Classic Lara Croft returns with ‘Tomb Raider I-III Remastered’ | Video Game Odyssey

The original “Tomb Raider” games turned Lara Croft into an iconic character in the ’90s. As the series has gone through changes, longtime fans have contested that the old trilogy is still the peak of the series. Now that “Tomb Raider I-III Remastered” is out, gamers can go back to that fabled trilogy.

The games star Lara Croft, an experienced treasure hunter who travels the globe searching for rare and legendary artifacts. The original games were innovative in the new wave of 3D action games. As the name implies, this new package features remastered graphics and updated controls while retaining the same levels and core gameplay elements.

Anyone new to these older titles is going to want to get oriented to the controls as Lara’s movement definitely shows its age. The basics of running and jumping are easy enough, but making precise jumps or ones across a large gap can be a pain. Even with the updated control scheme, things like platforming and working the camera remind you that the game is around 30 years old.

Puzzles are also a mixed bag. Some are intuitive and have clever designs, while others are obtuse and will have you banging your head on a wall while trying to figure them out. It’s one of those games where sometimes the solution to a seemingly complex puzzle was so simple that the game makes you feel stupid.

Combat is another dated aspect of the games. Even though shooting enemies with Lara’s twin pistols has its charms, it often feels like there’s no finesse or strategy to it. A lot of enemies are animals or creatures that will just charge at the player, so fights often devolve into awkward dances until someone dies.

While these games were groundbreaking in their time, I can’t say that they’ve held up well. It seems like the developers of the originals were so focused on the innovation of combining so many gameplay elements that the polish needed to make them all work was secondary. It’s a shame because the core concepts and varied locales are great.

Playing through these games made me wish a studio would do a full-on remake of the trilogy. The fresh coat of paint is nice, but it’s not enough to bring the games up to a modern standard. If you played them back in the day, then you’re getting a good remaster for a solid price, but it feels too dated for most newcomers.

Since the games don’t do a great job of conveying certain things, it makes using a guide feel mandatory if you’re a first-time player. It makes going through the games a lot smoother so the player can actually appreciate the better aspects of the trilogy. Another cool feature is the ability to swap between the original graphics and the remastered look on the fly.

While I can appreciate what these games did for the industry in the past, these remastered titles bring too much baggage. Those who have played these games already shouldn’t have as many issues going back to them, and it’ll be a nice nostalgia trip. I just wish more was done to polish the platforming and combat. “Tomb Raider I-III Remastered” earns three stars out of five.