Tomb Raider 1 - 3 Remastered

[Wools]

A really lovely port of all 3 classic games that I've always loved and feel they've had a bit of revisionist history levelled at them, which other early 3D games haven't. Which is a real same as no games have ever quite nailed the Tomb Raider atmosphere and sense of exploration.

Nice technical analysis of all the ports on Digital Foundry.

[Dogg Thang]

I have got this and started playing the first one. So firstly, the original games are intact as they were, with all the positives and negatives. Tank controls take a while to get used to again and will always result in walking into walls sometimes. But the levels are wonderful and still play great.

As for the remaster, it’s a lick of paint. Not an especially impressive lick of paint but they do look pretty nice. Lighting is more realistic but this results in a lot of stuff being hard to see. Thankfully a button press switches instantly from classic graphics to new graphics and I find the original graphics much easier to see. Weirdly, it’s often almost a complete 180 in lighting, with what was once dark being light and vice versa.

There are also new controls if you want them. Movement is instantly improved but, as I suspected, because the levels were designed for tank controls, it’s really tricky to navigate with the new controls. So I went back to tank controls pretty quickly.

Overall, there really isn’t much to this package. It’s the first three Tomb Raider games with a slight lick of paint.

[Asura]

Overall, there really isn’t much to this package. It’s the first three Tomb Raider games with a slight lick of paint.

I kinda love that they haven't ****ed around with it though. It's just the originals with some minor improvements, similar philosophy to the Metroid Prime remaster. Also apparently it runs at a rock solid 60 on Switch, so it's well-crafted.

I wanted to buy it for Blobcat but there's no physical release and you still can't "gift" Switch games.

[Dogg Thang]

I kinda love that they haven't ****ed around with it though. It's just the originals with some minor improvements, similar philosophy to the Metroid Prime remaster.

Yep. Anniversary and the other games exist if people want to scratch a different itch but this is very much a ‘true to the original’ package.

[Dogg Thang]

Some of the lighting choices in this remaster are terrible. Not sure how playable it would be without the ability to switch to classic graphics on the fly.

[Wools]

I know what you mean. The subtle but beautiful lighting is vastly different in the remade graphics. But the choice of assets that are remade are so good, I find myself going for the remade graphics more than I thought I would.

It’s odd as the lighting is static but good in TR1 but TR2 and TR3 have some exceptional and memorable lighting; From the coloured lighting of water when in a Kayak to the first time you light then throw a flare down a canyon.

Half of me is thinking I should put this down, finish Dragon Quest XI first then I really want to go through the trilogy in order. Have fond memories of all the games but have only jumped through TR 3 in cheat mode.

[egparadigm]

I have returned to playing the originals on PS1, back on TR3, but you guys suits yourselves. 😂

Lighting often seems to be the thing that shifts with these remasters and usually for the worse, interestingly.

[QualityChimp]

I played that previous remaster one, Anniversary was it?
Interesting to play it through with the commentary track on, which was a nice touch.
What was interesting was that shooting people was a bit of a no-no when TR1 came out, so it's mainly you shooting gorillas, bats, wolves and crocodiles.

Nowadays, shooting animals is seen as unsavoury but you can shoot as many humans as want.
I found that out whilst mowing down a small town's population in Uncharted.

[Dogg Thang]

I played that previous remaster one, Anniversary was it?
Interesting to play it through with the commentary track on, which was a nice touch.
What was interesting was that shooting people was a bit of a no-no when TR1 came out, so it's mainly you shooting gorillas, bats, wolves and crocodiles.

Nowadays, shooting animals is seen as unsavoury but you can shoot as many humans as want.
I found that out whilst mowing down a small town's population in Uncharted.

Anniversary was completely remade from the ground up and plays quite differently, even though based closely on the original game. This one is really less of a remaster. It’s the original game with some new visual polish (whether it’s an upgrade or not depends on the area of the game you’re in).

On that last point, one thing that jumped out at me as soon as I loaded up the game is that it opens with a warning that these games are racist and wouldn’t be made like this now. They’re still presented as is without anything removed but the need for that was interesting.

[Tobal]

I'd agree some of the lighting choices are odd and overall to bright, but do like the increased draw distance. Other part i don't like is the surface water texture as you can't tell the flow of the water without switching back to original textures. I'll have to get openlara and throw in my GOG files for TR1 to 5 to see how that compares, as i really stand how uneven and stuttery the original modes frame-rate is.

Wrote down how many secrets are in each area and have gotten up to clearing Lost Valley with all secrets found so far, the old memory kicking in aside from wandering around for 15 minutes trying to find the exit to Lost Valley after doing the cogs and throwing the switch. TR1 Still a great game, though im not looking forward to TR2 or 3 which i never beat back in the day.

[Dogg Thang]

I’m loving playing through TR1, even thought it hasn’t been that long since I played it. Got totally lost in the Cistern. I always do.

Keys are invisible with the new graphics. I really do think the remaster graphics are largely a total misfire.

[Dogg Thang]

I finished TR1 and really enjoyed playing through it again. I know the game so well at this point so there were no real surprises (except for making a total balls of the Natla’s Mines level). I mostly ended up playing with classic graphics and always with the tank controls so I didn’t feel the value of the remaster. The remastered graphics, for the most part, weren’t fit for purpose. They light the wrong things, meaning it’s too easy to miss important stuff like the invisible keys or switches or even just routes and some elements (such as the water effects) don’t give you the information that the classic textures do. And even just aesthetically, while the new textures are often good, they’re incredibly flat and often the repetition is more obvious. They don’t blend as nicely, especially in the last levels at Atlantis.

Moving into TR2, the remaster graphics still have the issue of lighting the wrong things but I must admit they look lovely in that first TR2 level, especially in the lower part with the dinosaurs.

Is anyone managing to play with the new controls? I didn’t give them much of a chance so I’m not sure if it’s playable with them or not.

[wakka]

Interesting impressions. I've been hankering to play TR1 recently but I think I might go the same way as egparadigm honestly, and play an old school version. I think if I purchased this trilogy I would definitely be sticking to tank controls and the original graphics anyhow.

[Dogg Thang]

With the originals being available, I’d struggle to recommend the remaster.

[Atticus]

Original graphics + 60fps would be an attractive blend.