#Tomb raider ps1 manual#

I like her character and how she prefers exploring tombs “for sport,” as she puts it, rather than for riches. There are situations, such as the final fight in the Tomb of Qualopec, where the enemy attacks Lara with no musical warning whatsoever and you have to act fast.įinally, there’s Lara Croft herself. In this way, the soundtrack gives you a sense of where you are and how you’re progressing through the game. The rest of the time, you explore the tombs in silence. It usually starts up when you reach a significant area or come across a certain enemy. You’ll hear musical themes throughout the game, but only at specific points, and not for very long. It also has a different approach to its soundtrack compared to other video games that I’ve played in the past. The visuals may look awkward, but Tomb Raider has good voice acting for its short cutscenes and Lara’s tutorial. The cutscenes that take place in-between levels have a higher quality. So it is with Tomb Raider. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the silliness of polygon characters bobbing their heads up and down as they “talked” in certain cutscenes, if only for nostalgic reasons. Obviously, most games from the PS1-era have not stood the test of time in terms of how they look. Lara only ever moved when I directed her with the control pad.) (Also, yes, some PS1 controllers come with control sticks, but the ones that I own did not work with Tomb Raider.

Fortunately, the developers added the “walk” command that allows Lara to move slowly through treacherous areas, and while walking, she cannot fall over a ledge no matter how much you push her. But Tomb Raider felt clunkier, perhaps because it’s on a bigger screen with wider areas to explore. I’ve done it in the past with DS games like Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. It can be difficult to navigate a three-dimensional environment with a control pad instead of a control stick. Unfortunately, the controls and graphics haven’t aged well.

The tutorial’s there to refresh your memory whenever you need it, and then you can jump right back into the actual game. It’s perfect for experienced gamers who don’t need a repeat lesson at the start of every playthrough, and also great for people like me who tend to start games, stop them when life gets in the way, and then pick them up again months later. So I was completely out of my league when I first dove into the adventure and had to backtrack to Lara’s house to figure out what I needed to do.

#Tomb raider ps1 manual#

But even then, there’s no “press X to perform an action.” It’s always “press the jump button” or “press the action button.” You want to know which button’s the jump button? Well, you’ll just have to read the manual or figure it out yourself, because Lara’s not talking.

Instead, you can access Lara’s home in the main menu, and she’ll guide you through jumping, running, walking, etc. Tomb Raider has a tutorial, but it’s not part of the main game. I’m used to playing through tutorials that hold my hand the entire time, telling me exactly what buttons to press in every situation. When I first started playing this game, I realized just how much modern games have spoiled me. The game begins with Jacqueline Natla hiring her to find a piece of a scion in the mountains of Peru- but Lara is soon betrayed and strikes out to find the rest of the pieces on her own. Tomb Raider, originally released for the PlayStation 1, Sega Saturn, and PC, stars Lara Croft, an adventurous woman who likes exploring dangerous locations and finding priceless artifacts. But then, lo and behold, I managed to find a copy in my local retro game store for $6, and here we are. It’s also a game that I never tried playing until recently. Thia the Bard has already written an excellent article for Real Women of Gaming about the impact that it had on the gaming industry with its famous protagonist, Lara Croft. It’s been adapted into two movies starring Angelina Jolie, with a new reboot starring Alicia Vikander coming to theaters on March 16 th. It’s a groundbreaking video game that stars a rare female protagonist.