Tomb Raider (PS1)

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VicViper
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Joined: October 22nd, 2015, 2:36 pm

Re: Tomb Raider (PS1)

Postby VicViper » July 31st, 2020, 1:44 pm

TheEagleXIII wrote:
snakeboy wrote:
TheEagleXIII wrote:I can see why it was always regarded as the best of the original PS1 series, although at times I felt like it held your hand a little too much.


You call this holding your hand too much??? LOL

I don't know, maybe I've become soft by playing games that auto-save your progress every 30 seconds.


To be fair, I grew up playing 3,4 and 5 which were a lot less linear in their level design. I probably spent more time lost, stuck and wandering around than actually playing the game! So going back to the original where it was a bit more straightforward, and it feeling like the save crystals were 'lighting the way', may have made it feel like it held my hand more. :lol:

Maybe that was the wrong expression to use. I usually refer to it fondly as more of a 'My First Tomb Raider Adventure' in comparison to the others ;)

Damn right, 3 & 4 are a lot less linear, 3 in particular is hellishly hard even on PC with unlimited saves, it's borderline unfair in a lot of the adventure, and 4's multilevel... level design is a lot more complex than 1 for sure.

5 though I don't get it, because that one is extremely linear and environments are way more compact than any other TR game. At no point does the level design really branch out that much, except maybe in the submarine levels, but you're still running through corridors.
The only moment where it gets more complex level design is in the VCI Building (last zone of the game), and the last level is so glitched and so poorly designed on PC that you can get softlocked just by the act of saving your game in the wrong place. Heck, it's the only part of any classic Tomb Raider game where you can run out of ammo and being locked into an unwinnable situation.
Augh, sorry. I just finished TR 5 like a month and a half ago, and stuff like this sticks with you. Despite how lazily/poorly designed a lot of the game is, I still think it's the easiest out of the entire classic series, but that last level is a huge headache and trial & error fest.

If I had to rank all classic TR games for personal enjoyment: 2 > 4 > 1 >> 3 >> Angel of Darkness >>>> 5

Cafeman
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Re: Tomb Raider (PS1)

Postby Cafeman » July 31st, 2020, 2:19 pm

I played TR1 on Saturn originally. Then I borrowed my friend's Playstation and TR2 for about a month and played/beat that. Eventually I got my own PS1 , and I got TR3 which I found too hard.

I think I got TR4 - the last revelation - on Dreamcast. I remember some of the dynamic added shadows on the walls kept startling me as I crept around places. by this time I was getting tired of TR. I got Chronicles but didn't enjoy it at all, its probably still in a game wallet somewhere. I never went back and stopped playing TR until TR Anniversary came out which I beat on PS2.

Anniversary is pretty cool, and it looks good on PS2 hardware (I doubt Dreamcast could have done anything near as well). But I've watched videos of the PC version of Anniversary and it looks a lot more clear and high-rez than the PS2 version which is a bit muddy in visual quality in comparison.

I don't recall anything from Anniversary, so as I replay it seems all-new with some familiarity of certain places and scenes. I've beaten Peru, St Francis Folly, and almost all of Egypt - I'm kind of fed up with it again so taking a break. The game is at times identical in design to TR1, but at most times it is an all-new design and stage puzzles. Lara has a grappling hook now, on some levels you can attach it too a hook on a wall, and wall-run to the next platform. The problem is that there are a few instances where you have to wall-run, then leap BACKWARDS off the wall to grab a platform. The Damocles sword room in St Francis Folly is one (I spent like 5 hours trying to beat that one room), and then in Egypt you hit this move requirement again. The problem is that it makes no sense which direction to press the stick to BACK jump - Lara keeps jumping FORWARD and to her death. Thankfully the game does save a checkpoint right before these moves, but it get old - google around and you'll see many reddit and other pages of gamers having problems with this move. I'll tell you how I figured it out - At the end of the wall jump, I'd press quickly left-right-left (with left meaning away from the wall based on camera angle), and finally the game accepted my input. Just pressing left, or down would never work even though you'd think it should. Bad design there.

snakeboy
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Re: Tomb Raider (PS1)

Postby snakeboy » July 31st, 2020, 6:14 pm

Just got past Palace Midas. Thanks to an unfortunate and unexpected death early in playing the level, I was able to easily figure out the puzzle at the end.

While the game is tough, everything so far has felt doable. And the more you play, the more you learn how to deal with the camera and controls. I do hate when you get ambushed by an animal in a tight space, which seems to happen a lot (And does anyone else feel bad about all the animals you kill? I'm pretty sure some of these are endangered! Not cool, Lara!)

I think I'll probably want some more Tomb Raider when I'm done with this one, so today I ordered Tomb Raider Trilogy for the PS3, which includes Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld. I might give TR2 another go also, but I wanted something a little more modern that isn't the more recent cinematic games.

LuckyWDFN
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Re: Tomb Raider (PS1)

Postby LuckyWDFN » July 31st, 2020, 7:14 pm

snakeboy wrote:Just got past Palace Midas. Thanks to an unfortunate and unexpected death early in playing the level, I was able to easily figure out the puzzle at the end.


If you can handle the levers and those early fire jumps at Palace Midas, you can handle pretty much everything the game throws at you going forward. It doesn't get super tough again until the last 2 levels of Egypt. Have fun!

snakeboy
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Re: Tomb Raider (PS1)

Postby snakeboy » July 31st, 2020, 8:30 pm

LuckyWDFN wrote:If you can handle the levers and those early fire jumps at Palace Midas, you can handle pretty much everything the game throws at you going forward. It doesn't get super tough again until the last 2 levels of Egypt. Have fun!


Well, that's good to know. Given that I'm only about halfway through, I was wondering how much harder it could possibly get.

Also, I just took a look at the Critic's reviews for the first three PlayStation games, and the dates on them are 7/15/1999, which means they just turned drinking age a couple weeks ago. Time for some re-reviews?

VicViper
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Re: Tomb Raider (PS1)

Postby VicViper » August 1st, 2020, 1:20 am

snakeboy wrote:
LuckyWDFN wrote:If you can handle the levers and those early fire jumps at Palace Midas, you can handle pretty much everything the game throws at you going forward. It doesn't get super tough again until the last 2 levels of Egypt. Have fun!


Well, that's good to know. Given that I'm only about halfway through, I was wondering how much harder it could possibly get.

Also, I just took a look at the Critic's reviews for the first three PlayStation games, and the dates on them are 7/15/1999, which means they just turned drinking age a couple weeks ago. Time for some re-reviews?

Agreed. 4 is in dire need of a re-review I believe, especially since it was reviewed on DC instead of PS1, and the DC version is kind of a lazy PC port with a few added/amplified effects, but less than stellar controls due to the controller's limitations.
I can't expect a complete 180° since TR4 is a game where you either love it or hate it most of the time, but a bad controller won't help its case.

Speaking of controls, can we talk about the PC version of classic TR games? They play amazingly well with the arrow keys default setup, though I wish my keyboard wouldn't lock up when I try to press up + left + alt gr, seems to depend on the keyboard because I never had that problem with my old one. I'm still surprised why anyone would bother with a controller in the PC versions.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Tomb Raider (PS1)

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 1st, 2020, 9:36 am

Yeah I think some re-reviews are needed. The 1999 dates probably mean I was writing those reviews on memory and they were not fresh in my mind.

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Re: Tomb Raider (PS1)

Postby VideoGameCritic » August 2nd, 2020, 10:24 am

Just played through the first level and the game still holds up! When that music kicks in it really gets your heart racing because you know danger is near!

Although the cut-scenes lack the realistic characters of a modern game, they are actually more fun to watch because they appear more stylized.

In the game Lara's movements are remarkably smooth, and I love the auto aim. In terms of scenery, there's a lot of pixelated repeated patterns but the stages are well designed and the lighting effects really add a lot of atmosphere.

The guess the worst part is the controls. Using the D-pad is awkward and Lara is really only good at running forward. I find myself running into a lot of walls!

I will keep playing and try to update my review.


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