Ten Years of Tomb Raider:
Samsdad

TR1 in 1996. What was it like to play such a game? Some of us can remember the first pong games where is was a square block bouncing back and forth form side to side on a black and white screen and thinking that is was pretty cool. Then came tank battle with little stylized tanks navigating a maze and shooting at each other and that was even cooler. The battles at the Officer’s Club were fast and furious. Then games added color and complexity and you started to ask yourself just were it all could lead.

And then the year was 1996 and someone starting talking about a game call Tomb Raider, with a female lead no less, and my curiosity was peaked. My gaming interest was pretty jaded by that time and I had never really gotten into the side scrolling platform games. A friend gave me a copy of TR1 and recommended I try it out.

I installed the game and started to play. A haunting theme flowed out of the speakers. I did not think that there would ever be a theme that could rivet itself so deeply in my conscious as the Star Trek theme had many years ago. It was like rediscovering a level of enthusiasm that I thought was gone for ever. The opening FMV was the start of a plunge into adventure along with Lara that continues to this day. As those massive doors opened a startling new world of possibilities also opened, a world of enjoyment and wonder and speculation and challenge. I will never forget that first trek down those snow covered cave passages and the anticipation of what might be around the next bend. And every game since has been like a new next bend and I thank Core and CD for building these wonderful worlds of imagination and allowing me to explore them with my favorite guide, Lara.