The Lara Croft Collection Review (Switch eShop)

First announced back in 2021, and originally due to arrive as part of Tomb Raider's 25th-anniversary celebrations before being delayed, The Lara Croft Collection has finally rappelled its way onto Switch. This pair of spin-offs may not carry the main series' full moniker, but they are resolutely full-blooded Tomb Raider experiences that arrive on Nintendo's console in fine form, give or take a few performance issues and necessary excisions.

Before we dig into the issues, though, let's concentrate on what's great here, as there are plenty of positive things to say about both of these lovingly-crafted isometric adventures. Kicking off with 2010's Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and we vividly remember being pretty blown away by what Crystal Dynamics served us up with this one on ye olde Xbox Arcade all those years ago. With its smaller scale, isometric viewpoint and cooperative gameplay, we were expecting a watered-down bit of tomb-raiding that focused more on fun with friends in a breezy arcade style. However, what we got was a game that could very easily be considered one of Lara's best adventures. (In fact, it's easily in this writer's top three.)

Yep, if you've yet to dig into this 13-year-old gem, do not allow appearances to deceive you. This is a proper outing for Lara, and a game that deftly manages to incorporate satisfying puzzles, excellent platforming, and fun combat into a seven-hour-ish adventure that'll leave you hollering for more. There's a thoroughly addictive quality to the action here, with combat that works on a slick twin-stick system and gives you plenty of classic weapons with which to decimate the various foes that the game's Mayan temples and jungles throw at you.

As the adventure progresses and her arsenal expands, Lara can quickly switch between trademark pistols, machine guns, rifles, a flamethrower, grenade launcher, and even a fancy spear which can kill enemies and create makeshift platforms. She can also drop an unlimited supply of bombs around the environment which can then be triggered at your leisure. There's a steady conveyor belt of upgrades and perks, too, making for a sweet core combat loop that keeps you busy 100% of the time. Add in the game's excellent puzzle design, and plenty of traversal options with dodge rolls, grappling, climbing, and jumping all incorporated into the mix, and you're onto a winner.

In terms of storyline, well, it's total hokum involving magic mirrors, a rampaging demon, and some baddies who are determined to ruin the party. But the great thing about Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is that it's much more focused on just being a really finely-honed arcade game rather than telling some great big bloated tale. It's a far cry from the recent Tomb Raider reboots with their overly-dramatic narratives, then, and all the better for it. Indeed, the most important function of the schlocky story here is to introduce Totec, Lara's brand new partner in crime who'll be played by either the game's AI in solo mode or player two in co-op. In solo mode, we don't see too much of Totec, but add a pal to the mix and he's got a much larger role.

With two players the game cleverly ups the ante, you see, rearranging enemy counts and environmental puzzle elements to maintain a proper challenge, and the constant barrage of mini-challenges, collectibles, fantastical beasties, and cooperative conundrums ensure that it's a non-stop action riot that's good in solo but a real treat when you add a friend.

Unfortunately, it's with co-op that we run into the first of our niggling little issues with this collection as a whole, as online co-operative play has been excised entirely to better suit the capabilities of the platform. It's a sore one, there's no doubt, and an issue that affects the raucous four-player shenanigans of Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris more than it does Guardian of Light. Of course, if you've got enough pals nearby, it's not a problem, but it's still a real shame that the ready supply of partners provided by online multiplayer isn't available in these Switch ports.

Moving onto Temple of Osiris, the 2014 sequel offers up more of the same in a prettier package. This time around, as we mentioned, four-player co-op is supported as Lara et al. descend into an Egyptian adventure that sees you gather up the body parts of Osiris by digging into some classic tomb-raiding which, at its core, plays almost identically to the action found in its isometric predecessor. You'll indulge in plenty of puzzles and twin-stick combat once again here, and the game cleverly weaves in its four-player aspect, giving you grappling hooks, magic platforms, and staffs to play with as you delve into tombs that are, once again, packed full of on-the-fly challenges and loot.

Indeed, it's in terms of loot that this sequel sees its biggest changes beyond a graphical upgrade. Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is packed full of critical and optional tombs, all of which present some combat and puzzles topped off by the opportunity to open a bunch of loot chests. These chests contain shiny gems, rings, and amulets that offer up various boons and boosts which can then be equipped in the game's revised menu system, giving you some added impetus to explore and tick off the various challenges and mini-objectives presented on an exhaustive menu at the start of each tomb.

With regards to weapons and skill sets, it's mostly more of the same, with Lara able to switch out her iconic pistols for submachine guns, rifles, and more as well as making use of a brand new magic staff that's great for melting enemies into the floor and interacting with set aspects of the game's lovingly crafted environs. You can still dodge roll and jump — moves you'll need to become au fait with in order to avoid the many spinning and swirling death traps thrown your way - and, just like the first game, there are plenty of nice run and gun sequences that see you blast across platforms as the world around you crumbles.

In direct comparison to Guardian of Light, Temple of Osiris is a little bit shorter — you can barrel through this one in around five hours if you're focused — and we reckon its puzzles and tombs aren't quite as detailed or clever as those found in the 2010 game. However, this is still a very solid outing overall, especially if you've got pals in tow, and the laundry list of objectives to tick off in tombs gives you great replayability if you're a completionist.

Now, back to those niggling issues, and unfortunately it's with Temple of Osiris that we find ourselves having performance issues that hold this package back from an even higher score below. Where Guardian of Light performs flawlessly on Switch in both docked and handheld modes, its sequel is a slightly rougher ride. There's more of a struggle evident with regards to the game's resolution and you'll see it shift from clear to slightly more blurred as it dynamically attempts to deal with the action onscreen. We've also had fairly regular frame rate blips as the combat ante is upped, with big battles and sequences involving imploding environments proving to be a little too much for the console at times.

None of these issues are huge deal-breakers, let's be clear — it's all still very playable. It never gets unreadably blurry or stutters to the point it's a progress-stalling problem, but the second title is just that bit rougher around the edges. We should also note for total clarity that we only managed time in solo and two-player co-op during our review, with an added player doing nothing to worsen the slight issues we were having, thankfully.

Overall though, apart from the slight performance hiccups and a regrettable lack of online multiplayer support, what we've got here is still a very solid package indeed, and one that gives series fans their first chance to get down to some tomb-raiding with Lara on Nintendo Switch. This is a pair of games that have absolutely stood the test of time. They still play as well as ever, they both look great, and fans of the franchise — and action puzzlers in general — will find a lot to love between the two of them. They're also available at a reasonable price on Switch which, we have to say, helps us forgive the missing online options somewhat. If you're itching for some top-notch Tomb Raider action, you're in for a Lara fun with this collection (please drop me down the nearest spike pit).