Get ready for a blast from the past, because the original Tomb Raider trilogy is coming to the Nintendo Switch with fully remastered visuals, courtesy of Crystal Dynamics and Aspyr.
Launching on February 14th, 2024, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft will contain the original three Tomb Raider titles from 1996, 1997, and 1998 respectively. The visuals have been boosted significantly for the new release, but you can toggle between the vintage polygonal style and the new graphics at will.
Not only that, but the games will also include all expansions and secret levels, so this is as complete a package as you can hope for. Well, if you exclude Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: Chronicles, that is...
Here's some info from Crystal Dynamics:
Uncover treasures and mysteries of the ancient world alongside Lara Croft in three classic Tomb Raider adventures – now remastered and featuring each game’s expansion content. Face off against deadly foes, reveal dangerous myths and solve puzzles with upgraded graphics and the option to switch to the original polygonal look at any time. Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft is available for pre-order later today and launches digitally in Nintendo eShop and in the My Nintendo Store on Nintendo.com on Feb. 14, 2024, just in time to celebrate Lara Croft’s birthday!
Are you looking forward to revisiting the original adventures of Lara Croft? Head down to the comment section below and let us know your thoughts.
Comments 140
Yesssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!
TR2 spent literal decades as my all time favorite game! Having it on Switch puts it back into actually being playable for me again (unable to hold onto older systems for various life reasons).
Never been super interested in these games but I do rather like the way the remake looks. Still a clear resemblance to the originals while obviously improved over them, it can be a tricky line to walk.
Huh? Oh…that cool I guess. :/
I told my roommate in college that once you beat the game Laura stripped down naked and he watched me play the entire thing - threatening me if it wasn't true.
I wonder how these will control. I loved them back in the day but they were clunky even then
@Cashews you might wanna start running.
@Cashews Who is Laura?
@Greatluigi the time has passed and he forgave me for my lies all those years ago. he watched me play it for hours though for reals. Fun prank.
Isn’t this just the Anniversary edition released a decade ago on PC?
@Jamie64326 wrapped in plastic
So looking forward to this collection which includes the PC expansion packs. I'll buy it either way, but I hope Embracer Group/Crystal Dynamics give us a physical release.
Starring Lara Croft
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered ...starring Lara Croft
Rolls right off the tounge.
Only played the 1st game back in the day but did enjoyed it. I like the Reboot Tomb Raider games. I’ll pick this up.
Tomb Raider has aged like milk though, particularly in the control department. Doesn’t sound like they’re changing it either because that’s something they’d definitely want to mention in their press release.
never really enjoyed these games that much.
and even back then it wasn't difficult to see breasts by other means.
Good to see this collection getting remastered so that more people can experience these classics.
Now since there's a remaster of this Eidos game, how about they make remasters for Legacy of Kain and Thief games.
I'm done with these games. Tried to play the first one again a couple of years ago and it hadn't aged well at all. I enjoyed re-playing them back in 2012-13 on my Vita, but I feel gaming has moved on.
Definitely getting this if it has a physical edition ofc!
These are actually games that could use remakes, they did not age very well at all. Hopefully they can modernize the controls a little bit too.
@brandonbwii It’s full analog control; none of that tank control crap.
Graphical update is nice and Valentines Day seems like a good release date for a Lara Croft ménage a trois but I don’t understand the excitement. I recently finished playing the new trilogy, are those on Switch?
@Antraxx777 What’s your source? Did I miss something?
I really love these games and have been asking for this for a while. The fact they include the original graphics as an option is great, I'm not 100% sold on the new ones, (though I don't hate them or anything).
My only annoyance is that this series was never a "trilogy"... there were 5 games in this series. The Last Revelation and Chronicles all use the same engine, control scheme and play style. They really should have included them all, they wouldn't make a very good standalone release from a marketing perspective.
I know some people will say "I hope they have modern controls" but honestly that would completely break them - the level design is extremely precise and grid based around the "limited" movement. Its like Prince of Persia / Flashback in 3d.
They already made a remake of the original game with modern controls and had to completely remake the levels and its just an entirely different game. A good one, but not the same at all. I've always vastly prefered the puzzle/grid based nature of the originals.
@rjejr The survivor trilogy is not on Switch. The only other games we got Tomb Raider related is Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris as a collection.
Just seen it live on the Nintendo UK site. I'm guessing this is a solely digital release? I can't wait to get it though. Been wanting to replay the old Tomb Raiders for a while
@Zeldork I'm also wondering if they'll do anything with the controls or just leave them as is
@Antraxx777 You got a source for this. The games were made with those types of controls in mind and I couldn't imagine them without it.
Given anniversary exists on the PS2, it's weird they didn't grab and run with that and decided to do another polygon boost update instead of the better looking version.
My highlight of the Direct. Been asking for Time Raider on Switch since... a long time ago.
Lara 4 Smash! Lara 4 Smash! Lara 4 Smash!
@Antraxx777 Tomb Raider Anniversary is a completely different game, (a remake/reimagining not remaster) this is very much not it. You can't recreate the original levels without at least semi-tank controls, they are grid based and designed around it, as per my above comment. Analogue controls would make much of the puzzle platforming completely impossible. Sure, they will add analogue controls to the camera and could do for Lara's turning, but it will still be grid based and "tank ish" to some extent, because removing that element breaks the game. Thats why they had to make completely new levels for Anniversary.
@Cashews Wait what dude?
WHAT???
I am hoping they port Tomb Raider 2013 to Switch one day too.
@brandonbwii If it is based off this release, like I think it is:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/8000/Tomb_Raider_Anniversary/
Which was fantastic and controlled great.
But I’m not positive, because this new collection is also listed at Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2478970/Tomb_Raider_IIII_Remastered/
@samuelvictor Ah ok. They look so similar.
Maybe they are analog but just include a lock-forward button to line up jumps
give me a physical version, and I'll buy it day one.
What a nice surprise, I'll finally be able to play these games thanks to this and glad for all those here on Nintendo Life who continuously mentioned wanting them, too!
@anoyonmus true story. after a few hours of me not being able to totally keep in the giggles he started getting mad - it was kind of fun figuring out the puzzles together but it wasn't the greatest game for watching.
I had to buy him a drink I think.
@Antraxx777 Unfortunately, the original Anniversary game is completely different. I played that on Wii and had a blast. Since this new one has it where you can swap visuals. It’s more like the controls will be faithful to the original trilogy.
@anoyonmus Yeah, if was based on the PS4 remaster. The PS3 and PC versions just doesn't look that great in comparison.
Nice to see they went with the faithful remaster approach. Hopefully they'll remaster the fourth game next (Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation), as that was always my favourite of the classic Core Design era.
@Antraxx777 Yeah the new graphics definitely do look similar. I can see your suggestion working, as long as the step and stride length is fixed also, so the only analogue elements are the turning, and if she tip-toes/full steps/runs is based on how far you tilt the stick. The jump lengths are very precisely designed so you must tiptoe to the very edge then jump in one of several very specific ways depending on the speed you're moving. Similar to the original 2d Prince of Persia / Flashback , its more like a geometric navigation puzzle rather than an actual "platformer".
I would be interested if this was something like Anniversary back in the day. But this just looks like like a lazy remaster by the same guys who butchered those two Jedi Knight games on Switch.
Damn they're really going to keep the og tank controls in a 2024 remaster? interesting.
@crimsontadpoles Yeah the fact Last Revelation and Chronicles aren't included is somewhat baffling and I can't see the missing 2 making a compelling "volume 2" for many. But I'm happy we're getting these three anyway, and the DLC inclusion is nice.
I wish we could have Anniversary in with these, but TR 1 will definately bring back some fond memories of my PS1 days
i played the first 2 back in the day in 2023 i have no desire to play these games again..
@Antraxx777 Nothing close to that.
@samuelvictor Completely agree. The tank controls are fundamental to how these games play, I can't imagine the level design working without them. Yes, we need TLR and Chronicles too.
@Cashews I see.
@brandonbwii Yeah. Why not just release that one first
@Orpheus79V Thanks! Yeah I understand people who grew up in an analogue only world (or people who see analogue as something we "moved past") to comment that tank controls will make these games "unplayable" but without them, the entire game wouldn't function. This is why the modern games exist. But personally, I feel something was lost and the original 5 games are the ones I enjoy the most - I think because I gravitate towards puzzle elements in platform games and that was what gripped me most about the first game when it came out.
@Antraxx777 There were 3 games in that series, all made by Crystal Dynamics (the Gex people!) and feature analogue controls. Tomb Raider Anniversary, Tomb Raider Legend, and Tomb Raider Underworld. If you prefer that style of play, I can happily recomend them all, they are very different to the original, but good in their own way, and some people prefer them. I'd 100% welcome these getting a trilogy release on Switch too.
This is what I’ve been waiting for for years. Maybe they have bigger plans for The Last Revelation? That was probably the highlight of that TR formula
@samuelvictor You’re so right! The precision of the controls was deemed ‘dated’ at one point, but I wish more modern games would do this again. I had a lot of fun learning how to perfectly time Lara’s moves in these games
@Zeldork This. I'd like to see Tomb Raider Anniversary ported to Switch. That's an excellent update of the og and captures the essence of the old games.
Nice they are allowing the option of having the original graphics in addition to the remaster ones.
@PinderSchloss Thank you! Also I'm glad to see you and several others saying Last Revelation was their favourite. I've always felt that way but wasn't sure if that was because I played it on Dreamcast and as a Sega fanboy first who'd been annoyed he had to play 2 & 3 on Playstation, then having such a huge upgrade in graphics and a Sega homecoming (the first game was originally designed as a Saturn exclusive, then ported) means I have all kinds of warm feelings of nostalgia towards those first times playing it. Sales-wise, I think the original 3 did by far the best but it rankled me to hear the direct anouncer describe them as a "trilogy".
Nice. I'm not interested in any modern Tomb Raider games, but I'll grab the original trilogy if available physically.
I've never actually played any Tomb Raider game to any real length. I had a demo of the first game on CD-ROM which chugged like nobody's business on our outdated computer in the 90s.
@samuelvictor Yup! I own them all on Steam 😀. I basically like all of Tomb Raider, and I get people wanting to play the early originals (but those were really designed around keyboard control). I hope they found a good in-between for the controls, or like you can set it either way
@samuelvictor I was also super impressed with the graphics. I remember an early blurry ‘leaked’ screenshot that showed her having ‘real skin’ for the first time (instead of the blocks of her limbs being clearly visible). And the lighting was also a big step up from previous games.
But it’s also because I think it’s the game where the franchise felt ‘grown up’. It combined all the best elements.
Magical times : )
The original is one of my favourite games (and I replay them on gog a few years ago and they still hold if you get used to the tank controls). I will buy this if it comes on a physical cartridge/disk, so far it does not look like it though.
I've never played any of the Tomb Raider games. I watched a speedrun of the first one a few weeks ago and loved what I saw. Very Zelda-ish and definitely an Ocarina of Time precursor. Tank controls were never my bag, though, but if they work for the game, I'll try to get used to them.
@Antraxx777 Ah, cool, glad you have them and enjoy them 😀
The original games do indeed play really well with a keyboard. However the very first game was actually originally designed as a Saturn exclusive, then ported to Playstation - beack in the early days when nether console's original joypads had an analogue stick - in other words, they were designed for a D-pad, and work well with one. Again, forgive me if you already knew that.
I can imagine them working really nicely with the "four buttons" pseudo d-pad of the Switch, and especailly the D-Pad on the Switch Lite, and the Pro Controller, which are my two prefered ways of playing. If they do add analogue support for camera controls (which seems a given) that will really improve the games in a meaningful way.
Day one for me, I like the tomb raider psone games way better than the ps4 games
@PinderSchloss Yeah, the Dreamcast and PC versions looked several generations improved over the Playstation version of the same game. Those times felt like technology was progressing forward at an incredible rate.
Happy times for sure. Now I think about it, it was also the first game I played when moving out from my parents and into my own place, which was a beautiful little remote place on a cliff overlooking the sea, and shortly after my then GF moved in and we played it together. That probably also builds my positive association to it. But I think even without the nostalgia, its objectively a great game. It should definitely have been included also... abd Chronicles because "why not complete the set". 😅
I don't think I've completed any PS1 era TR game, just goofed around. Think I'll get this.
I would've prefered Tomb Raider Anniversary, but I will commend the whole "Switch Graphics between OG and Remaster on the fly" feature. The only game I've ever seen doing this was the Asterix and Obelix XXL Remaster.
I'll probably pick this up. Hopefully if it's successful we'll see a return of the OG Lara.
Was challenging enough on PS0 that I kinda gave up. I drove me nuts finding hidden treasures. If physically all on cart that would a collector and gaming dream to happen. And Amiibo Tomb Raider would be the icing on the cake.
I liked this announcement. I hope a TR Legends trilogy and reboot trilogy are on the way, even if for the Switch successor.
@Samuelvictor
Re the analogue controls/grid based movement thing, Prince of Persia Sands of Time on the GameCube did a similar thing. Even though movement was analogue and in 3D, the actual jumps mapped to a grid layout to ensure you never got that annoying moment of jumping at just the wrong angle. It's what made the game so much fun to control and the action sequences so fluid.
@Antraxx777 No. These have new lighting, new textures, and a new character model for Lara Croft. These are definitely not the old mobile ports.
I'll get this only to explore the different Croft Manors. Can't wait to drive the quad!
@Woderwick Interesting - I remember really enjoying Sands of Time back when it first came out, but the sequels didn't hold my attention in quite the same way and I've not replayed it again since then. Yahtzee Croshaw often cites it as one of the best games ever made so I've long considered going back to it when I have time.
I didn't specifically remember the grid-based nature that you mention but I do remember it feeling amazingly fluid and fun to control so if it subtley fixes/pushes your jumps to align to a grid rather than being precisiely what you pressed that's very interesting. I should really replay it soon, thanks for the reminder!
@samuelvictor
Sands of Time is one my all time favourite games ever and the movement was a big part of that. It felt as though the game wanted you to succeed but without being easy. Difficult to define but I loved it to bits. I only tried the first sequel but didn't enjoy it as much. It was much more heavily combat focused and while that's not a problem in itself, it wasn't what I was looking for in a sequel.
I think this new Tomb Raider stuff is going to retain the grid based movement though. If you look at the new graphics, all the environments are still built around solid square blocks. I'd assume that's because they've stuck to the original acrobatics system, otherwise they'd have added more curved architecture. PS1 era machines were notoriously bad at drawing curves efficiently but that's not an issue today so I think they've done it to avoid breaking the traversal mechanisms.
If it go's on cart I will bye
If not strait no I'm sort of intrested in them
But was not a big fan back on the ps1
Cool-ella- Deville.
With the Lara Croft duology collection I feared they wouldn't release any mainline Tomb Raider games on the Switch. Thankfully we're getting this and I'll be getting proper nostalgic vibes for it!
Hopefully a good remaster overall. Looks the part at first trailer glance.
@Woderwick Yeah I totally agree about the grid based movement for these ports. That's 100% fine with me, its a big part of what I enjoy about the originals.
As for Sands of Time, yeah that totally makes sense, my predominant memopry was how good it felt to control, how fun it was running around and feeling like a parkour badass... and the sequels were definitely less about that and more about trying to be edgy in design & story (many PS2 era games fell into this trap) mixed with basic and repetetive hack and slash button mashing... or at least that's how I remember them.
One thing that intregues me is that Croshaw (who if you aren't familiar with him is a long time game critic, but also a talented indie dev and very successful novelist) regularly cites the story and especially the handling of the romance elements as being a textbook example of how to do these elements well in an action game... and the sequels as textbook examples of how not to do it. I don't remember this element much other than feeling the sequels were more edgy and perhaps sexist or "bro-ish" in comparisson.
The fact such a respected & successful storyteller regularly praises the story in an old PS2 game must mean it did something right. Of course, he also talks about the joy of traversal and just plain fun moving through the environments. The only other game he mentions in such high regard for those elements are Spider-Man 2 & the Insomniac games.
Good memories trying to beat the first one as a kid with my dad.
Decent price point, looks like they actually TRIED. Pretty impressive but those games platforming were incredibly frustrating back then so unless they tweaked the controls and mechanics as well, I think I'll pass on that unnecessary anger as that difoculy will be 10x what it felt like then due to all the easy games these days.
Plus I still play as Lara all the time in Fortnite.
I will pass. If it was the newer trilogy ok but these games haven't aged well at all.
@samuelvictor
Yeah, I know Yahtzee, very witty and insightful guy. And I agree totally about the story. In Sands of Time the romance felt more organic and actually well-written for a videogame (most games have pretty trash writing compared to even a pulp novel in my opinion). The first sequel had fun combat but the story was dull and the opening sequence featured a girl with a very well rendered and nicely proportioned arse but also completely gratuitous and eye-roll inducing. It felt as though they'd given the sequel to a team of lads mag aficionados who had totally missed what made the first game so good. It wasn't a bad game but I think you nailed it as being built to fit into the PS2 era with all that entailed in terms of "edgy" nonsense.
@Woderwick "It felt as though they'd given the sequel to a team of lads mag aficionados who had totally missed what made the first game so good" haha yeah that was the distinct impression I got - and what stuck in mind even 2 decades later. And being that at the time I was in my very early 20s and not adverse to buying the occasional lads mag, the fact it made me feel that way means it was probably fairly full on, or at least a jarring departure from the previous title.
@Zeldork Yeah it was interesting that the controls were not mentioned.
However being a remaster rather than a port hopefully work has been done
@samuelvictor
Same here, I was in my 20's then too and while I did (and still do) enjoy a nice arse and some of the old ultraviolence, it wasn't what I wanted from a sequel to a game I loved for something completely different.
I can see where they going with the new graphics trying to capture the look CG art but something is a bit off here
This is cool, I never played these games despite owning a PS1. Interested in this collection for sure.
I hope that one "code" is still in the game. You know what I mean.
Yeah, they know what they're doing, and it's nice. I hope a Nintendo console eventually gets the new trilogy games though. The first two are possible on Switch at least.
Never had the chance to sink my teeth into these games back when they were first released, so for science, it looks like I'll finally have my chance. No offense to the other Tomb Raider games that came out recently, but this is what I'm here for. What a day!
@Jamie64326 Thanks. I did actually Google it after I posted, Switch has been getting a lot of old trilogies these days - Batman, GTA - but I couldn't find it.
Still good to get these I suppose but the new trilogy I would think would be a bigger deal. Unless it was cloud only. 😝
It includes the extra levels too! I hope there'll be a similar collection or maybe an expansion or dlc to add Revelations and Chronicles along with the Times Exclusive level.
I'm also really glad you can change the graphics to the originals, gonna have to see the menus and how the games actually play though.
These games and their music are really special to me, they take me right back to my childhood at our old house watching my older brother and sister play them and all the other old PS1, N64 and PC games we'd play, as well as other memories from that time.
@Woderwick Spot on. Kudos for the Clockwork Orange reference too!
@Antraxx777 probably not. This release is coming to the other consoles and PC at the same time too.
@Samuelvictor
The fact that you got the Clockwork Orange reference makes my heart smile.
@Woderwick Firstly, its iconic. Secondly, you probably didn't know (some people on this site do, as I'm occasionally asked about it) but I'm a movie producer, director and actor. Of course I know Kubrick 😅
BTW I also like your Excalibur pfp, and I wondered if your username was a reference to Life of Brian? lol
I'll play that. Love the puzzles in these old games.
@samuelvictor
We should probably get a room at this point.
Yes, Woderwick is a Life of Brian reference, partly because of some real life stuff that's very important to me, but also because I use it a my character name in a lot of fantasy RPGs as kind of antidote to all the puffed up self importance of the plots.
I'm also very impressed you got the Excalibur reference. It's one of my favourite films, and I absolutely love the depiction of the characters, in particular Merlin.
I could wax lyrical for hours about how good a film it is on so many levels.
The fact that you're in the industry does make sense now, reading your previous comments.
@ottoecamn the anniversary edition of the first Halo did it as well. It was remastered for the Xbox 360 and at the push of a button could swap on the fly back to the original graphics. I think one of the Wonder Boy remakes does this too if I’m not mistaken. But yeah I love this feature and I wish all classic game remasters did it.
@Woderwick Haha I love Life of Brian, the fact you use it in RPGs is brilliant! 😂 I'm somewhat of a nerd about the Welsh language origins of the Arthurian tales, Maginogion etc, and Excalibur is a really great film. So many amazing actors got their first big break in it too!
@rjejr I can see Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise of the Tomb Raider running on Switch but not Shadow of the Tomb Raider without some work done on it.
If the controls work well, I'll definitely pick this up. Also hoping for the other three. Despite its many many flaws, my favorite is still Angel of Darkness.
@samuelvictor
Personally I love the Arthurian legends as a combination of English, Welsh and Cornish legendary. And, while Excalibur feels very English there are so many levels on which the film is amazing that I can ignore the text they've ignored in a lot of the original tales.
And even though Merlin isn't Welsh in the film, he really seems to suit the role as an outright otherworldly being.
And yeah, the sheer number of fantastic actors in the film is insane. I always smile when I see "Richard" as Arthur's supposed father.
I'm so glad to see that others are hoping they dont change the controls!
Personally, I'm sick of every single game controlling the exact same way (like BOTW, basically,) and im ESPECIALLY sick of playing my character AND cameraman the entire game.
once developers realized they could settle the "bad camera" issue with 3d games by just outsourcing that labor to the player via the 2nd stick, 3d games changed forever.
@samuelvictor
wait a tic... is this you?
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm3570526/
(ps i think im not doxxing you since you used your real name and this is a public page, right?)
@Woderwick
btw i love Excalibur too, just watched it the other day and almost made Merlin my avatar but i just cant quit the Cos'. 😂
@Woderwick Yes I've recently been educating myself on Cornish language and history, its something I was previously relatively ignorant of but of course shares many links to the Celtic things I've previously obsessed on, it was just a weird blind spot I had accidentally created for myself. My studies into witchcraft, folklore, traditional herbology and similar topics for development of Hazel Witch (the little girl in my avatar, Switch game coming soonish!) lead me to come accross a lot of old Cornish folklore and traditions.
BTW I've nothing against the English side of things at all, its just that to the rest of the world (mostly my American colleagues) the Arthurian legends being seen as quintessentially "English" and Wales itself being mostly unheard of rankles a little when of course the Welsh language stuff existed so long before the English language adaptations. That said, nowadays I mostly live in France and love French culture, language and literature, again, something I'm tryign to immerse myself in and understand more deeply, so I've nothing against Britains Norman influence having mixed with the Celtic!
I have worked on and off with Disney for decades now and I regularly try and persuade them to let me have the rights to the Chronicles of Prydain as they are just sittign on them and not using them. At least they finally made an HD scan of Black Cauldron for Disney Plus.
@-wc- Yes that's me! Its linked on my profile here, I hardly keep it a secret 😅 Nice to see you again btw mate! I've been offline for a little while for a mental health socail media break.
That page only tells a small part of my story, over the years I've also run / co-owned several production and VFX companies that aren't under my personal name for security reasons, and do a lot of ghost/uncredited work "punching up" Hollywood stuff for the major studios. It recently became public knowledge I'd written a famous line in a Star Wars movie and I accidentally went massively viral (3.2 million views & thousands of messages overnight, lots of media coverage) which as someone who suffers from anxiety scared the heck outta me! lol I got to appear at Celebration, and got a book deal out of it though, so its not all bad!
Before I was in film I used to ghost write and produce music for various big name American hip-hop artists too... and I trained in animation with Don Bluth for 2 years, as well as others. I've been blessed to have a very wide ranging career! lol
@-wc-
All hail George Costanza.
@TopazLink
By extra levels, I think they meant the expansion packs, Unfinished Business, Golden Mask & Lost Artifact. The expansion packs are already confirmed via description on Steam.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2478970/Tomb_Raider_IIII_Remastered/
Glad they kept Lara's aesthethic in tact.
Will wait for reviews.
@samuelvictor
My take on the Arthurian legends is that it was a mixed bag of tales from England, Wales and France the have been stitched together and in my opinion the more the merrier.
Artorius was romano-British, Lancelot was French and Merlin was Welsh.
The whole Pendragon thing also draws in the Cornish and I'm part Cornish so it all seems like a big party. Unless you're a peasant.
"Help, help, I'm being oppressed" etc.
@samuelvictor Wow. You’re ‘first place’ sounds amazing. I love it when games can recreate feelings of past times and places, differently for everyone
Is this getting a physical release or is it digital only?
@Woderwick Yes I think that's a good assessment. I love learning about all of this and really "British" culture is one big melting pot... and all the better for it! And I'm also enjoying learning more about the connectiosn between France and the UK, again something I must admit I was embarassingly mostly unaware of other than the very surface level stuff we did at GCSE level... but when I decide to do something, I dive in whole hog, and when I moved to France I felt I should become not only fluent in French but knowledgable of as much of their historical literary canon as possible, as well as things like folk lore etc and its pleasant to discover all the ways we all cross each others path. 😀
I think as mostly Welsh by birth, and passionate about preserving the language, it just overly annoys me when much of the world thinks "England", "Britain" and "The UK" are all the exact same thing, and basically everything is London. 😂 Its understandable though, we're very small. And even though I work there a lot, to me, the USA is mostly California, New York and a very small area of Florida - I have embarassingly little knowledge of everything inbetween. I'm trying to work on improve that.
@Antraxx777 Thank you! Yes I'm very lucky to have gotten success in the entertainment industry when I was a teenager, so I could afford my own small place in a very beautiful area at a young age. It was on a cliff edge looking over the sea, but with a winding path walkable down to the beach - there was a waterfall going over that cliff to the beach below and while I didn't own it, that section of coast was pretty much unreachable by the public for months at a time and I rarely saw anyone there. As someone in the public eye it was an amazing escape from the big cities I worked in. The first movie I ever directed was shot on that beach and its stunning scenery.
Not too long after I became a father, and once my eldest needed to go to school it wasn't practical to live there any more, as it was pretty far away from any proper town/city, but I have many happy memories of my time there, it felt like our own little secret hideaway from the world for myself, my partner and my kids.
This looks pretty sweet. I rented the first game when I was little and didn't get far, so I'm excited to try it out.
Rereleaseing this because latest tomb raider games have not been great, same with re-release of paper mario the latest release did not look great, loved playing tomb raider 1,2 and 3 years ago. I'm not sure if I'll play them again, even tough it's one of my fav games ever. Might buy them, If there is a physical release
@Woderwick the plot from the Sands of Time sequel (Warrior Within) though ... absolutely blew me away... brilliant plottwist
I've only played Tomb Raider on my Dreamcast back in 2001. But I've never knew that Tomb Raider was also Saturn. I think I've played the 2nd one on Dreamcast. EDIT: Scratch that last statement. It was the 4th one. Not the 2nd.
The controls were just...utterly weird for me to grasp. I kid you not. You'd think I'd be dumb enough to go for the Saturn version too.
@-wc- Agreed. I think the level of control you have over Lara is amazing in the original games. You need to be precise and measured, and the levels are built around that. I don't think I've ever, EVER had the controls let me down. If I bungled something up, it was totally down to me. The 'aged like milk' thing I'm seeing bandied about is pretty tone-deaf. Play the tutorial Manor mission in the game, and you'll have every thing you need to succeed. I've always thought Tomb Raider had amazing controls, and my opinion has never changed.
I don't like to hate too much on anything, but I really couldn't stand Anniversary. The controls felt more modern, sure, but having again tried it recently, they are far from dependable. And the levels felt nothing like their original counterparts. It was completely missing the sense of wonder and (mostly) solitude that the original had. Even the music was average, and not at all memorable.
But anyhoo, this was an amazing announcement, and has shot straight to the top of my most wanted list
@AJB83
some of the more creative approaches to navigating in early 3d were less intuitive perhaps, but ultimately well designed and rewarding to master.
i dont consider very many modern 3d games ive played "rewarding to master."
and, i really dont like constantly swinging the camera around with the right stick. ive been playing majoras mask on 64 lately and its just remarkable to me how consistently the camera is pointed exactly where i need it in each situation, and how artful the camera angles are at times. not possible with the modern 2 stick setup.
i realise that some of this is because modern games are larger, have more verticality, and allow the player to see all sides of things (lol,) but i still believe the more economical, experimental era of 3D gaming had value that we have lost along the way, for what its worth.
am i still on topic? its bedtime. ✌️
I grew up with the PC versions, and the keyboard DEFINITELY worked better than controllers. That being said, I'm still nostalgic for the originals, especially the expansions which STILL have not come to Steam.
@HistoricKombat Yep, I knew that's what they meant, it's something I've been asking for in comments sections of other Tomb Raider-related articles on this site.
Very odd they were never added to the original Steam releases. You can download the extra levels from various places and make them playable on PC, at least I managed to back on Windows 7 I think? Haven't tried again since getting Windows 10, but this release makes that a lot easier as it just comes with them built-in.
Which is why I also want the Times Exclusive level added with Revelation and Chronicles, as that level is more of an anomaly and I suspect not as many have played it.
The original Tomb Raider games deserve a proper remaster not this halfway house nonsense. I'd love to play these games again on Switch, but I'm not bothering with these terrible, lazy remakes.
This is one of the biggest videogame characters in history, in one of the most successful game franchises ever created. Sorry, but this "remake" is not even close to worthwhile.
Do it properly or not at all.
I will probably buy these out of nostalgia (and they are of course really good games). I am very happy they included the original graphics!
What i like about playing it on PC, you can play it with only one Hand
@nocdaes
The first one has a Remake
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Me8QPURsDc&pp=ygUXdG9tYiByYWlkZXIgYW5uaXZlcnNhcnk%3D
Genuinely thrilled to play these in 16:9, high fps, with improved visuals, and without messing about with a single mod! I'll be picking it up on Steam, but hopefully the classic series gains some new fans, regardless of which platform they play it on.
Day 1 purchase for me if the controks are updated. They did it with Resident Evil re remakes so no reason why they cant for this
I found the trailer kind of hilarious, showing footage that looked like it hadn't been updated, than screen wiping to footage that barely looked any different. Lara's model was the only thing that noticably looked better to me.
LOL I love everyone defending the controls, because they were god awful, among the worst for 3D platforming. I get they were using the d-pad to navigate 3D areas, but dang they were just atrocious. Considering Mario 64 released at the same time, it really highlighted the Nintendo difference. If they haven't fixed the controls this is a definite no-buy from me.
This is a must-buy for me. I always wanted a more faithful remake of the early Tomb Raider games. The "Tomb Raider Anniversary" remake they did back on the PS2 was pretty good but they changed too much.
Love the budget friendly pricing. Good to see this one is equipped with ballistics.
@TopazLink
You can still download mods to play the expansion packs though the original Steam release are not well compatible on Windows 10 & 11. Tomb Raider 3 still crashes on me despite using Window 10 compatibility mods.
@Jamie64326 Maybe Switch 2 will get the new TR trilogy, whatever hardware it has should be able to run each of them. If it can't, they need to rethink their hardware decisions. Would be a nice follow up to this.
@HistoricKombat Yeah, that's something that's always worried me with PC games, how they can be rendered unplayable through OS changes.
Games deserve to played and preserved, and them being lost to time because some newer hardware/OS can't play them, or licensing problems with IP or music is a tragedy. There's gotta be a better way outside of remakes/remasters for PC games.
@rjejr It'll more than likely can if the reports are true. It's whether Crystal Dynamics/Eidos Montreal/Embracer Group want to do the work and put funding on such ports.
All I care about is playing Tomb Raider II in HD. The Venice levels will be amazing, no doubt.
@TopazLink
That is why physical media and dedicated game consoles exists. You can still run Tomb Raider on Playstation with no issues, you could also do so on PC with a Playstation emulator. Unfortunately, many publishers are slowly doing away physical media.
@Jamie64326 If in year 6/7 Switch can get trilogies of TR, GTA, Batman and who knows what else, Switch 2 should get the new TR trilogy. And maybe the Spyro dark trilogy that nobody liked just because. And the Xenosaga trilogy some day. I'm holding up hope for that last one. 😁
@HistoricKombat @HistoricKombat I still have our PS1 and the Tomb Raider games on there, but when it comes to things like making sure a version has all the extra content, if that content was platform specific, and which version runs better, looks better, or plays better, it gets complicated.
For example Underworld has console exclusive DLC, and Anniversary has some changes or additions depending on what system you play it on. The Classic games have Gold versions and Unfinished business and such, and the completely separate Times Exclusive Level, distributed for PC with The Times newspaper... Then there's the graphics differences as well.
It's a lot and other games will have similar problems too.
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