Tomb Raider is 25 years old! Celebration Thread

Let's celebrate this franchise that started off good but quickly went downhill.

When did you first play it? What did you think? Is it overrated? Was Tomb Raider II better than OOT? At what point did the franchise go down hill? What was the best game? Was Core Design superior to Crystal Dynamic? Are Crystal Dynamic actually terrible? Was Tomb Raider: Legend an abomination? Should the franchise be canned? What's next for Lara Croft?

Was this Gamespots most embarrassing take?

Or was it this?

Do you still read the Gamespot frontpage? Do you play Fortnite? Call Of Duty or other generic popular products the kids play?

Here's a video of the celebration where they announce nothing but an animation, that could potentially be ok.

Personally, I think Tomb Raider II was the best, followed by III, Last Revelation had some nice ideas, but the level design was all over the shit.

Of the modern games the only good ones worth playing are Lara Croft: Go, Guardian Of Light and Temple Of Osiris. The rest are high production values distracting from how poor the games are.

How about you?

A big fan of the series. AoD and Chronicles definitely being the low period for the series. 2013, Anniversary and 2 are my favorites but I own every TR game released on Playstation.

I think it's a bit short sighted of Square to not release HD remasters of the PS1 original to Underworld in a 25th Anniversary Collection. Oh well.

Man, time sure flies. I started playing it when the first game launched on the PlayStation. I really enjoyed the first two games back in their day. I think I played the third as well. Kind of fell out of the franchise after that and never really got back into until the Tomb Raider reboot. Did really enjoy that trilogy of games. Interested in seeing where it goes from here.

Could have become a juggernaut of a IP, sadly its ran through the ground by studio's that have no talent or passion.

The series started off crazy strong. Lara was almost immediately a huge icon. I remember how she was in (non-game) commercials, on the cover of many (non-game) magazines, and of course went on to have movies as well.

But though the games were standouts on the PS1, that didn't hold as the series progressed. Franchises live or die on the strength of their games' reception, not the marketability of their characters.

I loved the reboot. And based on its reception and sales, so did many others. But now the series seems to have stalled again. Hopefully there's more positive stuff in its future.

So I fired up the original tomb raider all those years ago,climbed a snowy mountain with a companion who got killed by wolves,after shooting them and entering the cave I searched for an hour not knowing what I was looking for after an hour of jumping on a few ledges and finding a small amount of loot I turned the game off,had the game glitched? I couldn't continue.

Months later I tried the game again with the same outcome...it got thrown in a drawer never to be played again.

Until I saw a tomb raider walkthrough on the front of a magazine in my local newsagents,Fuuuuuuck...I can't be the only person who couldn't find the leaver that opened a door in the cave?

Worst gaming franchise of all time. not a single good game it has.

early one are clunky, newer one are movie games.

I apologize to everyone for having the wrong opinion about this, the peak of the series for me are Anniversary and Underworld. I know the Core games have great puzzles and well designed levels, but I could never get into a game with tank controls, even back in the day.

The newer ones try a bit too hard to be Uncharted, but I do at least enjoy them more than Uncharted due to better platforming.

Definite great memories playing Tomb Raider on PS1. Time just flies by.

Meh, never was a fan, but the ps1 ones were decent. The reboot is so bad, tho.

I agree with this take.

As for the reboots .... Shadow would've been a decent game if they removed the campaign entirely and just let you do the side content.

I've never tried the top down stuff ... maybe I should.

aww, I used to play this game on the PC, when lara croft was big breasted, short pants and a nice ass, of course all in crap graphics. Also remember struggling to get past the tigers. The new tomb raider under sexualized her, which is a shame.

Ignoring personal dislike towards the games, think done an excellent job updating her look. Unfortunately rather than a mish-mash of Bond/Jones, she now comes across as a whiny Uni student.

But again, all subjective. The original games were more cartoony in design and tone.

Still love Legend and Anniversary best. That was the era of Lara Croft that got me started.

Played first two and loved them. Lost to the series after that.

The new ones just annoy me and try to hard to be Uncharted.

Loved TR2 back in the day. Also really like the new series as a pick up, beat, and never play again type of thing. I still need to pick up Shadow of the Tomb Raider to complete this new trilogy. Rise was great imo.

It's still a favorite series of mine. It's had some low points to be sure. Glad that it's confirmed to be continuing. Those complaining about the PS1 era controls come off as not knowing what a majority of games were like back then. TR broke ground on 3D traversal in gaming. So what's the term they use these days when people complain... ah yeah... Git Good (added misspelling to reflect popularity of modern lack of intelligence).

Ranking PS1 era:

1. 2
2. 1
3. 3
4. Last Revelation
5. Chronicles (really bad)

Ranking PS2 era:

1. Anniversary
2. Legend
3. Underworld
4. AoD (bad)

Ranking modern era:

1. 2013
2. Shadow
3. Rise (horribly written)

I still enjoy them, but they could be better. Please don't let Eidos Montreal touch it again.

Yeah, that's a good way to put it. It had so much potential. What a waste. I'd love a more stylized, simple interpretation that takes her and the world back to those original toon designs.

A lower budget puzzle platformer light action game that doesn't have to check off so many AAA boxes in order to earn back its investment. A purer Tomb Raider with better mechanics than the originals. There is so much expensive waste to strip out.

I enjoyed the games when it was more focused on adventuring and exploration than cinematic storytelling.

I Feel like the only one that enjoys the new reboots of the series.

I enjoyed the older games in my youth, but then again I was a in the throes of puberty when they came out and I'd be lying if the main attraction for me was the awesome gameplay :P

I do wish the newer games had a greater emphasis on exploration and archeology, at least going beyond the occasional token tomb or cave to explore.

Also every time she dies via trap it her death moans are oddly sexual.

For those who said Tomb Raider suck. Its obviously all you young gamers weren't around during the golden age of what we called fun games, not the society gaming crap we have now. Tomb Raider made a name for herself, she was mostly on all every gaming cover. My first Tomb Raider game was on PSX which was just Tomb Raider 2, only played the demo on the first game. I been a fan of this franchise for 2 decades, I'm totally okay with the current Tomb Raider games, Shadow of the Tomb Raider was good and hopefully we'll get a sequel. Happy 25 anniversory Lara Croft.

(Even Angelina Jolie was a fan of the games)

I never quite got into the series.

I remember having one of them for PSX. There was part of the game where you could explore Lara's house and it would say 'welcome to my humble abode'. Idk if I actually played the game or not but that part was cool. I didn't really like the controls back then.

I played Shadow of the Tomb Raider and that was pretty okay. Plus they had the side story where you got to explore her home and learn about her family history which was neat. Some of the discrete quests were very good like the Baba Yaga encounter.

And that's my history with the franchise. Not really my fav type of game at this point. Tried to play both of the other modern games and bounced off real hard almost immediately. I think making it through Shadow was a fluke.

Tomb Raider 2 and Anniversary are the ones I enjoyed the most. Tomb Raider 2013 was ok but I felt like id had my fill of it and didn't really enjoy the games that came after, especially Shadow, that one was really boring.

1. In 1990-something. I believe it was TR2.
2. Really cool, but hard as ****.
3. Nah.
4. No.
5. After 2, I believe.
6. 2.
7. Yes.
8. Yes.
9. Didn't care enough about it to play and find out. But probably.
10. I'm fine either way. The crappy form of TR is the one that got popular, so it's already dead to me.
11. Don't care.

apparently tomb raider 2 was trash when it was released and still is. some years later max payne released and show how to do third person game making it mehanically perfect to this day it still aged well unlike TR.

@ghosts4ever: What do you mean, "apparently"? lol.

No, it wasn't trash. It was a really cool game. But hard.

@ghosts4ever: You have to be the most clueless, one note derp this site has to offer 😂. TR2 was well received and liked when it came out, it would be awesome if every once in awhile you actually knew wtf you were talking about.

I liked the old Tomb Raider games, but I was just really passionate about the newer entries.

Honestly give me a Tomb Raider with the controls and shooting of the newer entries, but with the exploration and player freedom of the old ones.

its not hard. barely operated with KB/M.

this game was 1000 times better than TR2. and unlike TR2. it will play well.

@ghosts4ever: Psst, they aren't even remotely comparable. DERP.

Tomb Raider

Resident Evil

GT

Were the reasons to own a PS1. :P

I wonder how i would get on with the tank controls of TR1 today. I dont think the PS1 had dual analogue sticks when TR1 released so D-pad for a game in 3D it was...yikes. i remember playing the PC version too with the keyboard and...well....it was an adjustment.

but there was a knack to them and you could pull off some pretty cool moves (doing backflips while shooting the enemy was something new at the time).

i have only played TR1 and the 2013 trilogy though. i like the newer trilogy too, though more for the side content than the main story. they didn't do a great job with Lara as a character. but as games to play they were still fun.

I was there for the original in MS DOS. Had the sweet trapezoidal box eidos games came in.

Some suck more than others, but I generally enjoy the extent of the series. The new ones aren't "Tomb Raider" in any recognizable way, but I find them good fun in their own right.

Reminds me, I need to go back and finish my Anniversary playthrough

I remember playing one of the first TR games on the ps1 at my local BestBuy. It was the full game, and every time i came by, the character was in the same room because everyone trying the game didn't knew how to progress😆and i was one of them😆😆😆Completely hardstuck.

Played it since the start. Enjoyed them, don’t waste my time ranking them. I simply like entertainment. That’s what they have been.

Tomb raider legend is one of my favourites anniversary was also good on the 360.

You needed Stella's Walkthroughs back in the day.

Best Tomb Raider was the original PS1 game. And then Tomb Raider II... And then it went downhill after that.

@Jag85: Can't say would agree Tomb Raider III is downhill, at least not in a irredeemable demonizing sense. Tomb Raider I/II are more consistent, for sure. But argue Tomb Raider III has higher highs and lower lows. It's abit like the Doom II of the franchise.

There's kind of this misleading idea that all early Tomb Raider games are the same, when in reality they are vastly different, they just look the same.

III/LR change up abit. The thing about III is that is really pushes the boat out in attempted to move away from linearity. We get the Mega-Man style level select with comparatively huge levels with alternative paths. Along the way they trip up on occasion where it implodes in on itself. But certain levels, namely Nevada argue are some of the best in the franchise.

Kinda when the original series started losing momentum, but still put it respectfully next to the first two.

LR is legit bad though. They try to mimic Halflife with interconnected levels, backtracking objectives. On paper nice idea, in practice falls apart into a frustrating mess.

III has its occasional frustrations but nowhere near the level of LR. At that point the staff were sick of making them and secretly killed her off behind the big wigs back, feels like a lack of inspiration on top of the frustration.

Although love that train level Uncharted copy-pasted.

@uninspiredcup: TR3 is a good game. But just not as good as the first two. Like you said, the first two were consistent. They were tight and cohesive. TR3 felt all over the place. I never completed it though, so who knows if it gets better later on. I tried LR and Angel of Darkness afterwards, and got bored of them after a while.

And then Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time came along and killed classic Tomb Raider with its evolved puzzle-platforming. It would've been cool if TR evolved with a more Prince of Persia style, but instead they rebooted it in a cinematic Uncharted style.

Will you stop calling every game with a story a movie game.

It's so old.

tomb raider 1 on the ps1 had cut scenes and yet it's not a movie game?

you guys confuse me with this movie game crap.

game with a cut scene = a movie game?

is alan wake a movie game?

forza has a story mode so it = a movie game right? has cut scenes of you watching your car land so it is like watching a movie right?

or is it only sony games with cut scenes = movie game right?

@Jag85: Na, Angel Of Darkness killed it, was bleeding before it. The developers literally hated the character by the end and stealth killed her only to be told "nope, get that corpse back in action".

Although with fan patch, it really ain't as bad as people make out. Mean, not great, but definitely not the worst shit ever made. Just, abit shit.

Cool thing about III aside from the mega-man style level select and alternate routes, , when get towards the end of the game, has a massive tonal shift. Basically turns into The Thing, just straight up aping it.

For old ass everythings-a-cube 3D games, the OG Tomb Raiders were fairly atmospheric.

Never got into the PS1 games as those controls were awful.

Never tried The PS2 games.

The 1st TR I got into was TR Definitive Edition for PS4. I liked it because it was more action packed.

Rise of Tomb started slow and boring but picked up later. So overall solid.

Shadow bored the hell outta me.

I don't mind the original controls too much. Better than everything being so automated in a platformer. Like Mario magnetized towards every platform you jump towards, removing all the challenge. But I never would have beaten Tomb Raider 2 on a console. My time is much too valuable these days to redo entire long levels because of screw-ups. I needed those quick-saves.

I wonder whether a franchise that has a spotty history should be celebrated, as I often associated franchises with solid histories like Super Mario or The Legend of Zelda worth celebrating.

@onesiphorus: To be clear here, while certainly an egotistical prick, my opinion here is just that, an opinion.

In reality when we look at Tomb Raider sales and reviews, it doesn't actually reflect the wider consensus at all. Even within the context of this slim thread with a slim community people are listing games have disdain for and vice versa showing a dismissive attitude towards my preferred titles.

Legend, Underworld, 2013, Shadow, Rise etc... etc.. etc... were all well received and sold by the millions.

As a general answer to the proposed question, yes. Even if we were to say later entries were poor as a de facto argument, the series and characters influence is undeniable.

Lara Croft and Tomb Raider are akin to the James Bond of gaming. Regardless of quality or changes as decades pass, it's firmly entrenched in the public vocabulary through cultural impact.