• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

DF Retro: Tomb Raider - PS1/SAT/PC

Minamu said:
Has anyone here played the original recently? As someone who never completed it without cheats as a kid, I'm kinda scared to go back, because I remember the puzzles and environments being super obscure and difficult. On the other hand, I now have over 20 years of gaming experience.
Click to expand...

I replayed the original on PS2 (backwards compatible) last week. It was easier and a bit shorter than I remembered - not that it is short. It took me 12-15 hours to beat it. I did remember some stuff, didn't search around too much. But I also failed to remember at least 50% of the puzzles and specifics. I think it took me a month to beat back in 1996. My suggestion is to play and refer to a walkthrough if you get stumped. But it isn't nearly as satisfying as when you figure out the puzzles yourself.

I'm in the sunken ocean ship levels of TR2 now. This is a much more difficult game, but you can save at will (not always a helpful thing if you save and are low on health). Tougher, more obtuse puzzles (many are timed) and more human enemies. I'm enjoying it but I need a break for a while.
 
Schopenhauerian said:
A split-screen, Digital Foundry-style comparison video posted by the PGXP author earlier today: PS2 vs. PCSXR vs. PCSXR-PGXP
Click to expand...
That is fantastic. I haven't had great luck in the past with this emulator but I'll give it another shot.

I'd still probably stick to the modded PC version for this particular game but, for other games, this could be useful.

How many titles are supported by this, I wonder?
 
dark10x said:
That is fantastic. I haven't had great luck in the past with this emulator but I'll give it another shot.

I'd still probably stick to the modded PC version for this particular game but, for other games, this could be useful.

How many titles are supported by this, I wonder?
Click to expand...

Don't quote me on this but I BELIEVE that Tomb Raiders are actually the more of a pain in the ass games to get running and it can handle that. I haven't run into a game yet that I've tried that didn't work myself. I started ripping my PS1 original discs to ISO files and playing them that way with a DualShock3.

I grew up with PS1 and I welcome the upscaling etc personally. I actually have been using the smoothing options and everything as well and some of these games look really impressive honestly at 20 years old in this light.
 
Y2Kev said:
What is OpenTomb?
Click to expand...

It's essentially an attempt to make an open source port of the engine of the first five games, with support for all the individual features and mods they have. With the benefits of future-proofing, easy cross-platform porting and support for various modern features. It's a complex project though since there's pretty much no official documentation for the original engine so it's being made through reverse engineering.
 
A compilation of all the pre-Crystal Dynamics games on current gen consoles would be fantastic. Don't improve the graphics, just the original games in 1080p widescreen 60fps (with achievements naturally). I only finished the first two and about half of 3, never played Revelations, Chronicles or Angel of Darkness so would be all over that if it happened.
 
Jakabok said:
A compilation of all the pre-Crystal Dynamics games on current gen consoles would be fantastic. Don't improve the graphics, just the original games in 1080p widescreen 60fps (with achievements naturally). I only finished the first two and about half of 3, never played Revelations, Chronicles or Angel of Darkness so would be all over that if it happened.
Click to expand...

I think the first five games are all on PSN (for PS3 and PSP, though, not PS4) and you probably don't need a very powerful PC to get run them, either, so even if you don't have a gaming PC, the PC versions may be an option for you. (Not sure what the minimum requirements for AoD would be, though.)
 
Schopenhauerian said:
A split-screen, Digital Foundry-style comparison video posted by the PGXP author earlier today: PS2 vs. PCSXR vs. PCSXR-PGXP
Click to expand...
MrCunningham said:
Damn. That actually looks pretty good.
Click to expand...
dark10x said:
That is fantastic. I haven't had great luck in the past with this emulator but I'll give it another shot. I'd still probably stick to the modded PC version for this particular game but, for other games, this could be useful. How many titles are supported by this, I wonder?
Click to expand...

I still haven't had a chance to try it out myself, but PGXP seems to work with just about everything:

Speaking of MGS1, folks from the Shenmue 2 thread are definitely onto something, I think...
Zombie James said:
DF Retro keeps getting better and better... Suggestions for future episodes: Metal Gear Solid 1-4.
Click to expand...
Ridley327 said:
Considering dark's well-known admiration for MGS2, that one is simply a matter of when and not if.
Click to expand...

If at all possible, would be great to see MGS1 and Twin Snakes in the same feature at some point! :D Personally, I'm partial to the point of view expressed by dark10x's colleague at Digital Foundry, Thomas Morgan:
Cataferal said:
There was a time when Metal Gear had the option to become more than just silly fun though. That's why fans of the original feel let down by Twin Snakes; the anime tropes and Matrix style bullet-time moments were at odds with the gloomy, nihilistic mood of the script. It may seem odd to someone who played TTS first, but save for the Psycho Mantis sequence, the original did a brilliant job of grounding itself in reality, and sustaining an air of tension. TTS's cut-scenes offered a different kind of entertainment; they axed that carefully designed sense of pace and tension in favour of a simple adrenaline rush - much like the revised gameplay, in a sense. That's enjoyable to me in the same way the Fast and the Furious films are (and it truly is), but it wasn't what I came to respect MGS for back in '98. I hope Kojima realises this.
Click to expand...
The analogy that comes to mind for me is actually Alien/Ridley Scott (MGS1) and Aliens/James Cameron (Twin Snakes): the differences are vast, and go well-beyond the Kitamura/Kojima cutscene debate or the addition of 1st person aiming in Twin Snakes. Might even be too much to cover in a single feature:

Anyway, coming back to the topic, I'm just noticing now how much the textures in the TR1 iOS/Android version were revised:
 
dark10x: I rechecked this thread and the video again, and I still couldn't find links to the mods/patches that let you play at higher resolution with all of the fixes that were shown in the video.

Where are they?
 
It seems that in the patched Steam version with all the fixes is impossible to grab this ledge that leads to the second secret in the Caves, and yes, I'm holding the grab button. That was the only problem I found in the first level.

20161213121846_1mpst0.jpg
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Tomb Raider - PS1 Original vs. Cancelled Core Design PSP Remake | Side by Side
Retro Trailer Platform 
33
296
CamHostage replied
A Japanese look for Lara Croft was pitched in Japan ahead of the first Tomb Raider
Retro 
25
287
SEGAvangelist replied
DF Retro: Sega Genesis's Most Defining Games
39
338
Holammer replied
  • Poll
New Tomb Raider images leak
2 3 4 5 6
292
2K
TGO replied
Tomb Raider - Official Mobile Launch Trailer
Trailer Platform 
0
136
IbizaPocholo replied
Top Bottom