Press back and she'll backflip and somersault behind. Press right or left and Lara will somersault stylishly from side to side, wheeling her legs up and over to land with perfect form. Press jump and forward and Lara will spring forth, back straight, arms swinging and knees lightly bent. With tank controls, this process all feels very familiar. Ah, yes, that classic 'jump' button, which is different depending on whether you opt for tank or modern controls. Anyway, as you approach the crash mat, Lara's voiceover tells you it's time to do some tumbling, and that you should try pressing jump followed by a direction button to try out all the different ways she can flip through the air. In Tomb Raider 1, the first room you come to is Lara's music room, though given the ratio of instruments to the all-encompassing gymnasium crash mat taking up 90% of the floor space, I'd say it's more workout space than music room. Well, as clear as it can when it's breezily telling you to 'press the jump button' or 'use the action button' without ever telling you what those buttons are, until you look it up in the control menu. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Įach game's tutorial, a dedicated space in the game's menu screen called Lara's Home, makes this abundantly clear. It was a grid that was ultimately tailor made for its tank controls, and the modern control scheme shatters that framework so completely that I'm honestly surprised anyone allowed it past QA. Their levels were all built around this interlocking web of squares and right angles, and the chasm-like jumps and run-ups that you have to perform were all measured out with pixel perfect precision. That's partly because the 90s Tomb Raiders are really games about invisible grids.
Not only was she easier to move about, but it drastically reduced the margin for error.
Once I'd weaned myself off reaching for the analogue stick on my controller, I found that controlling Lara via the d-pad was infinitely better. Rather, it's the inevitable friction of trying to haul Lara around in just the four main cardinal directions, because walking around in curves isn't really how things work here. It's not that its platforming is now so old and fusty that it feels like one of Lara's museum pieces from another era - though there is an element of that. I think I'll just live in the lake from now on, to be honest. 90s Tomb Raider, is a whole different kettle of fish, and one that even I had a hard time digesting in the cold light of 2024. You'll have a much better time, I promise. Go and play Crystal Dynamics' more recent trilogy from 2013 instead, or better yet, 2008's excellent and underrated Tomb Raider Underworld. In truth, I'd probably say that anyone who's curious about this old Tomb Raider collection, but never played them originally, shouldn't go anywhere near it at all. I implore you, do not go anywhere near them, for your own sake as well as Lara's. They are utterly maddening, and the antithesis of everything Tomb Raider stands for. The modern controls are bad, plain and simple, and are as much an enemy to Tomb Raider's incredibly precise mode of 3D platforming as the tigers and wolves that stalk its trap-filled catacombs. The original tank controls are by far and away the best (and only real) option for going back and experiencing Lara's OG adventures from the late 90s, and I'm not just saying that out of nostalgia. Do not, for the love of all that's ancient and holy, play this game with its newly-added modern control scheme. Readers, consider this is a public service announcement for (deep breath) Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Trilogy Starring Lara Croft.