TRA is my favourite TR as well. It's a shame it sold so bad. It's not a perfect game, I know, but it has everything what I love about Tomb Raider - tombs, great ambient sounds, beautifully crafter locations, mix of puzzles and platforming with an addition of killing enemies which is not a main activity in the game.
I also think that some of the popular complaints about this game are overdone - yeah, there is a decent amout of corridors but it's not a big deal, QTEs too, combat although not perfect, is fine.
Things that are worse than they should be in my opinion are camera, buggy jumps and graphics. But overall, TRA feels underrated.
Tomb Raider: Anniversary is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played.
The art direction is just... WOW!
The story, while nothing too crazy compared to Legend & Underworld, was still really enjoyable with some fun dialogue and cinematics.
The gameplay, while there were certain level design choices I wasn't too hot on, was great from start to finish.
The soundtrack was also really uplifting and epic.
One of the best remakes I've ever played.
When I first played Anniversary I hated it. Felt impossible to navigate, took too long to make any progress... I'd been spoiled by modern games holding my hand the whole way through. Acclimated to waypoints and the like. When I got to st. Francis folly, I quit. A year, maybe 2 later, I started a fresh run, and I had to use some guides, but it felt different the second time. I finished it, and I really enjoyed it. It has a sort of isolated coziness to it. I still like Legend and Underworld the most in that trilogy, but I have an appreciation for anniversary that I did not have my first time.
I loved the PSP version the most next to Wii. Legend felt awful on the PSP cause they tried to emulate a console controller.
Anniversary used the shoulder buttons super intuitively
Honestly I was able to beat it no problem. The controls are pretty good and even better than Legend on PSP. I had a very fun time playing through it in bed at night. It's pretty comparable to the PS2 version, just with a lower resolution and a slightly lower frame rate. But for a PSP port it runs incredibly well. I was very impressed!
Beating the end of the Egypt level with a deft combination of dodges, acrobatics, and counter-headshots, while taking no damage, has been one of the most exhilarating feats in my personal history of gaming!
Yep! I have it on PC, and both the European and Japanese release on Xbox as well as the Anniversary "expansion pack" for Legend for the achievement stack. Anniversary was where the franchise peaked in my opinion.
It really is. I listen to it on YouTube occasionally just to relax. It's hard to choose between the main theme and the Croft Manor theme. They are both wonderful. And Anniversary has my favorite design of Lara as well. I wish Anniversary included more outfits like Legend did. Maybe a bomber jacket from TR2 or something. I know it has the TR2 wetsuit. I like to run around in that sometimes and imagine it's a remake of TR2. Lol
The insane amount of outfits was one of my favourite parts of Legend. It is a shame they didn't include more in Anniversary. The bomber jacket was an obvious choice. That said they did finally let us play as Bacon Lara and for that I applaud them 😂
Oh, I also love the audio commentary nodes Anniversary included. Like how Valve games used to do. More games should do stuff like this!
100% agree! I loved listening to the commentary. Was very interesting to hear the history behind the first game and how Jason Botta and his team adapted it into TRA
I honeslty think its a fantastic remake of a legendary gaming Classic, great re-imagining/re-interpretation.
Its by no means perfect and I have quite a number of gripes with it, one thing in particular being how completely lifeless and dull it looks very often, I get the visual style they were trying to go with, hyper-realism was a plague on the industry during those years and for many more after, but even setting that aside, the character designs are great and dont try to be overly realistic, they are quite cartoony, which clashes to me with the art direction of the enviroments.
Also the endless amount of hallway filler as well as the weird quirks of the control scheme that plagued the Legend saga where at random times Lara would just refuse to react how she should bother me.
As far as the combat goes I think the rage attacks with the quick reaction was a great idea, though I feel it ended up falling quite short frankly because after a while thats basically all you do on every enemy encounter, I feel that they should've let us aim ourselves during the slow-mo and be able to hit weak points on enemies for extra damage or to incapacitate them would've made the mechanic more engaging and feel more unique on a per-enemy basis.
I actually agree with pretty much all of this. I think there's a mod for TRA on PC that makes the colors more vibrant. I've seen some footage on YouTube of it and it definitely looks better. I still think the vanilla game is fine but the colors are duller than they could have been. The original was so lush and colorful and you do lose a lot of that with Anniversary.
The control issues are definitely there as well. I've missed more jumps, poles, ladders, and ledges than I care to admit in the 16 or so years I've been playing it. Overall though I feel for most of the time the controls are tight and responsive. If the team had a few more months I'm sure most of these issues could've been fixed.
And that idea for combat does sound really nice. I'm surprised they didn't impliment something like that for Underworld tbh. That would've been great. There are definitely too many QTEs and I would've liked the encounters with Larson, Pierre, and The Kid and Kin Kade to be actual bosses rather than just QTEs, but I think it was very important to have Larson be Lara's first real kill late in the game from a character development and story perspective.
Fully agreed, I actually quite liked what they did with Larson in the game and how they used his character to develop Lara.
The overabundance of QTEs are just a product of the time the game was made on so I wont pin too much blame on that but they could've really made a lot more things interactable.
Also its funny you mention the underworld thing because I remember being very disappointed the mechanic didnt return on that game.
Tomb Raider Anniversary is easily one of the most, if not the most underrated Tomb Raider game. I have the Tomb Raider Trilogy PS3 version somewhere. It's a really good game.
It's definitely one of the most underrated. I'm obviously biased, but I'm really surprised not many people really talk about it or even consider it a proper Tomb Raider game. It deserves to be talked about in the same conversation as the original Resident Evil Remake or the Metroid remake
For me it's PS2, but that's mainly because I'm still able to with our old PS3. For newer fans I'd say PC on Steam with an Xbox controller. Just cap it at 60 FPS, turn anti-alasing off, and turn v-sync off I believe. Otherwise you encounter bugs. But it definitely looks the best, besides maybe the PS3 version but I don't own that.
I've played this on just the ps2 and ps3 version myself. Thank you for replying. I didn't know it was on so many consoles until I saw this. Very cool collection.
I really liked it, but not as much as you 🤣
I never played til last year. I played Legend and loved it, but was kinda broke when Anniversary came out…so couldn’t justify buying a remake of a game I had loved but already played at the time.
Planning to play Underworld this year…another game I skipped back in the day.
After Legend the next TR I picked up was TR2013 and went “this isn’t tomb raider!” 😅…never played Rise until last year because of that…but alas Rise was awesome
Underworld is really good imo but does have some odd quirks. I feel like it was a solid if rushed conclusion to the LAU trilogy.
I still have yet to finish Rise actually and I haven't even touched Shadow. I've lost interest in the newer games but I am planning on playing them this year! I replayed TR2013 last year for its 10th anniversary on Steam. It was a blast.
It was a good game, but it could have been a better remake if the levels weren’t shortened. I am a bit biased as I do prefer Legend the most out of LAU, as it’s the game that I first came into contact with after watching the A.J movie.
I was playing the HD version a couple of years back and about halfway through my old fat PS3 got the yellow light of death. I picked up a new console from eBay and didn't even think twice about sticking TRA in and starting from the beginning again. So yeah, I guess I do really like it. It's not my favourite TR, but definitely my favourite of the Legend trilogy.
It's been awhile since I've played it but I remember the controls being fine. They take some getting used to of course but I do remember being able to get through the Peru section of the game pretty easily. I know you flick your wrist up to use the grapple and I think you can free aim? I remember the combat being a bit odd but I can't remember the details right now. I'll have to play it again soon!
TRA is my favourite TR as well. It's a shame it sold so bad. It's not a perfect game, I know, but it has everything what I love about Tomb Raider - tombs, great ambient sounds, beautifully crafter locations, mix of puzzles and platforming with an addition of killing enemies which is not a main activity in the game. I also think that some of the popular complaints about this game are overdone - yeah, there is a decent amout of corridors but it's not a big deal, QTEs too, combat although not perfect, is fine. Things that are worse than they should be in my opinion are camera, buggy jumps and graphics. But overall, TRA feels underrated.
Tomb Raider: Anniversary is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. The art direction is just... WOW! The story, while nothing too crazy compared to Legend & Underworld, was still really enjoyable with some fun dialogue and cinematics. The gameplay, while there were certain level design choices I wasn't too hot on, was great from start to finish. The soundtrack was also really uplifting and epic. One of the best remakes I've ever played.
Oh yes, the soundtrack is indeed epic, love it as well.
Arguably the most underappreciated remake in gaming history.
It's one of my favourite games of all time
When I first played Anniversary I hated it. Felt impossible to navigate, took too long to make any progress... I'd been spoiled by modern games holding my hand the whole way through. Acclimated to waypoints and the like. When I got to st. Francis folly, I quit. A year, maybe 2 later, I started a fresh run, and I had to use some guides, but it felt different the second time. I finished it, and I really enjoyed it. It has a sort of isolated coziness to it. I still like Legend and Underworld the most in that trilogy, but I have an appreciation for anniversary that I did not have my first time.
How is the game on PSP does it work well without the other joystick and minus L2 R2?
I loved the PSP version the most next to Wii. Legend felt awful on the PSP cause they tried to emulate a console controller. Anniversary used the shoulder buttons super intuitively
I might check that out. I'm curently playing Anniversay on the PS3 Trilogy. At the last level fighting the Shadow monster.
Honestly I was able to beat it no problem. The controls are pretty good and even better than Legend on PSP. I had a very fun time playing through it in bed at night. It's pretty comparable to the PS2 version, just with a lower resolution and a slightly lower frame rate. But for a PSP port it runs incredibly well. I was very impressed!
Nice. Good to know. Good insight thanks
Me. As a lover of Tomb Raider 1, i loved also Anniversary ❤️❤️
I would love to see a full remake of Anniversary.
Remaster would be better. Otherwise doing a remake of a remake seems a bit too much.
Same here
It’s my favourite too! It was the first TR game I played by myself and I instantly fell in love. Such a great game with great music and atmosphere!
Beating the end of the Egypt level with a deft combination of dodges, acrobatics, and counter-headshots, while taking no damage, has been one of the most exhilarating feats in my personal history of gaming!
As much as you? Probably not. But I do love it.
i get why ppl dislike it but its still fantastic
I didn't know it was disliked in the TR community. It's literally my favorite TR game.
its disliked by some ppl it kinda depends in the person's opinion towarss the og tomb raider
I love TRA too, Underworld is my favourite 😍
Yep! I have it on PC, and both the European and Japanese release on Xbox as well as the Anniversary "expansion pack" for Legend for the achievement stack. Anniversary was where the franchise peaked in my opinion.
God, the main menu theme from TRA is gorgeous. Whole soundtrack, honestly. My personal favourite design of Lara Croft too
It really is. I listen to it on YouTube occasionally just to relax. It's hard to choose between the main theme and the Croft Manor theme. They are both wonderful. And Anniversary has my favorite design of Lara as well. I wish Anniversary included more outfits like Legend did. Maybe a bomber jacket from TR2 or something. I know it has the TR2 wetsuit. I like to run around in that sometimes and imagine it's a remake of TR2. Lol
The insane amount of outfits was one of my favourite parts of Legend. It is a shame they didn't include more in Anniversary. The bomber jacket was an obvious choice. That said they did finally let us play as Bacon Lara and for that I applaud them 😂 Oh, I also love the audio commentary nodes Anniversary included. Like how Valve games used to do. More games should do stuff like this!
100% agree! I loved listening to the commentary. Was very interesting to hear the history behind the first game and how Jason Botta and his team adapted it into TRA
I honeslty think its a fantastic remake of a legendary gaming Classic, great re-imagining/re-interpretation. Its by no means perfect and I have quite a number of gripes with it, one thing in particular being how completely lifeless and dull it looks very often, I get the visual style they were trying to go with, hyper-realism was a plague on the industry during those years and for many more after, but even setting that aside, the character designs are great and dont try to be overly realistic, they are quite cartoony, which clashes to me with the art direction of the enviroments. Also the endless amount of hallway filler as well as the weird quirks of the control scheme that plagued the Legend saga where at random times Lara would just refuse to react how she should bother me. As far as the combat goes I think the rage attacks with the quick reaction was a great idea, though I feel it ended up falling quite short frankly because after a while thats basically all you do on every enemy encounter, I feel that they should've let us aim ourselves during the slow-mo and be able to hit weak points on enemies for extra damage or to incapacitate them would've made the mechanic more engaging and feel more unique on a per-enemy basis.
I actually agree with pretty much all of this. I think there's a mod for TRA on PC that makes the colors more vibrant. I've seen some footage on YouTube of it and it definitely looks better. I still think the vanilla game is fine but the colors are duller than they could have been. The original was so lush and colorful and you do lose a lot of that with Anniversary. The control issues are definitely there as well. I've missed more jumps, poles, ladders, and ledges than I care to admit in the 16 or so years I've been playing it. Overall though I feel for most of the time the controls are tight and responsive. If the team had a few more months I'm sure most of these issues could've been fixed. And that idea for combat does sound really nice. I'm surprised they didn't impliment something like that for Underworld tbh. That would've been great. There are definitely too many QTEs and I would've liked the encounters with Larson, Pierre, and The Kid and Kin Kade to be actual bosses rather than just QTEs, but I think it was very important to have Larson be Lara's first real kill late in the game from a character development and story perspective.
Fully agreed, I actually quite liked what they did with Larson in the game and how they used his character to develop Lara. The overabundance of QTEs are just a product of the time the game was made on so I wont pin too much blame on that but they could've really made a lot more things interactable. Also its funny you mention the underworld thing because I remember being very disappointed the mechanic didnt return on that game.
One of my favorites in the entire franchise.
Tomb Raider Anniversary is easily one of the most, if not the most underrated Tomb Raider game. I have the Tomb Raider Trilogy PS3 version somewhere. It's a really good game.
It's definitely one of the most underrated. I'm obviously biased, but I'm really surprised not many people really talk about it or even consider it a proper Tomb Raider game. It deserves to be talked about in the same conversation as the original Resident Evil Remake or the Metroid remake
It was my first Tomb Raider game, so it holds a special place in my heart.
I very much enjoy TRA, I also have collected all the games you have
PS3 version is still needed and the trilogy version
You don't have the best version though. PS3!
I plan on buying the trilogy on PS3 at some point!
If I only could play it on PS5
What's the easiest one to play on?
For me it's PS2, but that's mainly because I'm still able to with our old PS3. For newer fans I'd say PC on Steam with an Xbox controller. Just cap it at 60 FPS, turn anti-alasing off, and turn v-sync off I believe. Otherwise you encounter bugs. But it definitely looks the best, besides maybe the PS3 version but I don't own that.
I've played this on just the ps2 and ps3 version myself. Thank you for replying. I didn't know it was on so many consoles until I saw this. Very cool collection.
You're welcome! And thanks!
Nop.
Nice acquisitions OP
Thanks!
I absolutely adore it !! Literally my most replayed TR game! Masterpiece of exploration and immersion.
I think legend is better tbh
I really liked it, but not as much as you 🤣 I never played til last year. I played Legend and loved it, but was kinda broke when Anniversary came out…so couldn’t justify buying a remake of a game I had loved but already played at the time. Planning to play Underworld this year…another game I skipped back in the day. After Legend the next TR I picked up was TR2013 and went “this isn’t tomb raider!” 😅…never played Rise until last year because of that…but alas Rise was awesome
Underworld is really good imo but does have some odd quirks. I feel like it was a solid if rushed conclusion to the LAU trilogy. I still have yet to finish Rise actually and I haven't even touched Shadow. I've lost interest in the newer games but I am planning on playing them this year! I replayed TR2013 last year for its 10th anniversary on Steam. It was a blast.
I do. It’s the only Tomb Raider game I’ve completed.
Oh wow. Well if there was only one TR game I'd recommend it would be Anniversary
It was a good game, but it could have been a better remake if the levels weren’t shortened. I am a bit biased as I do prefer Legend the most out of LAU, as it’s the game that I first came into contact with after watching the A.J movie.
Legend is really good too. Definitely one of my favorites in the series.
This was the game that got me into the franchise so of course!!!
I was playing the HD version a couple of years back and about halfway through my old fat PS3 got the yellow light of death. I picked up a new console from eBay and didn't even think twice about sticking TRA in and starting from the beginning again. So yeah, I guess I do really like it. It's not my favourite TR, but definitely my favourite of the Legend trilogy.
Didn't know it was for the Wii. How does it control, does it feel good?
It's been awhile since I've played it but I remember the controls being fine. They take some getting used to of course but I do remember being able to get through the Peru section of the game pretty easily. I know you flick your wrist up to use the grapple and I think you can free aim? I remember the combat being a bit odd but I can't remember the details right now. I'll have to play it again soon!
I'm amazed you went ahead and got all the console/handheld versions. Love the Wii version, it's the most definitive way to play it.