What are the best three Tomb Raider games?

[MrKirov]

Tomb Raider. ( PSONE version ) dont get the aniversary, it messes with the game too much (control and puzzles) imo.
Tomb Raider 2.
Tomb Raider Legend. ( under water controls are a pain though)

How can you not recommend TR Anniversary, but then recommend Legend?? Legend barely had any puzzles, and what was there was optional. Anniversary - although different to the original- felt like a new modern TR game- puzzles and all.

[Guts]

Uncharted 2 is nothing like Tomb Raider.

But the new Tomb Raider is exactly like Uncharted 2.

[Team Andromeda]

And/or there's no wobble effect on the Saturn?

No its the Saturn version that features the wobble effect , none of that at all in the PS version . But the PS does look better overall with clear and less grain on the visuals , the sound effects are better too

[shaffy_oppa]

I'm surprised to see Legend and Underworld being recommended over Anniversary, especially Underworld. If I recall Underworld wasn't optimised very well and was filled with bugs, it was the AoD of that trilogy.

Okay maybe that's a little harsh but Underworld just didn't click with me. It was beautiful and a decent experience nonetheless, there's just something about it that puts me off.

[noobish hat]

No its the Saturn version that features the wobble effect , none of that at all in the PS version . But the PS does look better overall with clear and less grain on the visuals , the sound effects are better too

Yeah I really wasn't sure which that was. It's a shame the PS1 version doesn't have that effect because it's very nice. At least it means I don't own the Saturn version for no reason (2 or 3 copies lying around actually now that I think of it)!

I've got special memories of this game because it's the game I got with my PlayStation and I think one of the very first 3D games I ever played (other than Mercenary on the C64). I actually never finished it when I was a kid, but a few years ago I sat down and went through the whole thing and it is solid gold. Long as all hell too (one of the reasons I have not managed to sit myself down to go through 2 and 3).

Can I also just point out that in Japan it's called Tomb Raiders? I would really love to know the reasoning behind that. Dumbasses.

[MrKirov]

But the new Tomb Raider is exactly like Uncharted 2.

That's the problem!!

[shaffy_oppa]

Can I also just point out that in Japan it's called Tomb Raiders? I would really love to know the reasoning behind that. Dumbasses.

You can say Lara wasn't the only raider in that game so technically it works out but it's still stupid. AoDs title in Japan was Tomb Raider: The Pretty Fugitive...

[QualityChimp]

Worth pointing out on Lebowski's post above that Anniversary is loosely based on 1 and does not retain most of the precision platforming because it wouldn't work with the controls. Many levels are abridged, compacted and one or two might even be missing. The locations and story play out the same but it's a different game. Personally, I'd recommend sticking with the original if you haven't already played them.

That's really interesting, because I finished TR: Anniversary earlier this year and I was worried I was starting to get old and forget stuff because it felt quite different to how I remembered it on the PSOne. It's packed full of QTEs and seemed, I dunno, smaller. I guessed it was like when you go back to your primary school and everything seems tinier than you remember!

I did enjoy it, but I felt short-changed, a teensy bit. I can't promise my rose-tinted retrospective of the first game will deliver the same thrills as when it first came out, but I still think it's a solid platform/adventurer/puzzler. Hey, I wonder what happens when you climb into Midas' hand...

I liked the second game and the boat-jumping sections were good fun too.

OK, for a nice retrospective of the series:
1.) Tomb Raider (PSOne) - see where it all began, enjoy running through Damocles' hall and look for the T-Rex
2.) Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PS3) - You get 3 HD games for your cash, but playing through this after experiencing the original is an interesting way to see how the controls have been tightened, but some sections shortened. Playing with the commentary on is novel, too. It's quite funny how times have changed. In the original, the makers had to pack it with animals so you weren't shooting people so as not to offend anyone, but these days you can't kill animals in case you offend anyone!
3.) Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (PS4) - You can finish your quest by playing the latest incarnation. I really enjoyed this game (thanks again, Secret Santa! ) and found it akin to a chose-your-own-adventure story. It's fairly rigidly structured, but it's a real blast from start to finish. There are some breath-takingly beautiful moments too. As everyone and his cat will tell you, it needs more tombs to raid, but aside from that, it's well worth playing.

[EvilBoris]

Tomb Raider 2 is my favourite, i've not played enough of them fully to be able to name 3

Guardian of light is actually my favourite come to think of it

POLL added

[aticatac]

In this order
1.Tomb Raider
2.Last Revelation
3.Tomb Raider II
The original TR still remains one of the best games I ever played,completely revolutionary for the time and still has one of the best pieces of title screen music ever.

[DeathAdder]

Thanks- still thinking of which other ones to get, but this has been interesting reading.

[Team Andromeda]

Thanks- still thinking of which other ones to get, but this has been interesting reading.

The trouble is the impact is never going be the same sadly though . Playing Tomb Raider on my Saturn back in Ocober 1996 (I think it was ) was truly a new sort of gaming experince and where none of it was really spolt by Internet video's or previews and where nothing like Tomb Raider was around on the consoles (other than Mario 64 on Import)

So it was completely new and you'll never get that magical experenice back in this day and age sadly

[nakamura]

It depends on your mindset really. We played Contra Hard Corps for the first time last night, blew us away what it was doing.

[DeathAdder]

The trouble is the impact is never going be the same sadly though . Playing Tomb Raider on my Saturn back in Ocober 1996 (I think it was ) was truly a new sort of gaming experince and where none of it was really spolt by Internet video's or previews and where nothing like Tomb Raider was around on the consoles (other than Mario 64 on Import)

So it was completely new and you'll never get that magical experenice back in this day and age sadly

Yes, I know it won't be mind-blowing in the way that it was at first, but I like old games and want to experience all the milestone games I can get my hands on.

I never played Super Metroid at the time - not until quite recently actually - and I enjoyed it, but I bet it was superb when it was first released.

I think the biggest what-the-hell-is-all-the-fuss-about moment for young gamers trying something new must be if they play Streetfighter 2 for the first time, having heard people who played it in the early 90s talk about it.

[Team Andromeda]

It depends on your mindset really. We played Contra Hard Corps for the first time last night, blew us away what it was doing.

Tomb Raider isn't quite the same , its enging is now vastly outdated and its controls are poor (at the time you didn't care or have anything to to compare it too really) Going back to digital controls for a 3D game now feels like a backwards step . 2D games then not to age as bad and most tend to have decent controls that don't age at all