Retro|Spective 124R: Tomb Raider

[Neon Ignition]

Now on the road to its thirtieth anniversary, the franchise is next set up to enter another chapter in its life and so becomes our penultimate franchise to dive back on.

Tomb Raider
"So you think you're the hero, Lara?"



Game 01 - Tomb Raider
The original game came out right in the heart of the 3D era emergence and managed to bring a fully working open gameplay approach to 32 bit consoles just as the 64 bit era was readying to make that very impact. With its Indiana Jones style influence, the game opted to use a female lead with the famously popular yet debated Lara Croft undergoing an adventure in platforming, combat and puzzling that would launch in industry giant.




How much did the game live up to the hype of the time?

[Asura]

I'm not sure if "hype" is the right word for it.

No exaggeration, Tomb Raider and Lara Croft were a cultural phenomenon. She's definitely one of those things that alongside The Matrix, or the DotCom Boom, or grunge music - that if you were to make a big collage of 90s stuff, she would have to feature on it as an icon of that era.

But that was the culture which surrounded the game and character, mostly post-release. Prior to release, I think the "hype" was mostly contained to magazines and core gamer spaces, and in that regard, Tomb Raider is a good example of a game which absolutely did live up to its hype. We expected something pretty big in terms of pushing the boundaries of 3D adventure games, and I think it's fair that in spite of its flaws, Tomb Raider totally delivered on that promise.

[QualityChimp]

What a game. What. A. Game!

It's weird because all the sexy Lara element bypassed me and the character was just a mechanism to solve the puzzles that happed to have razor-sharp triangular boobs.

I described her as a Swiss Army Knife, where there were lots of button combos to complete the challenges laid out before the player.

Some really cool and inventive puzzles like the Sword of Damocles and Midas' Touch.

I recently played the revamped version and replayed it with the commentary and it's funny how times change because in making the game, there weren't many human enemies as that made it violent, but upon remaking it, it was more taboo to be shooting an endangered gorilla in the face!

I totally fell for the dino trap!

[Neon Ignition]

Not to forget Lara's timeless support of Lucozade

Tomb Raider was a fascinating game at the time, something that was something of a 'be there' title as other 3D games came along so quickly to show 3D action games could control so much better. But the original, for all its technical limitations, had such a sense of atmosphere and to think back on the early era entries now most of the memories are tied to this one.

[Hirst]

First one was a great game, excellent soundtrack really helps too. The camera was absolutely atrocious during combat in tight areas, though. And the controls were fiddly as hell for some moves.

Something I think worth mentioning is that the "gal with attitude" stuff pushed really hard in the marketing of the game is pretty much completely absent from the actual game itself. If only it had stayed that way, in my opinion. I preferred the game as "atmospheric adventures in tombs with largely silent protagonist" to the latter sassy secret agent nonsense path it went down.

I think saying all that would have me banned from most Tomb Raider circles, but it's how I feel.

[Neon Ignition]

These are the innocent days of the franchise too. She probably only kills a handful of people in the original game compared to thousands in Shadow

[Asura]

I think saying all that would have me banned from most Tomb Raider circles, but it's how I feel.

Admittedly this was the weird thing. My family sometimes joke about how I had a Lara Croft obsession, because I was 13 and had a poster of her on my wall. But it's probably best never to just tell them that it was a poster of some FHM girl dressed as Lara Croft, and while I did like the games and the character... It wasn't really about the character.

[Tobal]

First is the best and its anniversary remake wasn't bad either for the reasons for it had few Human shoot outs and some quite hardcore adventuring platform'n'puzzles. Also made for quite the horror game swimming away from the crocodiles, getting bum rushed by a bear out of nowhere, stretching my neck out for those pixel perfect long jumps with Lara's arms out.

[nakamura]

First game is magnificent, even today. The sense of anticipation when you attempt a big jump really puts your heart in your mouth. Best game in the series.

[Cepp]

Absolute classic to this day, can't go wrong with it.

Love the music too.

[Wools]

I adore Tomb Raider. It's up there with Mario 64 as one of the first true 3D experiences in the home and over the years, the haunting atmosphere, music and exploration really makes it stand out.

As time has gone on, with Nintendo making sequel after sequel to 3D Mario, refining the formula, Tomb Raider has some great sequels and copy cats but no one game has bettered the original game. Whereas my love for Mario 64 has faded due to its sequels improving the games core components, my love of Tomb Raider has increased as no one game has come close to nailing its core formula; A revolutionary 3D game that's all about exploration, with limited combat, little dialog with beautiful music and a core sense of isolation.

As such, Tomb Raider remains one of my favourite games ever made.

[Dogg Thang]

The first Tomb Raider is a work of genius, tank controls and all. At its heart, the gameplay works incredibly well with amazing platform sections. The system (and tank controls that go with it) is so clear and yet presents so much challenge, getting really tricky as it goes on and yet always rewarding. Then add to that the beautiful atmosphere and locations and music and it is a wonderful experience. I replayed the first three games a few years ago and I loved the first as much as I ever did.

[beecee]

Easily one of my fave games, remember getting the demo that came with the PlayStation mag, playing it through, then that afternoon popped on a bus and went to Dixons and bought the game.

great atmosphere and a superb soundtrack, the game did get a bit messy towards the end but it was overall a great journey.

Dont have much time for the remake though, they changed the controls too much (especially the underwater sections).

[Dogg Thang]

Dont have much time for the remake though, they changed the controls too much (especially the underwater sections).

The remake abridged a lot of sections and also had to replace a lot of the platforming because, while the controls felt much more fluid, they made the precise platforming impossible.

[nakamura]

The original TR is completely user controlled. Every jump, every climb, every hang is all user Controlled. That's what makes it so good!