. The mole they refer to is someone who basically is working inside of the studio and is threatening to blackmail uncle Larry. The whole plot is sort of lame, but whatever, it’s Leisure Suite Larry, and with all of the titles I have played I knew that the latest XBox 360 version would be as equally fun, and filthy.

Game Play (4 out of 5)

Game Play in Leisure Suite Larry: Box Office Bust provided to be quite fun. The cut scenes that took place in the game were all rather long, but provided a decent slew of humor and vulgarity, something that I have not seen all too many games do.

Pornography in the game is presented, but it is not anything visual. You will see a few objects that will be shaped like a penis, or a few TV screens in the game that clearly are trying to represent porn being played on them. However it’s nothing more than the bobbing up and down of a cartoon womans head. Your mind will be in the gutter when playing this one, so automatically your brain will be telling you that the bobbing head on the TV screen is doing something dirty, even if you cannot see it.

Vulgarity is huge in the game, but the game is geared at adults (not for kids got that!?). The addition of vulgarity was different from what I am used to in XBox games, but it was also highly over used.

Anyhow, the majority of the game consists of a lot of running back and forth in a large Hollywood type community setting. Larry will be given numerous jobs to complete. As he completes the tasks he will slowly uncover more clues as to who the ‘mole’ is in the studio.

The tasks given to Larry are all really easy to complete. For me the game felt like a storyline being played out in a simple straightforward manner. Some of the cut scenes were a bit longer than I would have liked. The very beginning for instance included cut scene after cut scene. The introduction was nicely done, but also over done.

Things are set up on a mini map located on the screen while you are playing, so it is easy to see where Larry needs to go next, making it difficult to fall off track or forget what you had to do next. Game play is honestly set up in a manner that a 7 year old would be able to figure out easily. The game being geared at adults was strange considering there are hardly any difficult challenges presented.

Controls (3 out of 5)

The controls in Leisure Suite Larry: Box Office Bust are all set up in an easy manner.

Larry moves around easily and flawlessly on the studio’s lot. You can move the camera angles around in a 360 degree circle (up, down, all around) allowing you to look behind and to the side of Larry. The moment you enter a building though, you are no longer in control of the cameras angles which makes things feel sloppy and confusing. The cameras angles inside of buildings are already set out for you, so going up and down flights of stairs really throws you off because you will automatically want to adjust the odd angles.

Another quirk besides the inside building angles, was the action button.

Nearly every game I have ever played uses the A button to preform actions. The layout is just simpler that way. Leisure Suite Larry: Box Office Bust however uses the B button to perform most of the games actions, which I thought was rather stupid.

Seeing that the A button is used in so many games, I found myself tapping it by accident many times. Having to train the brain to tap the B button during game play was a really strange feeling.

Besides these 2 obvious quirks though, the games controls worked flawlessly without any glitches. Quirky yes, but glitch free.

Graphics (5 out of 5)

I must say I really loved the graphics is Leisure Suite Larry: Box Office Bust. The studio was set up in a really realistic manner, with that cartoon original Leisure Suite Larry look added to it.

Environments look rich, vibrant and colorful, and rooms in buildings all were full of neat little details that were visually impressive to the eye. Although other games have featured sweeter looking graphics, Leisure Suite Larry features graphics that are what gamers would expect from a Leisure Suite Larry title.

Re-Play Value (2 out of 5)

Unfortunately Leisure Suite Larry: Box Office Bust does not come packed with all too much when it comes to re-play value. I imagine as soon as gamers finish up their last task in the game, they won’t resurrect it again to play it over. Although there are some trophies to collect in the studio, they are all really easy to find during the first run of the game.

Overall (3 out of 5)

Although I have come across quite a few not so warming reviews of Leisure Suite Larry: Box Office Bust, I must say I enjoyed the game from start to finish. Although running back and forth to the same spots a few times to complete missions got repetitive and tedious, the game offered entertainment from start to finish.

I enjoyed the graphics, I enjoyed the dialog, and I enjoyed the resurrection of Larry. Although I do think the game could have been a bit better on how the controls worked, I still was able to play it. It’s not a pile of junk game to be avoided like some others have claimed; all in all, it is not half bad, and if you can pick it up for $20.00 or less, it’s worth it in my opinion.