Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft

This is a solid remaster of a classic of the action-adventure genre. Even today Tomb Raider 1, 2 & 3 are fun to play.

Remastering beloved games is a balancing act of remaining faithful to the original games, yet improving just enough for new fans to enjoy as well. While it doesn’t stick the landing in every aspect, and as a Remaster it does feel a tad bareboned without much extras, it’s fascinating to see how far the series has come and how nostalgia distorted my actual memories. Not all things about the original trilogy has aged very well, but the glow up is quite a welcome addition and Lara looks great as ever.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Staring Lara Croft is a fantastic trip down memory lane. Furthermore, the arenas, puzzles, and gameplay are as good today as they ever were. However, the controls are somewhat problematic and that was a shame. Yet, these issues are minor and will not undermine your enjoyment of a dated but fascinating adventure title.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft has to be thought of as a game of its time, not a modern release. When you take into account that context you can truly appreciate just how brilliant these three adventures still are.

As difficult as it might be to go back and discover those games you once loved haven't dated as well as you might have hoped, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered is a wonderfully faithful and reverential collection of three classics, and nigh-on essential for new players and misty-eyed nostalgics alike.

In the end, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered brings us back to arguably the most exciting era of the franchise, allowing us to revisit with updated controls and graphics these iconic action adventure classics, while also mantaining the smart level designs, puzzles, etc. as they should be – though, for better or worse, without any real attempt to fix any of the games’ shortcomings either. While the game does indeed look and control better, there seems to be a rather heavy-handed use of AI for upscaling textures, with also various locations where the completely different lightning models used drastically alter the atmosphere – often for the worse. There’s also no real new content or updates, making it feel like we’re playing a slightly modded version of the originals. Which, for a Tomb Raider aficionado like me, is absolutely fine – these games still hold up for the most part, even though some of the action-packed sequences and convoluted puzzles of 2 and 3 are a bit over the top.

A very complete collection with a good amount of QoL improvements that makes easier the way how you play them, besides some problems like the free cam or the new control layout.

Aspyr's remastered collection doesn't reinvent these classics by any means, and that was probably the best route to take here. While we don't agree with every decision the team has made, these remasters manage to retain the feel of the original trilogy, and options like the classic visuals toggle and a modern control scheme make this well worth a play - especially on Xbox where all three games are making their debuts.

A good port of the classics to modern systems, with a decent visual overall and more modern controls - but also outdated mechanics which make these a bit tough to enjoy.