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Old 12-02-20, 20:09   #11
ANoDE
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If I remember correctly, I stumbled upon Tomb Raider in 1998. My mom got me 'Gold Games III' - a game collection containing more than 20 games. My usual genre of preference was graphical adventures back then - so I played 'Jack Orlando' first of course. When I was done with it, I was mindlessly browsing through the discs until I finally reached the last one. It had an interesting title printed onto it: "Tomb Raider". That sounded fun, so I installed and loaded up the game.

I was immediately hooked. The graphics were amazing for the time, and although the controls and gameplay were new to me, it was fairly easy to master them and dive into this beautiful world (literally). Lara's acrobatic movement, her ruthlessnes and the mysterious caves she started her adventure in immediately draw me into it's world. I fell in love with that strong, powerful woman who didn't seem to give a crap about anything and mastered the most unbelievably situations. My colleagues and me would discuss our progress during breaks at school and I actually connected to some of them through our love for this game.

I owe Lara Croft and Tomb Raider many happy hours in an otherwise dire and depressing time of my life and I'm really thankful for it to exist.
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Old 13-02-20, 22:56   #12
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My younger brother played it back in 1996.
The first thing I saw was this female character shooting the breeze out of some wolves at the end of the first level.

At first I thought the game was just another one of those shooter games, but darn did this one look good or what!?
And the game wasn't all about shooting either. It was about exploring, some puzzles, interesting locations and such.

So I started watching him play the game and we finished it together with him playing and me watching, commenting and helping to find the way.
We did not understand the story because his ripped copy did not have audio or FMV's, but that did not matter much to us. We liked the ingame action!

We did the same with TR2 and it wasn't untill we had finished TR2 that I tried to play it myself. Which I obviously liked doing. (even though I kept running into walls because I couldn't control the controls. )

I bought TR1 on disk a couple of years later to have a proper legal copy.
The box also included the Gold levels.
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Old 14-02-20, 02:17   #13
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I wasn't really into games before I played TR. I'd played Sonic games and really been hooked on them, but gaming as a whole didn't appeal to me.

My boyfriend had bought and sold a PS previously and I hadn't taken much interest in it, but he bought another and asked me to pick a game for me. I cannot stress how uninterested I was but I saw TR and knew it was about some woman who was a bit kick-ass so I plumped for that. I thought she looked ridiculous on the cover with shorts and holster straps that looked like she was wearing a suspender belt (I think it's called garter belt in the US and other countries?)

I was thoroughly expecting to find it boring, hard to control, filled with lots of shooting (yawn).

And I did do a wry smile at the cutscene with the wolves and Lara being all badass. Silly games.

But then the scene stopped and I was in control of Lara. And I know people who come at this game years after it was released do not realise how groundbreaking it was and how state of the art the graphics were. It looks cartoony now but in its day, the environments were considered realistic looking, there was a sense of "wow".

I felt as if I was in that empty snowy cave, it felt real. They pitched the opening level perfectly, the slow introduction to the controls and enemies was pretty seamless, as well as the build up of complexity in environments and levels. It pulled you forward constantly surprising you because the discovery always felt unique and not formulaic. "Oh look, a door with a lever, Oh, a bear, Oh, I can swim. Oh, what are those snake statues. Oh, new guns. Oh, a key hole." It was like that continuously.

These things are mundane now because it's been done literally a thousand times since, but then........ it was fresh. And you weren't told what to do. It was like being a genuine explorer and mystery solver. No maps, no character dropping hints, just a world laid out before you that you had to solve as you would "solve" if you were placed there in real life - by looking, by climbing over, by testing what happened, searching for a way.

The world was also extremely beautiful with its surreal architecture and good use of colour (blue-ish snowy greys, vibrant foliage, deep green pools of water against browny yellow sands). It made you want to look around, and together with continuously unexpected things happening or just things to be seen, it drove you to keep playing for just a bit longer to see what was next.

And the ambience was a kind of lonely nostalgic vibe that fit the game perfectly. It felt like you really were out there having a personal experience, an adventure full of daring and discovery. Running away from dinosaurs, standing at the top of crumbling ruins, swimming in crocodile infested channels...

Anyway, at first my boyfriend and I took it in turns to play with the controller but I was glad when I he had to do something so that I could play by myself! And soon, I just played on my own.

And after that I was hooked.
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Old 14-02-20, 13:35   #14
bekim
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I was majestic tbh. I remember being totally drawn into Laras world.

Come from school play tr, go to school think of tr - so forth and so on

The lack of the ponytail really gave me ocd because I had just finished tr3 and tr5 before starting tr1
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Old 01-03-20, 02:10   #15
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I played it after the third (which was my first), because my sister thought it would be easier.

I remember being really confused why she couldnt do half the stuff she could in Tomb Raider 3. I was not paying attention in the beginning and thought the dart cut off her braid
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Old 01-03-20, 12:51   #16
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It was OK.

Tomb Raider II was the first game I played and I played most other classics before the original so I remember being surprised by the low human enemy count.
The BGM was also a tad much compared to the much more subtle recycled ones further in the franchise. The game felt a little slow and It was also interesting to see as good as no outdoor area's.

Other than that I had a really good time with it and replayed it several times by now. The collecting is great fun. The secrets are well hidden and rewarding to find.
The OST in general is amazing, excluding the BGM and Egypt is just iconic. I also applaud the game for it's super fun boss battles.

So I wasn't really wow'ed by it but I thought of it as a great game nonetheless.
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Old 03-04-20, 16:39   #17
Maser
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I was like 12 or 13 when I played the first 2 games. The 2nd game I hated and only made it to the 2nd level before quitting. The 1st game I played up until Palace Midas and then quit. I'm so glad I recently got all 5 classic games and am enjoying them as an adult rather than an impatient teenager.
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Old 09-04-20, 05:36   #18
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I don't remember when exactly but it was definitely long after I had play every main game from Chronicles to either 2013 or Rise.

It was on my friend's brother's PlayStation and we played in change level by level up until St. Francis' Folly (we were brained at that point)

I eventually gathered enough money to spare and got the first five games on PlayStation 3 myself and I was currently in the middle of my own playthrough but my PS3 is currently on lockdown in my father's house so I guess I'll continue after lockdown's over! I think I'm currently in the Cistern.
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Old 09-04-20, 08:41   #19
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I believe I was in early teens when I first played the game. The Chinese translation of the game title was literally "a beautiful shadow in an ancient tomb". I was fascinated by both the tomb and the "beautiful shadow", and I found the box art of Lara mesmerizing I felt I have to play this game.

I did not make it past Peru back then because I was too scared of the game. It was dark with gloomy ambient and animals jump out of nowhere to attack you. I was super nervous each time I played, and I gave up way too quickly. I only finished the first TR game much later when I was in college. I don't remember the details, but I think I actually finished Legend first and it piqued my interest in the series again, I decided to finish all the classics (and I am very glad I did!).
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Old 10-04-20, 13:29   #20
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Was back in 1997, I'd just turned 6..

I actually got TR2 first - but I was so young I just couldn't figure out the controls.. mainly climbing.. I never made it past the first cavern in Great Wall!
My cousins had TR1 and I thought it would be better to try that game first.. so I did.
And then obviously TR2 was a breeze.. then TR3 the year after etc etc

Probably my earliest memory would be watching them play TR1's Cistern and having a little go.. I kept falling off the walkways haha
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