A tomb must need to be raided, because this week we learned that Lara Croft is coming back! That's right, Amazon recently announced that they would be publishing a brand-new Tomb Raider game in the near future. To help celebrate this exciting news, I thought it might be fun to look back at what Electronic Gaming Monthly thought of the Tomb Raider franchise over the years.
Now, in case you're wondering, EGM reviewed a total of 13 games in the long-running series. That pretty much includes everything released between 1996 and 2008, including the sequels, reboots and portable games. Sadly, the Review Crew didn't last long enough to review the most recent trilogy, but almost everything else is represented in this list. So, what we're going to do is countdown the best and worst Tomb Raider games using Electronic Gaming Monthly's own words and scores. There's no editorializing here, we're going to focus on what the critics said back when these games first came out. Grab the buried treasure and join me for another globe-trotting episode of EGM Ranks Tomb Raider.
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (Dreamcast)
#13
"Lara's first appearance on a Sega console since the original Saturn adventure is mediocre to say the least. New to the Dreamcast version is a ton of slowdown, pop-up and fog – now that's just lazy programming. Even players who have somehow remained fans of this series over the past few years will be hard-pressed to find much positive to say about this latest edition. It's a shame, really, since it's easy to see that Core was trying to get back to Lara's roots with The Last Revelation, but ultimately ended up with a perfect reason to go back to the drawing board." (3 out of 10)
Tomb Raider: Chronicles (PlayStation)
#12
"Core made a lot of promises about this game. They said Chronicles would liven up this tired franchise with new play styles. They said it would combine all the things that worked in the previous games. They lied. The game fights you every step of the way, but it's not a good fight. You get too many of the annoying find-the-switch and leap-to-the-right-ledge puzzles that got old three games ago. And the puzzles here seem even more obscure and frustrating that ever. It's just not fun. We were supposed to get Metal Gear Solid-inspired stages at the finale. Instead we just got the same ol', same ol' – except with a few new outfits and moves. Blah." (4.3 out of 10)
Tomb Raider: The Prophecy (Game Boy Advance)
#11
"After a side-scrolling outing on Game Boy Color, Lara Croft returns to handhelds with this top-down adventure, but the change isn't for the better. The new view leeches all the tension out of the platforming elements, making death-defying leaps a breeze. I hoped the puzzles might pick up the slack, but Prophecy is little more than an endless procession of switches. By the end of the first location, I was begging for a few crates to push around. Croft fanatics may want to give Prophecy a shot, but their digital vixen has certainly seen better days." (4.5 out of 10)
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (PlayStation 2)
#10
"You can glimpse Angel of Darkness' potential before even starting the adventure. Just flip to the Extras portion of the Main Menu and watch the game's making-of movie, in which moody Core Design designers crow about what they achieved with this much-delayed PlayStation 2 installment in the blockbuster Tomb Raider series. They ramble about revamped controls, darker characters and questions that'll be answered in later episodes of this planned trilogy. OK, now, just eject the game disc and play it nevermore, lest you risk disappointment with yet another average Tomb Raider installment that – like the last few churned out PS1 sequels before it – fails to deliver on Core's promises." (5 out of 10)
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (PlayStation)
#9
"Brian Wilson once sang, “it's so sad to see a sweet thing die,” and that's exactly what's happened to Lara Croft. True, Tomb Raider 4 is better than Tomb Raider 3, but the game still has major problems. Controls have not evolved; Lara's still a pain to move around, and this becomes especially obvious in certain areas of Tomb Raider 4 where bad controls make you want to snap the disc in half. If Tomb Raider 4 hadn't been rushed out the door, Eidos could have salvaged a game out of this mess." (5.1 out of 10)
Tomb Raider Chronicles (Dreamcast)
#8
"Not even the apparent death of Lara Croft could save unsuspecting gamers the world over from their yearly dose of Tomb Raider. No, God doesn't hate you. It's just that Eidos has a chance to make one last buck on Lara before she jumps to the PS2. The result is a game that feels obviously rushed to market. Comparatively, Chronicles on the Dreamcast isn't nearly so dark as its PlayStation counterpart, which makes it much easier to play, but the simple models look even worse thanks to the cleaner graphics. I still wouldn't consider spending money on this game, but it is a step up from last year." (5.5 out of 10)
Tomb Raider III: Adventures of
Lara Croft (PlayStation)
#7
"I wouldn't go so far as to call Tomb Raider III a misstep for the franchise, it just doesn't have a broad enough leap in graphics or gameplay to get me overly excited about Lara's third outing. Yes, the hi-res visuals are an improvement, but not by much, and some areas are just too dark. Avoid the analog control at all costs, too. It feels like an awkward analog-digital hybrid, and the calibration even glitches at times. In fact, the entire game suffers from little bugs, making me think it was rushed for the holidays. Above all, the 19 levels hold another marathon adventure that'll keep you busy forever." (6.9 out of 10)
Tomb Raider Starring Lara
Croft (Game Boy Color)
#6
"Since Tomb Raider on the PlayStation swiped Prince of Persia's gameplay and stuck it in a 3D world, it only makes sense that Tomb Raider on the Game Boy Color plays just like gold ol' 2D Prince of Persia. And that's a good thing. It means that Lara's adventure here isn't mindless side-scrolling crap like so many other Game Boy Color titles. You'll need to take your time and watch for traps. You'll need to explain the massive levels, track down items and find switches. Lara can pull off nearly all of her PlayStation moves, and that means it'll take you a while to master this version's controls. Some areas are tedious, but Tomb Raider is still a solid – and stellar-looking – Game Boy Color adventure." (7.8 out of 10)
Tomb Raider: Underworld
(PlayStation 2 & Xbox)
#5
"Tomb Raider recently underwent both a renaissance and a redux, so Underworld is seemingly right where it needs to be. For better or worse, it clings tightly to tradition – it's big on exploration and globe-hopping treasure hunting. The absolute best thing about Underworld is that it doesn't take exploration for granted; it's still a subtle breadcrumb trail of handholds and ledges, but it expertly conveys a sense of visual navigation. But the biggest crime of all is its abruptness – after seven levels, it just ends, with a cut-scene that hardly wraps up all of the loose ends. Underworld is an excursion worth taking for fans of low-impact, low-commitment adventuring; I just wanted MORE." (B+ out of A+)
Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PlayStation 2)
#4
"Checking out Lara Croft in the original Tomb Raider today is like looking at the yearbook photo of your acid-washed, feathered-hair high school sweetheart and thinking, “I thought SHE was hot?” But playing the bargain-priced Anniversary is like finding out that ex-girlfriend is now a runway model. This game is beautiful – and it respect your nostalgia with clever reimaginings of famous encounters (like the T-Rex) and puzzles (such as the Sword of Damocles). Control feels lookse – off-kilter leaps killed me more than anything – but I'll take it over the original's rigid grid-based system any day." (8.3 out of 10)
Tomb Raider: Legend
(PlayStation 2 & Xbox)
#3
"When I first booted up Legend, I have to confess that my stomach tensed up, mostly because I was expecting to have a girl fight with Lara to get her to do what I wanted. So, it came as a pleasant surprise to discover that Crystal Dynamics has finally been able to accomplish what former series developer Core never quite figured out – a control scheme that actually responds to what you do. And thanks to these intuitive controls, I could use the conscious part of my brain to concentrate on the fun stuff, which is climbing around and exploring the tombs. However, I didn't like the cliff-hanger ending – I don't like having to wait more than a year for resolutions. But when the next game does come out, rest assured I'll be there to see what happens." (8.3 out of 10)
Tomb Raider II (PlayStation)
#2
"Man, I'm glad this one turned out to be everything we hoped – I mean, we covered it enough. Tomb Raider 2 is simply incredible. It may not be a whole lot different from the first, but if it ain't broke, why fix it? The graphics are still a little rough, but for the levels being as huge as they are, it doesn't matter too much. The “save at any point” feature is the best addition as far as I'm concerned, but the bosses were far less than amazing." (9 out of 10)
Tomb Raider (PlayStation)
#1
"Tomb Raider is the best PlayStation game to date. It's an addictive, sprawling, breathtaking mega-adventure that'll keep you awake and red-eyed till the wee hours. The game's visuals are among the best pumped out by the PlayStation; its subterranean caverns and temples look like the real deal, with cracked columns, rushing rivers and waterfalls. These areas are enormous and filled with traps, secrets, puzzles and creatures. You don't just play this game – you explore it. With its enormous 3D environments, Tomb Raider is the PlayStation's answer to Super Mario 64. It's not quite as good as Nintendo's masterpiece, but it's damn close." (9.1 out of 10)
