Tomb Raider
I remember playing the demo for Tomb Raider on my PC back when it first came out in the mid-90's. I remember it kinda felt like a tech-demo; I didn't really care too much about completing it and it didn't seem to want me to either. I was really just happy running around, swan-diving off of ledges, holstering and un-holstering my twin pistols. But I did have some serious fun with it.Eventually, when it came out I grabbed a copy for my Sega Saturn. This was a big mistake. Simply because I never did get a save cartridge for it and so everytime played I had to start from the beginning again. So needless to say, I never beat this game. I did get pretty far I though, considering I always had to do it in a single run. If I remember correctly, there were 4 major levels (each quite large) and I had made it into the second one.
I really enjoyed this game. It was definitely one of my favourite 'next-gen' games at the time. It was a terrific new property. I was a huge Indiana Jones fan at the time and it was great to see something with a similar but modern feel. Lara Croft felt like Indy with guns, but didn't feel as shallow as someone just adding guns and boobs to Indiana Jones either. It was all it's own, and Lara's character was solid and definitely went places as the sequels moved on. I loved all the esthetics; everything from the design of the item screen to the design of Lara herself. But man, this game was tough. It had a real Prince of Persia style of level layout which required you to make sure you hit your runs and jumps perfectly or find yourself plummeting to the bottom of a 40 meter climb you just spent the last 15 minutes scaling. I also remember helping my uncle pass a few puzzle sections on his copy for the PC. I also remember there was a part where you found yourself fighting a Tyrannosaurus Rex. (For real.) And my uncle had found a section of the level where it couldn't touch you, so he had placed a book on the fire key, and walked away for an hour only to return to a dead T-Rex. (I can't remember if you were actually supposed to kill him or not.) I hadn't thought of something like that since I used to use my foot to play second player on Forgotten Worlds for Genesis.
The series has had a long run so far. Still putting out sequels for almost 20 years now. I'm always a little amazed that such a good game came out of that case. I mean, that design (those boobs) really looks like it's covering up for a real budget game. But turns out it's an awesome game with an unfortunate character design that had dragged on from the early years of gaming and it's designed-for-boys-and-men ideals. I'm glad to see they've really modernised and cleaned up the character as well as the game. I've heard the most recent installment of the series is terrific and I have no real idea why I haven't tried it yet. (Oh right, I have about 20 other games to play still.)
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