<!--
	Title: Leather Goddesses of Phobos II
	Author: Russ Ceccola
	Source: QuestBusters, v9(8)
	Date: August 1992
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<p class="article-dropcap">Subtitled "Gas Pump Girls Meet the Pulsating Inconvenience from
Planet X," <em>Leather Goddesses II</em> is Steve Meretzky's latest game under
the Infocom product name and the sequel to his hit all-text adventure
from 1987.</p>

The first true graphic adventure from Infocom, this is a bold step
forward that works well — to some extent. Although the game is far too
simple, it's a lot of fun while it lasts, has a decent interface and contains
over an hour of recorded speech.

## Bad boy Barth

The story starts on Earth and moves to Phobos and Planet X. You choose
to play one of the three main characters: Zeke Zarmen (a relative of
Zarmen from the first game), Lydia Sandler (daughter of the town's
professor) or Barthgub el Nikki-Nikki son of Jelgobar el Zayda-Zayda (alien
Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X, known as Barth for short). Barth
crash-landed on Earth, and the Leather Goddesses are after him and,
consequently, all humans because they think we are harboring Barth.

<div class="article-sidebar-box float-right" style="border: 4px double; border-radius: 1em;">
<strong>Type:</strong> Wacky Graphic Adventure<br>
<strong>System:</strong> MSDOS (640K required, mouse optional; EGA, VGA; Ad
	Lib, Sound Blaster, Roland; "Sound Enhancer" included<br>
<strong>Planned ports:</strong> none for now
</div>

In the first part you must repair Barth's ship, treat his wounds and
leave Earth to save the planet by defeating the Goddesses. The three
characters follow different plot lines, but they all meet at key points, so you
can't stray too far. Barth's game is the easiest, while the others are harder.

The simplistic interface is too limiting. There are few objects in the
game, and you spend a lot of time talking to one of the many characters
to uncover clues. Using a "smart cursor," the interface is completely
point-and-click. The cursor changes to reflect your option: a hand cursor,
means you can use or take that object.

The cursor changes to an arrow that shows which direction you can move,
and it's important to tum around at times in certain locations to see
objects obscured by the forward view. When you speak to a character,
boxes pop up to the left with objects or people in them that you can discuss with
the NPC. Other boxes let you greet, kiss or have sex with that character.

<div class="article-sidebar-box float-left" style="border: 4px solid; font-size: 1.25em; padding: 1.25em;">
Infocom failed to provide screen shot,
despite several phone calls to Kelly Zmak
</div>

That's about it: talk to people, move around and use and take objects
and you'll have the game down in no time at all. The ESC key
accesses system functions. It's nice to see this back-to-basics approach in
Infocom's first graphic adventure.

## Funny as ever

Like the original game, the sequel features adult humor; graphics and
plot development. Unlike the original, there is only one naughtiness level, so
parents of younger players be warned. The game would be rated PG-13 if it
were a movie, and the naughty parts are as tame as any of the soap operas.

The best thing about *Leather Goddesses II* is that it's a vehicle for
Meretzky's wacky humor, which he promises to stop with each and every
release. From the wild parties on Phobos, to the sheep mixed in with
the girls in the whorehouse, to even the title of the movie playing in the
local theater (*It Came On the Desert*), Meretzky lets loose. Your play
sessions are sure to be filled with chuckles. Just listen to the sounds one
of the gas pump girls makes under the hood of the car....

Graphics generally nice. There are lots of locations and screens, and the
artists took advantage of the many colors available to them in 256-color
VGA. The rooms and some of the outdoor scenes are a bit choppy, but
the characters, particularly in closeups, stand out. And Earth, Planet X
and Phobos come to life! I wasn't sure how graphics would change an
Infocom game, but the result was pleasantly surprising. This one could
stand on its own with or without graphics.

Even greater strides were taken in sound effects and music. I don't
think the music ever stops in the game unless you turn it off!
Problem is, that even though it's actually more exciting with all that
music going on, but gets annoying when you try to listen to the characters'
voices and the music at the same time. Fortunately, you can pipe the
music one place and keep the levels low and pipe the speech somewhere
else and keep the volume high.

The program includes the "LifeSize Sound Enhancer" so people
with no sound boards can hear the music, voices and sounds by pumping
them through a stereo. Kudos to Infocom for not requiring you to
listen to each character's entire speech. As soon as the speech kicks
in, you can hit the mouse or a key and move on to the next sentence.<br>
**Conclusions:** *Leather Goddesses II* was fun, but way too simple for an
Infocom game. A nice way to spend some time between games, it presents
no challenge even at the harder levels. The interface works well, except the
pre-named save game. *Leather Goddesses II* takes what started out
as a text adventure and successfully translates it into a funny graphic
adventure — and Meretzky's humor is the main reason to play this one.

**Skill Level:** Novice<br>
**Company:** Activision<br>
**Price:** $69.95<br>
**QuestBusters price:** $55
