{"id":78506,"date":"2024-04-12T10:25:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T15:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=78506"},"modified":"2024-04-12T10:25:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T15:25:42","slug":"tomb-raider-a-true-cultural-phenomenon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=78506","title":{"rendered":"Tomb Raider: A true cultural phenomenon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By NICK McCOY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, video games are not only a massive industry but one of the most popular and talked about pastimes, being right up there with movies, TV, and music. Numerous discussions have been heard about what the greatest video games of all time are, and people have loud and open discussions about what games they love to play. However, that was not always the case. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, while games were popular, they were considerably more niche, incredibly nerdy and nowhere near as big as the movie and music industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, things slowly began to change. The first game to really spring games into the spotlight was the original \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d thanks in large part to its role in pulling the video game industry out of the dust following the 1983 crash, and would later go on to become arguably the most iconic franchise of all time. There was also, of course, the then phenomenon of having a woman in the lead role, back when female protagonists were considered a significant risk. The first game to accomplish this was \u201cMetroid,\u201d with the reveal that the main protagonist, Samus was, in fact, a woman, being a massive cultural shock. However, while Samus Aran continues to be iconic, there was another video game woman who managed to outshine the others at the time: Lara Croft, alongside her game, \u201cTomb Raider.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t think enough people realize just how massive the original \u201cTomb Raider\u201d was. Lara Croft, while not the first female protagonist, was the first to receive such massive attention. She was on the covers of magazines, featured prominently in advertisements, and was one of the first video game characters to be adapted into film, with 2001\u2019s \u201cLara Croft: Tomb Raider\u201d starring Angelina Jolie. \u201cTomb Raider,\u201d meanwhile, was the first game to really change people\u2019s perception on the medium. It went from a time seemingly only perpetuated by nerdy teenagers to a massive cultural phenomenon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The original \u201cTomb Raider\u201d was developed by now-defunct British studio Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. Although it was first released on the Sega Saturn, its most popular versions were on the original PlayStation and on PCs. Core Designs would continue to work on the series up until the critical flop \u201cTomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness,\u201d where Crystal Dynamics handled the rest of the series. The first \u201cTomb Raider,\u201d meanwhile, became a massive hit and is still considered among the most iconic games of all time.\u00a0<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The \u201cTomb Raider\u201d series, with its many entries, reboots and all, continues to be one of the most beloved and popular franchises, and it all started with the 1996 original. The first \u201cTomb Raider\u201d is still a childhood favorite for many, and one of the most famous games on the original PlayStation. Over time, however, the reception to it has seemingly shifted, with many reviewers deriding it as clunky and not aging well. With all that being said, while \u201cTomb Raider\u201d has certainly aged, it is still, to this day, a great action-adventure title that makes great use of its console limitations, delivering a challenging, thrilling and fun puzzle platforming experience. Above anything, however, it will always be amazing for introducing the world to Lara Croft, who is still one of the greatest female protagonists in gaming, and one of the best video game heroes, period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Release and additional info: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Released in the Fall of 1996 for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, followed by releases for PC and mobile devices. <\/li>
  • Developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive.<\/li>
  • Featured a heavy advertising campaign, mainly focusing on the game\u2019s protagonist, Lara Croft. <\/li>
  • \u201cUnfinished Business\u201d, an expansion pack, was released in 1997. <\/li>
  • The first in the long-running \u201cTomb Raider\u201d series, followed by \u201cTomb Raider II\u201d in 1997.<\/li>
  • A complete remake, titled \u201cTomb Raider Anniversary,\u201d was released in 2007 as part of the first reboot \u201cLegend\u201d trilogy. <\/li>
  • Another reboot developed by Crystal Dynamics, also titled \u201cTomb Raider\u201d, released in 2013<\/li>
  • Remastered, alongside \u201cTomb Raider II\u201d and \u201cTomb Raider III,\u201d in 2024 as part of the \u201cTomb Raider I-III Remastered\u201d collection. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cTomb Raider\u201d follows Lara Croft, a highly skilled British archaeologist and treasure hunter with a mysterious family history. In this game, Croft is hired by Jacqueline Natla, a wealthy businesswoman, to locate the Scion, a mysterious, ancient artifact linked to the city of Atlantis. Croft\u2019s journey takes her to Peru, Greece, Egypt and finally, the alien city of Atlantis, dealing with hostile animals, rival archaeologists and mercenaries, and creatures beyond the human world. The main gameplay sees Lara navigating dangerous dungeons, ancient temples, and of course, Tombs, dodging traps and performing tricky platforming, all while gunning down anything in her way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    While the story is a pretty typical \u201cPoint A to Point B\u201d narrative, it still serves as a great adventure storyline, taking Lara and the player across various parts of the world, each new location unveiling an exciting new challenge and puzzle to complete. It admittedly goes pretty off the rails near the end, going from Peruvian tombs and Egyptian pyramids to a massive alien structure composed of bone and muscle, completely with hostile mummified animals and zombie centaurs. Nevertheless, the first half of the game maintains that sense of pulpy adventure, wearing its \u201cIndiana Jones\u201d influence on its sleeve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But really, the star of the show is Lara Croft herself. She ticks so many boxes on what makes a great protagonist: smart, capable, athletic, tough as nails, and unafraid of getting her hands dirty. She\u2019s also quite witty and never takes herself too seriously, keeping a cool head during her expedition and treating threats with the nonchalance of a woman who\u2019s clearly raided plenty of tombs. This is only amplified by a great voice performance from British actress Shelley Blond. Her attitude and capability make her so much fun to play, and seeing her interact with the game\u2019s antagonists in both pre-rendered and in-game cutscenes hammers this point home. It\u2019s no wonder they keep this original personality and charisma for the \u201cLegend\u201d trilogy, while the 2013 Tomb Raider\u2019s attempts at humanizing and deconstructing Lara, while respectable, were completely needless and didn\u2019t really do anything for the character. All in all, it\u2019s no wonder this classic heroine has left such an impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Lara Croft (pictured from \u201cTomb Raider: Anniversary), a British archaeologist and treasure hunter, serves as the main protagonist of \u201cTomb Raider.\u201d Heavily promoted before the game\u2019s launch, she has since become a cultural icon, and while not the first female protagonist, she\u2019s still a trailblazer for female representation in video games. She has through numerous reiterations over the years due to the series\u2019 many reboots, most notably the Crystal Dynamics \u201cSurvivor\u201d trilogy starting in 2013, but her classic look is still her most iconic and most popular.\u00a0<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gameplay is where things get interesting. Being a game released in 1996, there are many aspects of \u201cTomb Raider\u201d that seem dated by today\u2019s standards. The graphics, for one thing, aren\u2019t much to look at, and the characters are as polygonal as you can imagine. Easily the most contentious part of the main gameplay is Tank Controls: a staple of classic PS1 titles, this control scheme makes it to where your character moves relative to where they\u2019re facing, not where the camera is. It\u2019s most famous implementation is in the original \u201cResident Evil\u201d titles. In the case of \u201cTomb Raider,\u201d pressing forward moves Lara forward, pressing back causes her to walk backwards, and left and right turns her, but does not move her in that direction. People nowadays have a very strong opinion against tank controls, and while they may be hard to get used to at first, I really don\u2019t think this control scheme is as bad as people say. It may seem like a steep hurdle, but you get used to it relatively quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Breaking it down, \u201cTomb Raider\u201d is a puzzle platformer game that mixes tight jumps and tricky gaps with different environmental puzzles. While this may sound incredibly difficult with the aforementioned control scheme, the game makes the most of its limitations. Lara can run, jump, shimmy across ledges, and jump off of multiple surfaces in quick succession, although the last action isn\u2019t used all that much. Navigating the different areas requires using all of these moves to their fullest, and the second you\u2019re able to get the control scheme down, \u201cTomb Raider\u201d is a very fun and rewarding experience. The entire engine works on a grid system, where each movement and placement of objects is divided into squares, and once you grasp this concept, the platforming starts to make a lot more sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The main gameplay loop of \u201cTomb Raider\u201d involves guiding Lara through various temples and tombs, avoiding obstacles and traps. Platforming is a very integral part of the game\u2019s design, and requires understanding of the grid system and Lara\u2019s movement. Making some of the jumps can be a major hurdle at first, and I admit it took me a while to actually get it down. Ultimately, everything comes together to create a really great platforming system that makes jumping and progressing through levels feel so incredibly satisfying. Puzzle solving is also a major design element, usually requiring parts to be moved and keys to be collected, often involving backtracking to find key items. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Combat is also present, with Lara having to fight against various enemies, mainly hostile animal and occasionally human enemies. By default, Lara uses two pistols with unlimited ammo, and automatically locks onto nearby enemies. The pistols don\u2019t do much damage, but are effective against standard enemies. Players can acquire other more powerful weapons throughout the game, including a shotgun, dual magnums and dual submachine guns. However, combat is not the game\u2019s strongest aspect. The tank controls don\u2019t lend themselves to fighting swarms of enemies, especially in the game\u2019s cramped spaces. Combat quickly devolves into just spamming the fire buttons and making sure you have enough medkits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    An action-adventure game with a heavy emphasis on platforming and puzzles, \u201cTomb Raider\u201d sees players navigating Lara through various caves and tombs, avoiding traps and dealing with hostile animals and other creatures, with a few human enemies also present. Lara can run, walk, jump, shimmy and climb across platforms, and can fight enemies using dual pistols and other weapons. The game uses old-school tank controls, and compensates for this with a grid system that tracks how many squares each action takes up on the screen.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Really, the biggest issue present here is just how difficulty works. \u201cTomb Raider\u201d is a very difficult game, but not because of the tank controls, tight platforming or tough combat. The game just straight-up hates you. Core genuinely seemed to have the mentality of wanting to throw everything they could at the player without really thinking about whether or not it was fair to the player. Indeed, there are several traps that are basically impossible to survive unless you know they\u2019re coming beforehand, making for some of the cheapest deaths imaginable. I genuinely can\u2019t think of another game with more unfair deaths than \u201cTomb Raider.\u201d This level of unfair difficulty gets worse as you progress through the game, with the final levels guaranteed to make you pull your hair out with the amount of crap it throws at you. As much as I enjoy this game, there\u2019s no denying this is some awful design choices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Other criticisms: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • Lackluster boss fights<\/li>
    • Unclear level design (A consequence of the time) <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      However, here are some more highlights<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      • A great soundtrack, including the now iconic theme <\/li>
      • Great use of environments for the time <\/li>
      • Impressive scale for a lot of the stages<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        There\u2019s a very good reason why \u201cTomb Raider\u201d was as big as it was. It introduced an iconic heroine, completely changed the landscape of games, and proved to be an excellent action-adventure game on its own. Even with some of its dated elements and absolutely stupid difficulty at times, \u201cTomb Raider\u201d is still a fun title that makes the most of the PlayStation limitations, with fun mechanics that are incredibly rewarding to master. It more than deserves its place in gaming history, as a title that massively changed the industry and as a game on its own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Nick McCoy is a senior at Fort Hays State University, studying digital media and journalism. An avid gamer and music listener, he reviews video games and songs and hosts the radio show \u201cThe Understanding of Nick\u201d for KFHS.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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