A Look back at Tomb Raider: Anniversary

This blog piece originally appeared in my Favourite Tomb Raider games entry.  I thought I would also post it as a single entry.

Tomb Raider Anniversary is the second Tomb Raider game developed by Crystal Dynamics and my second favourite Tomb Raider game of all time.  Tomb Raider Anniversary is a remake of Core Design's original Tomb Raider.  Crystal Dynamics faced a difficult task, it was only their second Tomb Raider and they had to please fans of the original game and also had to adapt the original and translate it for (then) modern audiences.

In my view, they succeed and Anniversary has become my favourite of the Crystal Dynamic Tomb Raider games (with Underworld coming in at a close second place).

Crystal Dynamics improved greatly on many features that were in the original Tomb Raider.  Obviously, the graphics in the remake were greatly improved, puzzles were added in certain levels that did not exist in the original and plat-forming was more intricate.

An example of the improved plat-forming and puzzle solving is the wheel cog puzzle in the Lost Valley area.  In the original game, the player was required to find three cogs by exploring the Lost Valley and then inserting the cogs into a wall in specific area and the game required a switch to be pulled in order to start a contraption - this was great during 1996 when the original game came out, but for would have to be rethought in a modern way for the new game.  The remake took this idea and turned it on its head, by creating a huge environmental puzzle that involved the player finding the cogs, like the original, but also required the player to traverse giant cogs that needed to be switched on to reach the next part and find the rest of the cogs.

Tomb Raider Anniversary had some nice extra features, one of the most notable extras was the Audio Commentary.  After completing the game audio commentary is unlocked;  Toby Gard (part of the team that created Lara Croft on the original Tomb Raider) contributed to the commentary, I found this the most interesting extra in the game.  It was very interesting to hear Gard recount specific things that happened during the development process on the original game and hear about the development process during the remake.