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Level Design Masterclass | Tomb Raider (1996) Review

Webster Likes Games

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The original Tomb Raider is a game I revisit fairly often. There's something unique about this game, something that not even its own sequels could recapture or emulate, and that's the level design.

Moreso than any other game I've played, Tomb Raider's level design makes me feel like I'm engaged in a personal game of chess against the level designers. Everything is meticulously planned out to predict and counter the player's actions.

Depending on your personality type, that can make Tomb Raider one of the greatest challenges you'll ever face as a gamer, or a frustrating mess of antiquated 90s design tropes the prevented games from being completed as weekend rentals.

Join me as I revisit Tomb Raider in this review, retrospective, analysis, whatever you prefer to call it!

00:00:00 The Introduction
00:03:00 The History
00:07:22 The Game
00:20:20 The Controls
00:26:15 The Challenge
00:38:04 The Combat
00:40:48 The Presentation
00:44:08 The Story
00:49:16 The Versions
01:01:19 The Remake
01:01:48 The Conclusion

Steam Workshop link for the PC fan mod: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...

#tombRaider #laraCroft #levelDesign

20 Comments

@ghihbgyu 3 years ago

It's the feeling of being utterly alone... Of stepping foot in a place no human has seen for thousands of years, that made TR1 so unique. None of the sequels recaptured that and instead went in a more action-focused direction. That makes me so sad.

@IsatisAngel 1 year ago

24:00 To be honest, in 1996, all games had a detailed manual, and most players read it BEFORE starting the game. So they knew what the buttons were for, and that there was a separate tutorial. And if they forgot, they could easily go to the manual to find out which button was the “jump” or “action” button, and so on.

@lioneart19 2 years ago

The first three TR games offer something unique that I still didn't find any other game that provides. They are something special. And I say that as someone that played them only a few years ago, in my 30s, with no nostalgia for them. TR1, specially, in my opinion, didn't age at all and is as incredibly good today as it was back then. And I find it a bit sad that such incredible exploratory level design is so rare in gaming, even so many years after TR's release.

@IsatisAngel 3 years ago

The Cistern and St Francis' Folly are two of my favorites levels, it's fun to see the differences in appreciation between players. Very interesting video ! The Saturn version was my game too in 1996, I buy the PS1 version after many years at cheap price. TR1 is always one of my top favorites games of all times, sometimes a bit frustrating, but always a gem in level design and innovation (for the time).

@runarvollan 1 year ago

Super nice! The TR3 T-Rex actually has vision based on movement, follows and sniffs flares, and gets attacked by raptors.

@jonbourgoin182 3 years ago (edited)

I will never forget this game, it was the very first game I rented from Blockbuster for my brand new PS1. This truly felt next Gen at the time, a feeling that has been lost after the PS3/360 generation, in my opinion anyway. It just doesn't invoke the same sense of wonder but maybe that's because I'm so much older now...who knows

@deanlangdale7315 3 years ago

Fellow UK Saturn player here. I played through this game with a step by step guide when it came out and loved every minute of it. I don’t think any of the sequels have lived up to the atmosphere this game had.

I never realised the European timeline you pointed out at the beginning of the video, very interesting!

@klodek14 3 years ago

Great review, mate. Tomb Raider is one of the best and most important video games ever made. It's Indiana Jones meets Prince of Persia in 3d. It's a shame most people won't ever complete it due to antiquated 3d controls and graphics. I played it on the Playstation back in the day, but I'd also say PC is the way to go. The game runs smoothly, you can (and imo should) turn off texture filtering for that nice, old-school pixelated look , and most importantly, you have quick saves. They're a life saver for adults with much less free time and patience.

@Boots43096 10 months ago

i like that the game lets you have all the weapons by the end, it would be pretty shitty to miss some just because you didn't find the secrets for them, and it happens late enough that it can still be satisfying to grab the stronger guns earlier in the playthrough.

@kevoiscreepy 3 years ago

This game and the second one had such a massive impact on my childhood, it will forever be my favourite game franchise, flaws and all 🥰

@pseudopulk3478 11 months ago

The level design was sooo good. And the vibes. I love it so much more than TR2 & onwards.

@joesretrostuff 3 years ago

21:40 I would counter this - there's a consistent way of doing a standing forward jump, you press jump slightly before forwards.

@SamsarasArt 3 years ago

This game hits the nostalgia button like Snoop Dogg hits a blunt

@jespermaintz8993 1 year ago

Tomb Raider = Precision Jumping, Tiles, Feeling of Isolation, Getting Lost, and music carefully designed to cue at the correct spots.

@zobook 3 years ago

I always love tank control and love the keyboard controls of the original. I took some time to me to get used to the "modern" (not better) controls of anniversary. I always believe that tank controls are better for immersion, because no mater where the camera is facing to, you must act like you are the CHARACTER and not the camera.

@Treblaine 3 years ago

The palette seems much more vibrant on Saturn.

@lionocyborg6030 3 years ago

The T-Rex sensing movement is true in Tomb Raider 3, presumably in response to the TR1 guide. She still stomps around very close to Lara and deals collision damage so doing this isn't wise, plus like in Halo and Marathon before & after Tomb Raider, firing your guns counts as "movement". I learned that last part the hard way in my last TR3 playthrough.

@subdominus8837 3 years ago

Hahah i love original TR controls, extremely solid.

@IttCrowd-j3o 11 months ago

Nice to see some love for the Saturn version. Very under-rated. 🙂

@captaindan3456 2 years ago

I had the PC version growing up, in the pyramid shaped box. It was the first game I played when I got my first 3d video card. I was amazed seeing the graphics go from pixels to polygons.