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Guess what, it's Throwback Thursday and today we're diving into the beginnings of a legendary saga that is still alive and well to this day. It's also one of the games that recently received exclusive free goodies, including renders and screenshots, thanks to the The Video Game History Foundation, and none other than the fabled Tomb Raider series!

Released between 1996 and 1998, to critical acclaim, the original Tomb Raider trilogy introduced the world to one of its most famous protagonists. Lara Croft, the fearless archaeologist-adventurer, invited millions of gamers to follow her on her adventures, mixing platforms, puzzle, and shooting with dedicated mechanics for each, through an array of diverse locations, from Peru to Tibet, to solve mythical intrigues. Is there really more to say about one of the most successful series of all time? Well, find out at least why our very own Tania has such fond memories of the games!



Recommended by Tania, Sales Team:


[i]My journey with Lara started for the first time at my friend’s house, during summer vacation. I remember she had Tomb Raider III, and it was pretty amazing, as well as quite emotional for a kid.
After coming back I was nagging my parents to get a Tomb Raider game too, as I had my first very own computer back then. They managed to find Tomb Raider II at the (in)famous 10th-Anniversary Stadium in Warsaw and I had a blast playing it too, although it always pained me when I had to fight the doggos in the game, poor souls!
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Crosmando: Modern Lara is almost flat-chested, it's a crime against humanity.
https://twitter.com/VascoSilva92/status/1494116014702923777

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Mr.Mumbles: Well, at least she won't poke your eyes out with ye olde pointy triangle tits. ;)
true, though the 3D model renders looked softer ;)

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idbeholdME: Tomb Raider 1: Unfinished Business. 2 chapters with 2 levels each. 4 levels total. Wishlist link.
Tomb Raider 2: The Golden Mask. 4 levels + 1 bonus level. 5 levels total. Wishlist link.
Tomb Raider 3: The Lost Artifact. 6 levels total. Wishlist link.
that'd be great, though I assume there are serious legal issues or we'd have them by now. I did get The Lost Artifact from an archive site, and - iirc - aside from a saving issue I had to fix (don't remember what I did though), it played fine at least on my Win7 machine.

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BenCrichton78: Isn't the original Tomb Raider series actually a Tetralogy (with two executive mandated entries afterwards)?
I think Sat42 is correct.

Personally I associate the first 6 games (1-AoD) together, but I think Revelation, Chronicle, and AoD are the ones actually connected (even if loosely). Angel of Darkness is missing the explanation of an important plot point from Revelation, the cutscene of which was just released a few years back iirc.

It's funny, Last Revelation seems to get a lot of praise but it might be my least favorite TR game, having played all 6. The backtracking weirded me out. also I'm guessing nostalgia for III helps me.
Post edited February 19, 2022 by tfishell
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tfishell: that'd be great, though I assume there are serious legal issues or we'd have them by now. I did get The Lost Artifact from an archive site, and - iirc - aside from a saving issue I had to fix (don't remember what I did though), it played fine at least on my Win7 machine.
Well, as I said, Cenega (a czech distribution company), managed to include them in the "Ultimate Edition" box release:
https://cdn.electroworld.cz/images/img-large/6/344266.jpg

It includes TR 1 - Underworld with all the add-ons. Funny thing is, it's not even mentioned on the box. So I was very nicely surprised when I found out that it did include them AND that it did not require Steam activation.

So obviously not completely impossible, but I think this release was exclusive mabybe for the V4 countries, if even that. Could have been just Czech Republic and Slovakia.

As Cenega has long been owned by 1C Company, one of them must have managed to work it out.
Post edited February 19, 2022 by idbeholdME
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idbeholdME: Also, as people are asking for the remaining Tomb Raider games, don't forget about the addons for the first 3 games, which are still not available anywhere digitally (legally at least). They were included in the Ultimate Edition box release (which I have) but would be nice if they could potentially be added too. Specifically:

Tomb Raider 1: Unfinished Business. 2 chapters with 2 levels each. 4 levels total. Wishlist link.
Tomb Raider 2: The Golden Mask. 4 levels + 1 bonus level. 5 levels total. Wishlist link.
Tomb Raider 3: The Lost Artifact. 6 levels total. Wishlist link.
Indeed, and it would be nice to get them legit here. I can only imagine how many folk have gotten them otherwise by now.
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tfishell: that'd be great, though I assume there are serious legal issues or we'd have them by now. I did get The Lost Artifact from an archive site, and - iirc - aside from a saving issue I had to fix (don't remember what I did though), it played fine at least on my Win7 machine.
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idbeholdME: Well, as I said, Cenega (a czech distribution company), managed to include them in the "Ultimate Edition" box release:
https://cdn.electroworld.cz/images/img-large/6/344266.jpg

It includes TR 1 - Underworld with all the add-ons. Funny thing is, it's not even mentioned on the box. So I was very nicely surprised when I found out that it did include them AND that it did not require Steam activation.

So obviously not completely impossible, but I think this release was exclusive mabybe for the V4 countries, if even that. Could have been just Czech Republic and Slovakia.

As Cenega has long been owned by 1C Company, one of them must have managed to work it out.
If the add-ons in question were not mentioned on the box, then they might have been added to the collection "illegally". Not that I am complaining. Who cares about over 20 year old expansions to classics which, for their part, are available legally, but hardly relevant commercially? A local physical release in Eastern Europe may have more chance of escaping the scrutiny of high flying lawyers who have frankly bigger fish to fry.
I've had lots of fun with the older TR games, though the first two in the series are the ones that I hold dear. The sense of adventure & exploration is great, the level design is great even if at times it doesn't make much sense, even the tutorial-house levels kept me entertained. As for the gameplay, maybe I'm in the minority here but I still find the tank controls enjoyable (the same applies to the early RE games).

I can't say the same about the latest modern TR game that appeared here, which proved to be a major disappointment for me mainly due to the implementation of QTEs as a gameplay element (who thought that spamming QTEs was a good idea?), the overly scripted gameplay & movement as well as the narrow FOV and shaky cinematography that makes it a nauseous experience. I won't hide the fact that it looked great, but it wasn't fun for me so I dropped it less than an hour in... YMMV and all that of course.
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Vythonaut: I've had lots of fun with the older TR games, though the first two in the series are the ones that I hold dear. The sense of adventure & exploration is great, the level design is great even if at times it doesn't make much sense, even the tutorial-house levels kept me entertained. As for the gameplay, maybe I'm in the minority here but I still find the tank controls enjoyable (the same applies to the early RE games).

I can't say the same about the latest modern TR game that appeared here, which proved to be a major disappointment for me mainly due to the implementation of QTEs as a gameplay element (who thought that spamming QTEs was a good idea?), the overly scripted gameplay & movement as well as the narrow FOV and shaky cinematography that makes it a nauseous experience. I won't hide the fact that it looked great, but it wasn't fun for me so I dropped it less than an hour in... YMMV and all that of course.
Atleast the QTEs has a decent window of time for input and room for error unlike several other ones I have played where you pratically need a turbo controller to get past em when we are talking the button press quickly GTE sort. Which I still am shocked I hear those harsh unforgiving ones a person practically needs a turbo controler or when not the button press sort need god like reflex's n hand eye coordination yo get through.. is in current modern games still
Post edited February 19, 2022 by BanditKeith2
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Sat42: If the add-ons in question were not mentioned on the box, then they might have been added to the collection "illegally". Not that I am complaining. Who cares about over 20 year old expansions to classics which, for their part, are available legally, but hardly relevant commercially? A local physical release in Eastern Europe may have more chance of escaping the scrutiny of high flying lawyers who have frankly bigger fish to fry.
They are not mentioned on the front, but the description on the back says that it includes "All parts of the series, including the latest one: Tomb Raider Underworld, in one package". And also "The latest, updated versions of all the games". One could interpret that as including everything, even the add-ons.

I doubt it being illegal. It has Crystal Dynamics and Eidos logos on it.

As far as copyright goes, it says "Tomb Raider Ultimate Edition © 2012 Square Enix Ltd. Processed by Crystal Dynamics Inc. Released by Square Enix Ltd."

Cenega was just the distributor. This was 100% approved by CD and or SE.

EDIT:
Just checked the installer and found out why the add-ons are there. Because the versions of the games on the disc are Tomb Raider 1 Gold and Tomb Raider 2 Gold. The Gold editions always included the bonus levels. Interestingly enough, the "Gold" name was used in the US. Elsewhere, it did come out under the names of Tomb Raider: Unfinished Business and Tomb Raider II: Golden Mask. It could be that there is a rights problem with the non-US version (entirely possible if it was published by some other company).

Only the Lost Artifact for Tomb Raider 3 is there separately. Here is a screenshot of the installer:
Attachments:
installer.jpg (175 Kb)
Post edited February 19, 2022 by idbeholdME
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Sat42: If the add-ons in question were not mentioned on the box, then they might have been added to the collection "illegally". Not that I am complaining. Who cares about over 20 year old expansions to classics which, for their part, are available legally, but hardly relevant commercially? A local physical release in Eastern Europe may have more chance of escaping the scrutiny of high flying lawyers who have frankly bigger fish to fry.
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idbeholdME: They are not mentioned on the front, but the description on the back says that it includes "All parts of the series, including the latest one: Tomb Raider Underworld, in one package". And also "The latest, updated versions of all the games". One could interpret that as including everything, even the add-ons.

I doubt it being illegal. It has Crystal Dynamics and Eidos logos on it.

As far as copyright goes, it says "Tomb Raider Ultimate Edition © 2012 Square Enix Ltd. Processed by Crystal Dynamics Inc. Released by Square Enix Ltd."

Cenega was just the distributor. This was 100% approved by CD and or SE.

EDIT:
Just checked the installer and found out why the add-ons are there. Because the versions of the games on the disc are Tomb Raider 1 Gold and Tomb Raider 2 Gold. The Gold editions always included the bonus levels. Interestingly enough, the "Gold" name was used in the US. Elsewhere, it did come out under the names of Tomb Raider: Unfinished Business and Tomb Raider II: Golden Mask. It could be that there is a rights problem with the non-US version (entirely possible if it was published by some other company).

Only the Lost Artifact for Tomb Raider 3 is there separately. Here is a screenshot of the installer:
Thanks for the detailed reply! This collection is pretty awesome then - if only some relevant people could have a look at it, it's from the modern era so I'm sure it would help clear a path to a digital re-release of the missing add-on material.
P.S. your screenshot doesn't show options for installing Legend and Underworld - are those separate disks?
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idbeholdME: So obviously not completely impossible, but I think this release was exclusive mabybe for the V4 countries, if even that. Could have been just Czech Republic and Slovakia.

As Cenega has long been owned by 1C Company, one of them must have managed to work it out.
It was available in Poland too (now second hand only), so probably everywhere Cenega operated.
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BanditKeith2: Atleast the QTEs has a decent window of time for input and room for error unlike several other ones I have played where you pratically need a turbo controller to get past em when we are talking the button press quickly GTE sort.
Wow, and I thought the ones in TR were fast... When I read that a game has QTEs I normally avoid it. I don't know what I was thinking here, because I knew beforehand that TR is like that -- I guess I wasn't prepared for an overabundance of them.

In any case, what aggravated me the most regarding TR QTEs was not only the small time window, but also that every time it was a different key/sequence to be pressed. This and the rest that I've described above killed all the fun for me. *sigh*
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BanditKeith2: Atleast the QTEs has a decent window of time for input and room for error unlike several other ones I have played where you pratically need a turbo controller to get past em when we are talking the button press quickly GTE sort.
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Vythonaut: Wow, and I thought the ones in TR were fast... When I read that a game has QTEs I normally avoid it. I don't know what I was thinking here, because I knew beforehand that TR is like that -- I guess I wasn't prepared for an overabundance of them.

In any case, what aggravated me the most regarding TR QTEs was not only the small time window, but also that every time it was a different key/sequence to be pressed. This and the rest that I've described above killed all the fun for me. *sigh*
I was unaware the reboot had em so was put off when I found out till aware they aren't the fast as heck kind or the ones you need to press so fast to get past or die hell I still have a ps2 game I haven't finished as it has a legit GTE still thing with a enemy that after you encounter it these enemys are in the levels as regular enemys you need to GTE each time .. to get free of or the charaters head gets bit off or ther things killing you .. But ya the GTE mechanics in any game is a menace but it seems from what I have heard QTE game mechanics has all but went the way of the dodo with onl afew here and there still happening .. Personally I hate the GTE matters and con't stand em where as the mechanic one has to hold a button or whatever down to do something while annoying atleast is a tolerable mechanic as there is not button timing going on
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Sat42: P.S. your screenshot doesn't show options for installing Legend and Underworld - are those separate disks?
Yes, it contains 3 disks total.

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idbeholdME: So obviously not completely impossible, but I think this release was exclusive mabybe for the V4 countries, if even that. Could have been just Czech Republic and Slovakia.

As Cenega has long been owned by 1C Company, one of them must have managed to work it out.
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ssling: It was available in Poland too (now second hand only), so probably everywhere Cenega operated.
Yeah, it must have been:
a) Polish is a language option in the installer.
b) The disk has the label "Dysk 1/3", and I assume dysk is disk in polish.
low rated
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wolfsite: Is it okay to take this as a hint that more Tomb Raider Games are coming?

-Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
-Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
-Rise of the Tomb Raider
-Shadow of the Tomb Raider

just being hopeful.
None of the Nu-Lara games are worth playing anyway.
low rated
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wolfsite: Is it okay to take this as a hint that more Tomb Raider Games are coming?

-Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
-Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
-Rise of the Tomb Raider
-Shadow of the Tomb Raider

just being hopeful.
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Crosmando: None of the Nu-Lara games are worth playing anyway.
Good point.
Each Christmas was almost a tradition, play one Lara Croft´s game with cousins and brothers, never finished none of them although played A LOT of hours, but played from first until Last Revelation, mostly originals on PC and PS. The best for me was 2 and 4. I still keep these two games and the Unfinished Business of the first game on big box. It was amazing all the movements you can do with Lara, and with the two guns killing animals in danger of extinction ;)