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[Filben]

New Tomb Raider games, whenever they release, should be less about plot and Lara's (daddy) issues and more about tomb-raiding. Less character interaction (and more meaningful if) and more badass Lara without whining. It was believable and good in TR 2013 but it's past due since Rise.

Still love the old Tomb Raider games, although the shooting never really was fun. Controls were okay at the time but you don't feel like an agile athlete in these games. Locations and levels, however, were so well-designed and atmospheric. Still brilliant to this day.

 

[Killer8]

This in the first level of TR3 is one of most magical moments in gaming.

 

[MasterCornholio]

Well you could lock the farting butler in the freezer. I spent way to much time doing that.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

One of my most cherished gaming memories is playing the original TR on Christmas Eve, magical, the whole trilogy is god-tier though.

 

[ShaikhCroft]

Tomb Raider is what made me fallen in love with video games. The earlier ones were so hard. Now-a-days the puzzles are so easy. It's like Lara is always telling, "I need to get this, I need to get that!"

I needed months, even a year to finish one of the earlier games. Heck I even stucked on that submarine level in Tomb Raider Chronicles for one month cause I couldn't find the damn crowbar!

 

[bender]

The platforming itself was actually the challenge and satisfying. Most games after that didn't realise doing the actual platforming should be interesting, not basically automated, like most games afterwards.

For some reason it became the consensus that tomb raider's intricate platforming controls were bad design, rather than the point and what made it good.

It's always sad to me that modern Tomb Raider games knocked of Naughty Dog's Dude Raider.

 

[AlteredForms]

I have the most experience with Tomb Raider 2013 and to me it's the best game in the franchise. Not surprising though as I've never played the older games, but I absolutely love those calming menu themes.

 

[base]

An icon of an age gone by.

Those b00bs never lie.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

I quite like the first games, I played them on PC with software rendering, and it was glorious. There is a charm to them, and playing them at the time they came out was mind-blowing.

 

[Sophist]

Tomb Raider's 3D mechanics are not great at all; controls are too rigid and the camera is atrocious. Especially when compared to a game released two months before, a certain Mario 64. Yet, the franchise still contributed to the advent of real-time 3d games and deserves respect for that.

 

[TGO]

Tomb Raider's 3D mechanics are not great at all; controls are too rigid and the camera is atrocious. Especially when compared to a game released two months before, a certain Mario 64. Yet, the franchise still contributed to the advent of real-time 3d games and deserves respect for that.

Funny enough I wasn't that impressed with Mario 64.
Probably because the N64 didn't hit the UK till March 97 and Tomb Raider was Oct 96
So Tomb Raider had already introduce me to a 3D world and Mario 64 was...well, it was Mario in 3D, they're different kind of games.
And an atmospheric adventure in Tombs with Miss Croft was more appealing than that of the Italian plumber.

 

[PuppetMaster]

I played the first TR on PC with no HW assisted rendering. And it was still magical! Even though it probably looks like a pixelated mess to kids now.

TR2 and TR3 I played on a PC with hardware acceleration / texture filtering. Can't remember if I was on a Riva 128 or a Voodoo at the time. I was playing at probably 480p, but the textures were bilinear filtered, and at the time I thought it looked incredible!

I loved both the exploration and puzzle aspects of the game. And I loved the precision of the movement and controls. Each jump was always the exact same length. And that made traversal a real puzzle. None of this variable length jump nonsense newer games have!

And then Tomb Raider The Last Revelation came out. And it was hot garbage. They ruined the traversal. And made it more combat heavy action game. And I haven't been much of a TR fan since then. I still have not brought myself to play the rebooted series yet.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

I dont even remember if I played them or not.

But I see them with the same pink tinted glasses as I see Crash.

For some reason I hate the Crash remakes though.

 

[Gp1]

Cool Britannia 90's icon

 

[Madflavor]

I actually think FromSoftware would make an amazing modern Tomb Raider game. When you consider how good they are at atmosphere, level design, and creating that sense of exploration and isolation.

 

[THE DUCK]

Funny you should say this, 10 minutes ago I was playing tomb raider anniversary.
The thing they nailed the most was the feeling of actually exploring. I know they moved away from that, but for me they are mostly all excellent games. (Really enjoy the reboot games)

 

[Vaelka]

I hate reboot Lara with a passion, she's not the same character at all.
the OG character was the very definition of a female power fantasy, she was very feminine but also very strong.
Bold move when so many people can't view a female character as strong unless she's basically a dude in a wig but it worked and it worked well.

I also miss the more imaginative levels, the reboot focuses way too much on just generic pretty graphics instead of interesting and unique locations.
Yes wow, very cool you can render a pretty waterfall.
But the old game had a freaking flesh womb that was basically a horror level full of disgusting monsters of doom.

 

[HYDE]

i Just finished my replay to the original trilogy on PS1 and I have to say, the level design in them is utterly fucking insane. So much verticality and returns to the same hub rooms after unlocking the next path, and at the same time every single room/area is a hard challenge in itself. The difficulty level in the last couple of maps in every single one is also crazy, borderlining to unfair in some places. i gotta wonder how the fuck did my 12 yo self ever finish them without any guides?

goddamn did the new trilogy sucked monkey balls in in comparison

My opinion is the exact opposite old games sucked ass…new games are amazing!

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Now imagine SE and Tomb Raider under Sony. Both in gaming and TV/movies.

 

[Orta]

Funny enough I wasn't that impressed with Mario 64.
Probably because the N64 didn't hit the UK till March 97 and Tomb Raider was Oct 96
So Tomb Raider had already introduce me to a 3D world and Mario 64 was...well, it was Mario in 3D, they're different kind of games.
And an atmospheric adventure in Tombs with Miss Croft was more appealing than that of the Italian plumber.

TR1 is a better game than Mario64.

 

[Cao Cao]

Last time I played them I was 9 years old. I don't remember anything anymore, only the butler and some big dinosaur.
I am gonna replay the first one now and look if I still enjoy it

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

TR1 still has some of the finest level design ever.

Like every really good game, it was designed around what Lara could do and what she couldn't.
TR1 was wise enough to not have too many shooting human enemies, because the combat and camera clearly weren't up to that. TR2 didn't understand this and it had mobsters shooting you from a mile away, plus hordes of monks and statues that made the camera crazy and moved way too fast.
TR1 was also designed around the limited PS1 saving system and its slow loading times. The sequels introduced a save-anywhere function that allowed the devs to feel free to make every passage a deathtrap, like some adventure games from a few years prior. That was a clear step back in level design, and the reason I never liked any other TR game as the first. It became more a matter of reacting to traps, rather than carefully studying your options before making your move. This made the gameplay a rather more trial-and-error affair.

TR1 was simply unimaginable at the time. Like Mario 64, it had nothing before it hinting at what could be achieved in 1996.

 

[Orta]

I still think St Francis Folly is the all time greatest level in any video game ever.

 

[winjer]

I loved the first TR. It's difficult to express how amazing this game was in 1996.
Not only it was one of the first games that did 3D gameplay well, it also managed to make exploration in old tombs something very immersive.
The sense of exploring ancient ruins is unmatched in the series. Although it also has the issue of having the player find uzis and magnums in places no human has been before in centuries.
The level design is great, making great use the tech of the time. Platforming and jumping is precise and logical. And there is no rubber banding when jumping, like in recent TRs.
There are a lot of cheap deaths, especially in the Atlantis level. So the game goes from a fun adventure, to a match where the devs are actively trying to kill the player at every turn.

TR Anniversary only has better graphics. But otherwise, it's a much worse game. Especially because of the quick time events.
I could rant for hours at how much I despise the QTEs in TR Anniversary.

 

[tommib]

I still think St Francis Folly is the all time greatest level in any video game ever.

You're probably right.

 

[Sephimoth]

You're probably right.

Can confirm, he is

I could rant for hours at how much I despise the QTEs in TR Anniversary.

The T-Rex battle was the worst! An iconic area in the original game reduced to that.

 

[Berserking Guts]

Always loved the grid-based gameplay of original tomb raider games. It was so much fun to analyse and mentally plan your way through a difficult puzzle environment and then stack and execute a bunch of acrobatic commands and dance your way through obstacles.

R1 your way to the edge of a grid - one hop back - run and jump - hold x to grab - shimmy - release and fall down slope - jump off slope, etc.

 

[CherryFalls]

Getting it wrong never got old either

 

[Sub_Level]

Now imagine SE and Tomb Raider under Sony. Both in gaming and TV/movies.

Even less sex appeal and more focus on story lol? The graphics would be sick at least though I agree there.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Even less sex appeal and more focus on story lol? The graphics would be sick at least though I agree there.

Name another game where you can see a sex scene with a rock-hard, muscular pussy other than TLOU2. Not sure if it was her pussy though as she seemed to be struggling.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I think the original is still the best.

It felt desolate, actual tomb raiding. Thinking what to do next and how to approach a jump. The combat was kept to a minimum, barely no human encounters which served as bosses mainly. I was absolutely thrilled when I found how to dive and do other acrobatics. I don't think they were listed in the manual.

The OST is phenomenal, the title theme is one of the greats.

 

[Cockles & Whelks]

I remember playing the original on Saturn.

Got stuck on the level with the basin where you had to raise the water level.

For weeks and weeks...

...until I relented on GameFAQs and found out I was running over the key I needed the whole time, I just couldn't see it with the contrast settings on my TV.

 

[BigLee74]

Looking back, the original TR was just the best game ever.

Lara, the scope, the puzzles, the atmosphere…oh my god the atmosphere. I can still hear the footsteps, the whistling wind, and the distant clangs in my head.

It came at such a great time in my life - I had finished Uni, and was in that 6 month period of dossing about trying to psych myself up to get my first proper job. Nothing to do but game.

 

[SportsFan581]

My opinion is the exact opposite old games sucked ass…new games are amazing!

Blasphemy! The new games are still fun too, just missing the exploration and the spark of the originals. I guess the youngins don't support platformers much in general these days, but I can only imagine the kind of detailed traps and tombs that could be created today if the games still had the platforming focus.

 

[GymWolf]

I was not a big fan like this other friend of mine that was obsessed but i liked some scenes like the t-rex apparition with the ominous music and the always beloved pointy tits.

 

[Kupfer]

Today I finished watching this video I started yesterday.


It was a beautiful flashback to one of my first own computergames on our familycomputer.

 

[Orta]

Getting it wrong never got old either

I'll see your broken neck and raise you a 200ft drop to a fiery death.....

 

[Xdrive05]

TR2 was my first 3d adventure game. I had just gotten a PlayStation and it came with a demo disk that had TR2, the "Great Wall" level. I remember having a hard time learning the controls at first, but the novelty of a 3D exploration space was just so jaw-droppingly amazing that I had to figure it out. I must have played that demo 100 times before mowing enough yards to buy the full game. I had some walkthrough guide from Game Informer, I think it was, that I used to get me through the whole experience. Probably spoiled it in some sense, but I was just a kid (11, 12 maybe?). It became my favorite game ever at that point. And TBH I played the tutorial Croft Mansion level nearly as much as the main game!

And sometime after that I picked up the original Tomb Raider, and I quickly fell in love with it even more than TR2. The actual atmosphere and level design felt way more immersive to me than TR2 did, and I think I just preferred the settings in TR1 over the Italian cities & sunken cruise liners of the 2nd game.

TR3 felt interesting to me but I wasn't as big of a fan as the first two. I'd like to go back to it sometime and see what I was missing.

The Last Revelation was one of the few Dreamcast games I owned, and it was awesome! I thought it had the best elements of the previous Core offerings and gave that series an appropriate send off. By this point I think the gaming public had largely moved on from Tomb Raider, so I felt like TLR was a Core Design love letter or thank you to the fans who stuck with the series the whole time.

Anyone know how Tomb Raider: Anniversary holds up compared to the original? In theory it could be the perfect way to take what was best about the original as far as atmosphere and level layout and modernize it with better graphics and controls. Did that pan out?

 

[Cockles & Whelks]

TR2 was my first 3d adventure game. I had just gotten a PlayStation and it came with a demo disk that had TR2, the "Great Wall" level. I remember having a hard time learning the controls at first, but the novelty of a 3D exploration space was just so jaw-droppingly amazing that I had to figure it out. I must have played that demo 100 times before mowing enough yards to buy the full game. I had some walkthrough guide from Game Informer, I think it was, that I used to get me through the whole experience. Probably spoiled it in some sense, but I was just a kid (11, 12 maybe?). It became my favorite game ever at that point. And TBH I played the tutorial Croft Mansion level nearly as much as the main game!

And sometime after that I picked up the original Tomb Raider, and I quickly fell in love with it even more than TR2. The actual atmosphere and level design felt way more immersive to me than TR2 did, and I think I just preferred the settings in TR1 over the Italian cities & sunken cruise liners of the 2nd game.

TR3 felt interesting to me but I wasn't as big of a fan as the first two. I'd like to go back to it sometime and see what I was missing.

The Last Revelation was one of the few Dreamcast games I owned, and it was awesome! I thought it had the best elements of the previous Core offerings and gave that series an appropriate send off. By this point I think the gaming public had largely moved on from Tomb Raider, so I felt like TLR was a Core Design love letter or thank you to the fans who stuck with the series the whole time.

Anyone know how Tomb Raider: Anniversary holds up compared to the original? In theory it could be the perfect way to take what was best about the original as far as atmosphere and level layout and modernize it with better graphics and controls. Did that pan out?

TR2 was one of the biggest gaming let downs of my life. Ancient Tombs replaced with....Venice and a giant Oil Rig. And way, way too much combat.

TR3 was even worse. London tubes suck at best of times, so let's set a level inside an abandoned London tube station.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Loved the first two but the third one already from the very first jungle level started looking like a turd.

 

[Fake]

Now is all about ctrl+c Uncharted...

 

[Neff]

No game developer will ever make something like the original Tomb Raider, ever again. They wouldn't dare.

And that makes me sad.

Now is all about ctrl+c Uncharted...

With a very generous spoonful of Arkham.

 

[fart town usa]

Controls always felt terrible to me whenever I tried the game out as a kid.

Someone recently described the movement as 'grid based' and it makes me want to revisit these titles with that aspect in mind. I feel like the movement will make more sense and I'll actually enjoy the game.

 

[Kupfer]

Controls always felt terrible to me whenever I tried the game out as a kid.

Someone recently described the movement as 'grid based' and it makes me want to revisit these titles with that aspect in mind. I feel like the movement will make more sense and I'll actually enjoy the game.

In the video I linked above the author talked about exactly that thing. I timestamped the part:





The movement makes so much sense with a grid system in mind.

 

[TGO]

Anyone know how Tomb Raider: Anniversary holds up compared to the original? In theory it could be the perfect way to take what was best about the original as far as atmosphere and level layout and modernize it with better graphics and controls. Did that pan out?

It was a good remake but audio cues for music was missing so wasn't the same.

 

[Elios83]

Yeah the PSX Core Design games were symbols of an era.
They're part of my best personal gaming memories as well.
Even now I still like to replay some of the best levels in the series, especially from TR2.

Unfortunately the Crystal Dynamics games in comparison were nice but just forgettable.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Tomb Raider 3 is one of the hardest games I've ever played. Its ballsy, I mean you can't compared it to the present but TR was a blockbuster game that saw lots of promotion and media attention, and then TR3 was so ridiculously hard. Even TR2 was already hard as balls past the shipwreck area imo, but I could beat it legit. TR3 however was ridiculous and they even decided to troll us further with the save system.

TR4 is kind of underrated. I think fatique was already going on but I liked it on the Dreamcast. It felt like 1 and they sort of tried an open world, you can go back to previous areas but you have to deal with loading screens.

Chronicles was eh. I didn't really feel it. I think it was a bit easier than 3 and 4.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Essential viewing, really breaks down what made it such a standout back in the day. Does a good job weighing both its strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately why the game is still incredibly good.

Something modern AAA is deathly afraid of doing because they know that aspect right there will turn off a good % of casuals and they won't be able to sell a zillion copies to make up for those overinflated budgets.

Instead you get to play games of 'follow the directions' now.

Most big games today, ironically, are afraid of letting players explore. Afraid to give them the tools to navigate a world they don't quite yet know. You'd think with bigger worlds, true exploration would be more favored but nope.

If only these big AAA games had built-in guides for the truly lost or navigation features that could be turned on or off. That way you still build a world for explorable depths but give clueless players a way to get through it if they'd rather be told what to do.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Not knocking the original tomb raider games the games were reimplemented into gaming in 2013.

 

[II_JumPeR_I]

Im still pissed that Square Enix did jack shit with this games during the 25th anniversary. A remastered collection, anything:/

There is still this unannounced TR Anniversary game from the Nvidia leak. Hope this turns out into something

Btw here is some rerecorded soundtrack by the original composer