There are so many great games out in the world to be digested by individuals. Some games have many memorable moments that can stay with us for a long time in a similar way to certain pieces of art, books, music or film. What make games special is they have the unique ability to allow a person to interact with the story and the world in ways that other mediums cannot. Games like 'Life is Strange' and 'Until Dawn' allow the audience members to participate in a story that has branching narrative paths, which mean many people's experiences can differ in the same title. It can create that water cooler effect where people can talk about the same title and have an interesting discussion about their own unique experiences. Even games without branching narrative paths can create some impactful memorable moments, which can affect us all uniquely. As Lara Croft and Tomb Raider are celebrating their 20th year entertaining fans then what better time to go back to the original title and take a walk down memory lane. Let me take you back to a short moment, but a very memorable one at that, to the first time I played Tomb Raider and encountered the infamous Torso boss. Tomb Raider was the first fully 3D game I ever immersed myself in and as such the whole game is full of memorable moments, but for now let me just briefly tell you about the first time I encountered the Torso boss ...

There are so many great games out in the world to be digested by individuals.  Some games have many memorable moments that can stay with us for a long time in a similar way to certain pieces of art, books, music or film.  What make games special is they have the unique ability to allow a person to interact with the story and the world in ways that other mediums cannot.  Games like 'Life is Strange' and 'Until Dawn' allow the audience members to participate in a story that has branching narrative paths, which mean many people's experiences can differ in the same title.  It can create that water cooler effect where people can talk about the same title and have an interesting discussion about their own unique experiences.  Even games without branching narrative paths can create some impactful memorable moments, which can affect us all uniquely.

As Lara Croft and Tomb Raider are celebrating their 20th year entertaining fans then what better time to go back to the original title and take a walk down memory lane.  Let me take you back to a short moment, but a very memorable one at that, to the first time I played Tomb Raider and encountered the infamous Torso boss.  Tomb Raider was the first fully 3D game I ever immersed myself in and as such the whole game is full of memorable moments, but for now let me just briefly tell you about the first time I encountered the Torso boss ...

Moment: The Torso Boss

Format played on: Sega Saturn

The walls of the boss room were covered in flesh and appeared to be feeding life into a monstrous incubating egg that hung high up on the wall above what appeared to be the only exit. I wondered to myself: "So, I just have to walk though that door, well that seems easy enough".   I did not even have to time to approach the door as all of a sudden before I could even think properly there was a large booming explosive sound and some horrific creature had hatched out of the egg and immediately I was thrown into battle.   The huge creature was missing it's lower half and could only maneuver across terrain with its seemly unending grotesque arms.  Right on Que Nathan McCree's excellent music started to roar and panic started to engulf my mind.  If I stayed too close to my enemy the creature would grab me with one claw and smash me on the ground like a baby playing with a rag doll.  However, if I ventured too far, then the I could fall off the ledge and face a long plummet into the pit of molten lava that lay beneath.  When the I finally defeated the creature it took a few seconds for it to fall to the ground, which I should have taken as a hint to stay back as the creature would explode in a final act of defiance!  I was low on health and was caught in the explosion and I was defeated even though it looked like I had won.  So I had to restart the encounter and keep my distance for the next time.  It felt like a cruel joke that the designers had implemented by making the boss explode upon defeat, but it made for a very memorable moment and I would not have it any other way.

The first Tomb Raider will always hold a special place in my heart, so here's to the next 20 years.