Tomb Raider (1996) Review [Sega Saturn] [PlayStation] [Nintendo Switch]

You really can't forget Lara Croft, one of the major action heroines in video games. While she wasn't the first female lead in gaming history, she was one of the most iconic examples due to her inventive and well-designed first outing in 1996. In a time where most female characters in games were either one or two among a mostly male cast (fighting games, Mario 2 [NES]), a protagonist in a small girly product without much notoriety (the NES Barbie game for example) or even a hidden surprise like in Metroid [NES], Tomb Raider stood out because the lead was not only active but the game revolved around her and exalted her, creating the female equivalent of Indiana Jones in the medium. 

It was also one of the most critically successful 3D games with tank controls and full 360 degree movement of its generation. Resident Evil had just debuted a couple of months before but the camera was fixed, the scenarios closed and the gameplay a bit clunky by today's standards. Tomb Raider´s graphics, particularly on the PS1, were also top notch and while blocky they look appealing today in a retro kind of way (in the anniversary edition you can actually change between the newer modernized visuals or the old ones by pressing start).

In the game you play as the audacious archeologist Lara Croft (voiced by Shelley Blond), who is hired by business woman Jacqueline Natla to retrieve different parts of the Scion, an ancient and powerful artifact from Atlantis. Throughout the game you encounter abandoned temples with traps and dangerous creatures bent on killing you, as well as assassins who you must shoot down. But you will be mostly going around platforming and solving puzzles, collecting items and making your way through ancient buildings, ruins, jungles, caves, mines and many other places. 

The empowerment aspect is central to the game, as not only is Lara a more than capable explorer but the villain being female and a big threat is also a riveting aspect of the game. The final fight is tricky but enjoyable to play. Saying anything more would be spoiling the story, but trust me, it's a fun ride.  

Natla, the big baddie.

The gameplay is pretty solid, a third person view with a camera that changes angles accordingly (although you can move the camera as well), which never really becomes bothersome or clunky unless you are intentionally trying to break it or if you are doing something incorrectly. The tank controls feel a bit awkward at first because they are different from the conventional controls of modern gaming but you get used to them rather quickly and soon you internalize the gameplay so much it becomes second-nature.

Lots of traps and turns will make you think twice about rushing through the levels, the game makes you think a decent amount without becoming cryptic or nonsensical, even the strangest puzzles can be solved with just a bit of thought. 

Enemies are placed at strategic points to become a great nuisance when traveling through the levels, none are too powerful or too easy, they are also not very constant so they become a good way to keep things fresh whenever they appear. The weapons are very useful too, you can use shotguns and pistols with higher damage in order to get rid of enemies quickly, but you can also use your regular guns for more of a challenge if you feel like it because it's not impossible to use the weakest weapon for most of the game. It's all well balanced in that regard.

There's also a good amount of ammo and medical packages to keep you well armed and healthy throughout. Not only that, but since a lot of them are hidden the game incentivates and rewards exploration quite effectively. It's an easy game if you know how to play your cards right and if you put some thought into your actions in ways recent games don't really make you do that much. I will say that because of the saving method the anniversary edition is far easier.      

I am not really a big gamer so I needed a bit of help a couple of times but for the vast majority of it things unfolded quite naturally and it felt great trying to solve the levels and finally advancing. 

Tomb Raider was developed by Toby Gard, who after working on the project and thinking about different protagonists finally decided on Lara Croft (originally a hispanic girl named Lara Cruz) and worked on trying to get Lara to move organically and swiftly so players could enjoy playing as her. While Lara was always supposed to look attractive the publicity was too sexed up and represented Lara in a sexualized way that displeased the creator to some extent, making him wanting to become more involved in future representations of the character.

Lara is practically the female James Bond, she is smart, resourceful, competent, capable and with lots of abilities, but she is also upper class, heroic to the max and has a sexy accent. A gentle but intrepid adventuress who kicks butt. Some of the inspirations for her character were everything but conventional for female leads at the time, we have the no brainer that´s Indiana Jones, the rowdy Tank Girl and the action packed movie that's Hard Boiled (1992); so she hardly has much in common with the likes of Barbie or the sex dolls the media likes to sell to male audiences. Lara is much more than eye-candy, which is probably what made her stand the test of time.  

Tomb Raiders inspirations according to her creator.

The simple but engaging story was written by Vicky Arnold, who also polished Lara´s character and created backgrounds for the other characters as well. By her account, Lara is apparently a mix of Ffyona Campbell (long distance walker and hunter-gatherer who became the first person to walk the full length of Africa), Wesley (the main leading guy from the 1987 film The Princess Bride) and the mounted police officer Benton Fraser from the TV show Due South. Another string of somewhat obscure and unconventional influences.

Young writer Vicky Arnold

Semi-influences according to Vicky.

The video game was highly successful and critically praised, even considered to be one of the best videogames of all time by many experts and audiences. Lara became an icon of female empowerment in video games (not without some controversies) and spawned two direct sequels, spin offs, remakes, comics and three feature films we will take a look at some other time.

I completely recommend getting the Anniversary Edition on Switch because of its accessibility and lighter difficulty. I might review the other two games once I complete them but while there are some design differences they play mostly the same from what I can gather.

Don't miss playing as one of the most iconic action girls in media!  

Screenshots taken from Steven3517 and tartancroft