Playstation's Best

Playstation’s Best
Tomb Raider
Core Design | Eidos | 1996 | Action
AUTHOR DAVID CROQUET APTLY described her as
“Indiana Jones in drag.” She had her own magazine in Germany,
appeared in Nike commercials, was portrayed in two
Hollywood films by Angelina Jolie, and served as an international
sex symbol for a decade. She’s been a source of
controversy for her physics-defying body. More impressively,
she’s not real.
Created by Toby Gard and Paul Douglas of small English
developer Core Design, Lara Croft became an international
sensation in the late 90s after the release of her game. Game,
you say? Before the glamour, Lara Croft was simply the
heroine in a game named Tomb Raider, a title that would
inspire as many copycat “3D Action Adventure” titles as
Super Mario Bros. spawned sidescrollers. Released in 1996,
Tomb Raider follows the trail of Lara as she searches the
world for pieces of the Scion, a relic distributed in temples
and caves throughout the world. 15 levels traverse Atlantis,
ancient Rome and the Pyramids, among other locales.
At its heart, the game is simply a platformer. Lara moves
through a series of puzzles, including some infamously frustrating
jumping puzzles, while battling the occasional enemy.
Big breasts alone are not enough to make a game
successful – many titles have featured attractively accoutered
CG women. Tight control, a solid camera and an
entertaining story allowed Tomb Raider to rise to the top.
Though the original appeared on the Saturn as well as Sony’s
system, Tomb Raider and its leading lady became inexorably
linked to the Playstation. Sony inked an exclusivity deal
with Eidos, ensuring that TR2 and TR3 wouldn’t appear on
the N64 or Saturn. 16 million sales later, it’s fair to say that
Sony’s deal paid off.
Soon after Tomb Raider was released, much of the original
team left Core to found a new company, Confounding Factor.
In the absence of the game’s creators, the quality of
further sequels was disappointing. Nonetheless, Tomb
Raider did as much as any other game to broaden the audience
for videogames and make games a true mass market
phenomenon. The box said “Tomb Raider starring Lara
Croft.” And a star she was.