Tomb Raider I

Tomb Raider is a very successful third-person action adventure game.

Released in 1996 by Core Design, it received rave reviews and was a big commercial success, breaking the mould for console-based action adventures.

The first in a series of games featuring gun-toting heroine Lara Croft, it spawned many sequels and reboots as well as the film staring Angelina Jolie.

Tomb Raider I has had a massive influence on later games. Its kick-ass female protagonist, well-rounded storyline, graphics and brilliant puzzles set the bar high, and while it now appears glitchy and somewhat slow, it is still a great game.

Lara Croft is an English archaeologist who travels the globe on the trail of a lost artefact. This takes her across the world, to places such as Greece and Peru, where she searches various underground crypts, battles a variety of enemies and must also negotiate some tricky terrain. She does this by jumping, grabbing and somersaulting her way across. She also has the ability to swim, and can drown if you can't get her to resurface before her air meter runs out. The most common cause of death is Lara falling from a great height and landing with a grunt and a crunch on the rocks below. First aid kits can be picked up that help replenish her energy if she takes a non-fatal hit.

In this first game, there is much more emphasis on solving puzzles - by pulling levers or working out how to get across a seemingly impossible crevasse - than there is on fighting. Lara does pick up some useful hardware, but often she can defeat an enemy with her trusty pistols and their endless ammo.

Getting to grip with the squidgy controls is vital when it comes to mastering the game, and to this end, Tomb Raider I included another exciting new (for the time) development - a training level. This is based in Lara's mansion, Croft Manor, and includes a ballroom full of crates for her to jump about on, and a swimming pool.

In the original game, the use of fixed save points - a floating crystal that Lara has to walk into - added to the difficulty, as it is all too easy to get accidentally killed after a boss fight but before saving. Thankfully, this infuriating feature has been removed from PC versions.

Pros

• Still a great game
• Nice difficulty curve

Cons

• Ancient graphics
• Awful controls