Tomb Raider, The Greatest Gaming Experience Ever

Who remembers the original Tomb Raider (1996) on the PlayStation? To this day, this remains the greatest experience I have had playing a video game to date. Now Tomb Raider isn’t my favourite game of all time, but my greatest gaming experience and greatest game, are two different things altogether. I remember loading up the game for the first time, and was instantly blown away by the graphics, and how opened the world was. I had never seem something like this before in a game, at such a high level and all in 3D. The setting of the game and the third person perspective, also drew me in right away. The fact that Lara Croft was often alone in a secret world, not seen by any other human for a very long period of time, was amazing. The sense I got when entering a new area in the game was breathtaking. You never knew what was around the next corner. It could be a bear, a dinosaur, or a number of other dangerous animals and creatures, looking to do away with you in a free open environment. The way in which the gameplay was designed, was also done in an excellent manner. Gameplay was a perfect example, of the platform style gaming of old. Now, although Lara had in her possession a pair of pistols, and further weapons available later on in the game. Gameplay wasn't solely based on shooting. Instead, Lara had to perform a number of skilful tasks to survive. She had to jump across ledges, with deadly spikes waiting below. She had to swim through underground caves, being careful not to run out of air. She had to shimmy across ledges in an attempt to get to other areas in the game. Not to mention having to run and roll out of the way, of the ever increasing dangers present in the game. What made the game such a success for me, has to do with the solving puzzles elements of the gameplay. All the running, jumping, swimming, and shooting I mentioned above. All added up to one thing, a means of solving a puzzle. Puzzle solving played a big part in the game, from the pushing and pulling of blocks. To having to find puzzle items throughout the gaming environment. I remember spending over one week trying to figure out a puzzle, that only required me to shimmy across a hidden ledge. Now, because the gameplay was based mostly on exploration. When Lara came across an animal or creature, it would sometimes scare the hell out of me. All this just added more suspense to the already amazing game. The saving system in the game was also done in an excellent way. You had saving crystals located all around the gaming area, but once you used one, it disappeared. So, you had to decide when to save since each crystal was so vital to game progression. Tomb Raider was the type of game that you thought about even when you were not playing it. You were always thinking about how to solve that next puzzle, or how to get access to that next area of the game. You also wanted to discover what was going to happen next in the story itself. I was so involved in the game, that I would feel guilty when Lara would die. It is still one of the only games I can remember, where dying in the game made me feel bad. There has been a number of Tomb Raider remakes since 2007, and although some of them have been really good. The original for me, still remains the best. It is on my list as one of the best action-adventure games of all time.