The Game Boy Advance - a 32-bit handheld system released in 2001 - managed to get some 3D-like games up and running, but we don't think we ever saw one that looked this amazing during its lifetime.
Presenting 'OpenLara' - aka the original Tomb Raider game running on the Game Boy Advance. It's currently in alpha, but as you can see it's perhaps some of the best-looking 3D ever shown on the system. Even the framerate is quite impressive.
As noted by one GBA enthusiast, the "fully-3D, articulated character model" makes it seem "light years ahead" of anything else that's been done before. Others noted how it ran better than Nokia's N-Gage version. According to the creator Timur 'XProger' Gagiev, the plan is to continue to optimise this version more, and maybe even release it on the DS in time.
You can read more about the OpenLara project over on the Tomb Raider forums. OpenLara has also previously been shown running on platforms like the Switch, Xbox and even the 3DO.
While the first Tomb Raider in its original form isn't officially available on Nintendo platforms, later this year, Square Enix will be releasing a two-in-one pack on Switch containing the Tomb Raider spin-offs, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris.
What do you think of the above effort? Leave a comment down below.
Comments 56
B for jump? NO THANKS!
As a 30 year old, I thought I'd enjoy Tomb Raider a few months back. I was wrong. I can see why Mario 64 did so well.
That looks so good I question the reality of it. Is it REALLY using nothing more than GBA guts? Pretty jaw-dropping if true.
I don’t know about this but I love 32 bit era 3D graphics. Sweet nostalgia.
@-wc- It’s pretty accurate having B to jump though. In the PS1 version it’s X to shoot and Square to jump. I’d imagine A is shoot/interact here.
More impressive than Asterix & Obelix XXL for GBA? Maybe not
@Deerock69 multiple people in the youtube comments have discussed how it plays on their official hardware, so I'd say yes.
While impressive it's only just one level, the GBA cart can't possibly fit the entire game.
Looks very impressive, but it probably isn't very fun to play since the framerate drops to very low (10 fps often). I wonder how it would run with a less detailed character and less detailed textures. I wonder if it is possible make a proper 3D game run on the GBA, while still having graphics that aren't completely abstract
That's absolutely nuts. They should become the next company to make "impossible" Switch ports.
I had an ex who absolutely adores Tomb Raider. It's her favorite series. She showed me a few minutes of one of the PS1 games, and woof, those tank controls were painful. She also showed me a PS2 one she also likes but says it has a pretty bad reception. I only own Nintendo hardware but would like to give it a proper go to see what's so good about it. Shame that "leak" about a collection a couple years ago was fake. Maybe someday.
Pretty crazy if it's just original GBA hardware. Sadly along with that and the OG Resident Evils, I just cannot do those controls anymore.
Good news about Guardian of Light though, that game was really fun for a spin off.
Love the game, so cool.
@Specter_of-the_OLED People probably said the same thing when Capcom revealed Resident Evil 2 for the N64, yet here we are.
"The Nintendo 64 version of Resident Evil 2 is one of the few games released for the console to have FMVs, overcoming the limited storage space on the cartridge. The PlayStation version with two CD-ROMs of up to 700 MB per disc was faithfully replicated (with unique enhancements) on a 64 MB Nintendo 64 Game Pak. Audio and video assets had to be more aggressively and creatively compressed, using novel techniques that shift the burden more toward the console's high real-time processing power. Over the course of twelve months and with a budget of $1 million, Resident Evil 2 was ported to the console by a team led by nine full-time and one part-time personnel from Angel Studios. Further help was provided by ten staff from Capcom Production Studio 3 and Factor 5. This version offers features that were not included on any other system, such as alternate costumes, the ability to adjust the degree of violence and to change the blood color, a randomizer to place items differently during each playthrough, and a more responsive first-person control scheme. Additionally, the port features 16 new in-game documents known as the "Ex Files", written by Tetsuro Oyama. Hidden throughout the four scenarios, they reveal new information about the series' lore and connect the story of Resident Evil 2 to those of the other installments, including some that had not been released yet.
The Nintendo 64 version adjusts its display resolution depending on the number of polygonal models currently on screen, and supports the console's Expansion Pak accessory for a maximum resolution of 640×480 during gameplay. Other visual enhancements include smoother character animations and sharper, perspective-corrected textures for the 3D models. The Nintendo 64 version is the only one to use surround sound, with the soundtrack converted to Dolby Surround by Chris Hülsbeck, Rudolf Stember and Thomas Engel. The team reworked the sound set from the ground up to provide each instrument with a higher sample rate than on the PlayStation, thus resulting in higher-quality music. Some features from the other enhanced ports based on the Dual Shock Ver. do not appear in the Nintendo 64 version, such as the "Extreme Battle" minigame. In 2018, Eurogamer called this "one of the most ambitious [and impressive] console ports of all time"." ~ Wikipedia
what sort of wizardry is this?
Oi that’s my line!
(For those who don’t know I’m just kidding.)
Thud, thud thud. (That's the sound of my jaw hitting the floor.) The kind of skill that some of these people have just goes to show how wrong the late Clive Sinclair was with his "Nintendo doesn't give you programmers" guff.
@Specter_of-the_OLED Of course it can. PlayStation discs were 700MB or so, but only a fraction of that was required for game logic and level/model data, with the rest usually being filled with FMV or CD audio. With clever compression it could be possible to squeeze that into 32MB too. It would be poor quality but it would be GBA authentic!
@arekdougy I bought Tomb Raider on the Playstation back in the day. Think I didn’t make it past the first level.. maybe the second level. Playstation was pretty bad for true 3d polygon games. N64 was much better.
I've no desire to ever play it, but I love stuff like this. Really impressive.
@TheJamesHollan an article in an article! Thanks for this… I really loved playing RE2 on N64! Remember the StarCraft port?! Another act of wizardry!
@Deerock69 The video is strangely well lit on the screen. Even a backlit GBA doesn’t produce CRT levels of picture quality! There are Also mysterious gaps in the controls. Tomb raider used every button on the ps1 controller and the GBA has half that. The player mysteriously uses the same button for jump and 180 roll….
Can this be downloaded onto everdrives/superdrives or does it need special things inside the cart?
Looks really good. I adored the GBA
@arekdougy Would love to see how Super Mario 64 would perform on GBA.
The only Tomb Raider I've ever played is the original on Sega Saturn, and watching this video made my teenage years flash before my eyes. Pretty damn amazing.
@RadioHedgeFund You can replace the LCD of a GBA with an IPS screen, which gives you exactly this kind of image.
This actually runs far better and looks better than what has been ported over to the 3DO recently. The only thing that I always felt early Tomb Raider games so bad was the tank controls in a fully 3D environment and having to shuffle from side to side to get into position properly. Yes it is result of having to make it for non analog contollers as the lowest common control method but it really does make older games like this play so badly.
I don’t remember the GBA having that level of brightness …
@fafonio With an IPS screen it has.
As painful as it is to play the original tomb raider nowadays that's some impressive stuff. I thought v rally 3 iridion 3d and asterix and obelix were the height of 3d power on the GBA but here we are!😁
This isn't some weird sourcery, the OG Tomb Raider, technically speaking, is not 3D. It uses sprite scaling for rendering the world, that's why everything is square; if GBA can run Doom, why not Tomb Raider?
Very impressive. I rememeber playing this on my N-gage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmlkCdpl1rs&t=363s
it's working on gba, but he plans to release on DS. Ok then.
Super Monkey Ball Jr looked and ran better tbh.
I played the Saturn version a couple of years ago after not playing it for many years, I got quite far and found my eyes and brain quickly adjusted to the dated visuals and clunkiness of the game, I mean, infinite health packs helped me tremendously too...
Reminds me of playing Kill.Switch on gba and being amazed by it.
For those who are skeptical, the video page does have a link to the rom and you can give it a go if you have a GBA and a means to load it.
I tried it out on my GBA SP, and it is quite impressive
This is insane. Wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it for myself. I still love the original Tomb Raider to this day and regularly replay it. As long as you don't mind tank controls (I dont! Infact I find them more logical than analogue for certain types of games) it definitely holds up.
@Gavintendo Super Monkey Ball on the GBA was like actual witchcraft to me. I was astounded that they got that working. It really made the GBA feel next-gen.
@milvus976578 Correct, that is exactly how it works. Well said!
@arekdougy There was a remake of the OG Tomb Raider released on the Wii and Xbox 360. It might be available for download on a newer Xbox system, I'm not sure. The Wii version was ok. If you get a chance to, I recommend checking it out.
@TheJamesHollan
That version of the game was a work of art. It’s the version my best friend had; I had it on PlayStation.
Me and my best friend loved comparing them back in the day.
Of the two… I do think the PlayStation version is the better version. But the N64 version defies all expectations and has no business being as good as it is. Basically what I mean is that I would say if you had both consoles, play the PlayStation version. If you only had an N64, don’t go and buy a PlayStation just to play that one game. Just buy the N64. It’s almost as good overall.
The N64 was hobbled as hell thanks to cartridges and it was one of several things that ruined the console’s otherwise interesting design. But the crew behind RE2 N64 worked both around and within those limitations to create something truly special. One of those ultra rare, jaw dropping ports. Like Street Fighter Alpha 2 on SNES.
@milvus976578
Tomb Raider had way more complicated geometry than Doom.
@roboshort being born in the 80s I remember this well, and you are absolutely right, some of PlayStation's games looked horrible,to say the least and Tomb Raider was no different, (a game I could never get into, no matter how much I tried), but luckily, PlayStation had a catalog and a pletora of ideas that, despite looking bad, paved way for some memorable games for generations to come. Not being a fanboy of any console, I could and do admire now the technical skills needed to create something like Zelda: Ocarina of Time, in a 32mb cartridge, (a info I only read a few years ago). N64, Sega, PlayStation, etc, did some pretty amazing stuff, considering the hardware limitations back then. They managed to create some fish and chips, while having only chips to cook with and that is some kind of next level sorcery. 😂
@Specter_of-the_OLED You'd be surprised. I have the PC version on my PC right now, it's only about 64MB without the FMV or CD music or configuration tools (just the executable and basic graphics and SFX). The largest commercial GBA games were 32MB (and GBA video cartridges were 64MB if I remember correctly?) but that's only because of the price of carts at the time. You could make carts large enough at the time for sure, but those would have been pricey. Nowadays however, that wouldn't be a problem.
I think the DS would probably make for an interesting experiment to put Tomb Raider on, as its hardware is sort of more in line with what the game was originally designed for. Heck, you could probably even make it better than on PS1 since textures wouldn't warp and controls wise the DS button layout should be well suited for it.
Quite impressive!
Though I can't help thinking how we're at the point where a mobile chipset fits inside a GBA-cartridge, allowing the GBA to merely function as input/output for a much stronger system.
Imagine playing emulated GameCube games and streaming the latest AAA titles on your GBA. ^^
@RudyC3
Absolutely it could run better on DS than it did on PSX. But there're something charming about seeing the same kind of Z-buffer deprived texture distortion happening on GBA.
It's clearly very impressive.
If it had been done "in the day" then it would have sold loads and - more importantly - it would have become a technical showpiece for the console. I think if the game as shown here had been released "back in the day" - whether we might have seen a lot more ambition on GBA from other developers.
...Either that or a lot of attempts to accurately port select other PSX games.
@nessisonett
I was making a dumb joke that only I will ever think is funny, but come to think of it, you are right! Tomb raider had ridiculous controls. 😆 x to shoot and square to jump, what a country!
@-wc- lol
@Specter_of-the_OLED
Couldn't it fit in a flash cart with micro SD? Or does the GBA hardware limit the size of the rom?
@Moistnado it works on Everdrive, you can download the ROM from their GitHub
@RPGreg2600 @Moistnado it works on Everdrive, you can download the ROM from their GitHub
@jurassicjoel I can't get it to work on my Everdrive GBA X5 Mini...
The camera goes crazy and it shows some graphical glitches the second I start a level.
@Moshugan that's strange. It's not without bugs and crashes on my Everdrive GBA X5 mini, but usually starts nice and smooth and can play for a while before issues arise. Are you running the latest update? Here's how it runs on my Everdrive – https://twitter.com/joeljgames/status/1482657623212183555
@jurassicjoel sweet, that's so cool
@jurassicjoel I did a little troubleshooting. The problem is with my GBA SP in some way. The game works as fine as it should on my other GBA (vanilla AGB-001 without any mods), but it glitches on my modded GBA SP (AGS-001 with a Funnyplaying IPS and a new battery).
I think the issue is dirty power delivery. The game is probably so power intensive that the intermittent or dirty power that my GBA SP is currently getting isn't enough. I probably need to do some cleaning of the power switch or maybe even install a power cleaner PCB.
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