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Re: 2020/8/16: Playstation: Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II, Tomb Raider III

Posted: August 17th, 2020, 9:29 am
by Retro STrife
TheEagleXIII wrote:I never realised before there’s no reviews for TLR and Chroncles. Be interesting to see you tackle them too.


You're in luck - check out his Dreamcast reviews. Judging by his feelings on the DC versions, it might be hard to find motivation for the PS1 versions. Only so much punishment one man can take...

TheEagleXIII wrote:Lara definitely helped the series reputation, but the over-sexualised nature of her in marketing was never the original intention. .... But having a female lead adds more than just sex appeal. Sure it made the game stand out for the right reasons and... more questionable reasons too, but the game design was still groundbreaking for the time.


I agree with you fully on your points about Lara as a character. If I was making a list of Best Video Game Characters Ever, I'd have Lara Croft in the Top 10 for sure. (P.S. VGC.. there's another list idea for you!) Lara helped encourage the inclusion of strong female leads in video games, and transcended the games themselves by becoming mainstream in popular culture. And you make a good point about the gracefulness of her as a character and in her exploration/platforming, where the gameplay just wouldn't have worked the same with a male character. A good character adds a lot to a game, just like it does to a movie or TV show, so I guess you're right that my argument there could be made about a lot of classic games.

TheEagleXIII wrote:I understand the games don’t appeal to everyone, but your experience with III may not have helped. I played the first 3 in succession last year and was loving the experience until the third game. I was planning to do all 5 back-to-back but III was so unenjoyable that it put a halt to that plan.


I think you're right that I'd have better memories if I beat TR1 or TR2 growing up, instead of focusing on TR3. I got my PS1 in 1998 and, like a typical kid, I assumed that the latest game must be the best. But I will say that I also found TR1 and TR2 frustrating to play when I tried them out back then. I found the levels confusing and the deaths too cheap and easy. That opinion didn't change when I replayed them last week. In TR1, I was making good progress until I was just about to touch the first save crystal.. then I fell off a ledge due to the clumsy platforming controls, only to be mauled to death by the bear below. Then in TR2, I was making good progress for 30 minutes, only to have a floor crumble beneath me and get spiked by an insta-death trap. I didn't realize you could save at anytime so my progress was lost. In 1998, I'd jump right back in and try to master the levels, but in 2020, ain't nobody got time for that.

Re: 2020/8/16: Playstation: Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II, Tomb Raider III

Posted: August 17th, 2020, 7:00 pm
by jon
This really was a time when the landscape of video games was changing. The fact that no one could counter with any kind of fun game at all besides the 4th gen system really shows how bad it was. This is when it gets to what I like to say the PS1 against 3 N64 games era. It was good to be into computer games at this time up until around 2000.

Re: 2020/8/16: Playstation: Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II, Tomb Raider III

Posted: August 18th, 2020, 3:44 am
by TheEagleXIII
Retro STrife wrote:You’re in luck - check out his Dreamcast reviews. Judging by his feelings on the DC versions, it might be hard to find motivation for the PS1 versions. Only so much punishment one man can take...


Thanks for the heads up, I’ll check those out. I always forget they got a Dreamcast release!

Retro STrife wrote:I think you're right that I'd have better memories if I beat TR1 or TR2 growing up, instead of focusing on TR3. I got my PS1 in 1998 and, like a typical kid, I assumed that the latest game must be the best.


I was exactly the same. :lol:

TRL was my first exposure to the franchise, that’s probably why I hardly played 2 or 3 and never checked out the first one - how could it be better when it was so outdated Lara didn’t even have her braided ponytail!!

Re: 2020/8/16: Playstation: Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II, Tomb Raider III

Posted: August 18th, 2020, 5:40 pm
by Mati
The atmosphere in TR1 is without peer with its lonely/haunting music that always kicks in at the right time. The music in its sequels lost some of the flavor of the original game, and as I return to it more and more I develop more and more appreciation for it. Getting lost in ancient ruins totally alone never sounded so good.

Re: 2020/8/16: Playstation: Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II, Tomb Raider III

Posted: January 18th, 2022, 10:45 am
by Cafeman
Bump.

I have been in a PlayStation mood this frosty January, and after playing through Crash Team Racing to 100%, I decided to try Tomb Raider III again, after many years of ignoring it. I love TR1 and enjoyed Anniversary, and I have fond memories of TR2.

So far, I realize that I don't recognize much from TR3's first jungle levels. I also realized, this game sucks! It looks worse and plays worse than I previously thought. I read reviews saying 3 has better graphics that 1 and 2! Nuh uh! No. It's a choppy pixelated mess. It is heavily light sourced though, but that does not make it look better when the textures are mostly pixel soup. And the gameplay! Wow, I'm experienced with these 90s games and I'm having a hard time figuring out where to go already in the early levels. I wish they would recreate TR2 and 3 with new visuals and more fair controls like they did with TR1 in Anniversary.

That's all I got for now, I'll probably play some more tonight because I don't deserve to play good games. :)