This is the 1996 game called Tomb Raider, as opposed to the 2013 game called Tomb Raider. I completed the 2013 game called Tomb Raider back in 2014, and then I completed the sequel to that game (a 2015 game called Rise of the Tomb Raider) in 2024. I have previously completed the 1996 game called Tomb Raider, back in 1998, after I had completed the 1997 game called Tomb Raider II. I have also completed a 2006 game called Tomb Raider Legend and (I think) a 2007 game called Tomb Raider Anniversary which was a remake of the 1996 game called Tomb Raider but not the 2013 game called Tomb Raider. I have also played a 1998 game called Tomb Raider III and a 2008 game called Tomb Raider Underworld but have not completed those, and neither of those was a remake of the 1998 game called Tomb Raider.
In fact, this is only sort of the 1996 game called Tomb Raider. This is a game called Tomb Raider which was released in 2024 on a compilation of three games, which collectively were called Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. Within the game you can play a port of the original 1996 game called Tomb Raider, or a remastered version which updates graphics, allows you to use different controls, and changes saving mechanisms. This remastered version is much closer to the original 1996 game called Tomb Raider than the 2007 game called Tomb Raider Anniversary.
I hope that’s clear.
My intention with this was to try to complete Tomb Raider III, which still eludes me, but I have fond memories of the first and second games and I didn’t feel capable of just ignoring them. A refresh of story, controls, and mechanics was also useful. So, I’ve started at the start and have taken Lara through the caves of Peru, completing the first four levels of the game. There’s a lot of stuff here which I don’t think I’ve appreciated before, such as how combat and puzzles are largely kept separate, and (so far) there’s been no respawning enemies when you retrace your steps. This is something I was very glad of when I ran back past the (still warm) T-Rex corpse having collected three gears for the sluice gate machine in the third area. The camera is a bit frustrating, with little user control (especially when using original graphics) and sometimes it just won’t show you what’s ahead of Lara until you’ve nearly fallen off the ledge that’s around a corner. The modern graphics are, on the whole, a very welcome addition, other than the fact that they’re just so dark. I’ve found myself having to switch between the two just to see where the walls are, at times.
Some of the notes I made from the modern Tomb Raider games apply here as well. If you have your guns drawn, Lara will automatically aim at enemies, and this means you can sidestep across blind corners knowing that the game will tell you if there’s anything to be afraid of. Some of the game is more like a puzzle, identifying how to get somewhere, although this first game has less of the verticality that I know happens later in the series. You can easily see how the new games drew on the first for inspiration, but there are some aspects where game design has inevitably moved on.
In a surprise to nobody, having found the artifact I was charged to get, and while retracing my steps to leave the tombs, I was ambushed by my employer’s sidekick (Larson) who wanted the scion for himself. I jumped around and shot him multiple times, and then, crucially, didn’t kill him. This is the 1996 game called Tomb Raider, and while Lara’s happy to kill off a lost valley of dinosaurs, and wolves, and other wildlife, it was always made clear she wasn’t a murderer – not until the end of the game, at least. In Tomb Raider Anniversary, it is explicitly clear that she kills Larson, and that was the first time she killed a person.
So, i have the first piece of the puzzle, and have watched a (very dated) cutscene of Lara raiding the offices of her now-former employer. Off to find someone else now.
