Tomb Raider I (1996) (2012)

RECOMMENDED Long before waypoints, auto-grabbing ledges, and cinematic hand-holding defined the genre, the original Tomb Raider (1996) treated space itself as a lethal puzzle. Decades later, Lara Croft’s inaugural outing remains a masterclass in level design and deliberate platforming. Precision Movement: The movement runs on an invisible grid. Once you learn that a single backstep gives you the exact runway for a long jump, the tank controls shift from clunky to pixel-perfect. Masterful Isolation: You are dropped into suffocating, ancient ruins with zero guidance. The atmosphere relies on eerie silence, brilliant environmental storytelling, and sparse, iconic musical stings. Brilliant Level Layouts: From the sprawling verticality of St. Francis Folly to the shock of entering the Lost Valley, the levels reward observation over mindless sprinting. The Catch: The camera can get choked in tight corridors, combat is a simple matter of lock-on side-flipping, and unlearning modern platforming muscle memory takes patience. Tomb Raider isn't a brainless shooter—it's a slow-burn exploratory puzzle game disguised as an action title. A timeless classic well worth playing. …

If you love puzzles mixed with platforming and shooting, this game is a fun start to the Tomb Raider entirety. Tomb Raider 2 even has puzzles that involve shooting specific targets.

Good game. Can save games. Can repeat the same level. Fast loading. Good leisure game.

Unless you just love old games and nostalgia, I'd recommend the remaster. That being said, I played this game all the way through and the lore, atmosphere, and something about those blocky 3D ledges just really do it for me. Haunting, intriguing, and frustrating. Definitely recommend.

Classic Just install and play

Always enjoyed playing this game as a little kid (It was "The Lara game" then) on the PS1 even though I had no idea what was going on other than running around the caves shooting vicious animals and opening doors and had no idea why Lara was there. Glad to see I can get on steam and play the OG version of the game even before the remaster came out.