Tomb Raider Starring Lara Croft: Information from Answers.com

Release Date: June 08, 2000
Genre: Action
Style: Action Adventure

Game Description

The flickering torches, precarious ledges, crushing walls and one tough-as-nails heroine are back in a new adventure for the popular Tomb Raider franchise, the first to appear on a Nintendo platform. This title is also the first Tomb Raider game to feature a 2D side-scrolling viewpoint.

In order to make Lara Croft's particular assets shine on the small screen, the developers have included approximately 2,000 individual animations. Lara also stands taller than most action heroes on the Game Boy Color -- literally -- as she has been made into a sprite that's nearly twice the size of the average character (48 pixels to be exact).

Lara gets involved in yet another perilous adventure after speaking with her friend, Professor Igor Bowmane, who summons her from the University of Moscow to investigate a strange item known as The Nightmare Stone. Legend has it that an evil deity called Quaxet was bound to the stone after the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans worked together to rid themselves of his terrible power. The last known location of this stone was inside an obelisk deep within a temple.

Things were quiet for some time as the stone was kept safely from harm's way. Now it seems certain parties are interested in the manuscript detailing the story behind the artifact, which is definitely cause for alarm. This forces Lara on a journey to Peru to meet up with Professor Bowmane's friend and fellow curator, Illiat, in front of the sacred temple where the relic exists. As Lara makes her way to Peru and then the mysterious temple, she runs across something disturbing: the broken glasses of a certain curator in an abandoned camp near the temple. What had happened to Illiat? Is The Nightmare Stone in danger of being captured?

Ever the intrepid explorer, Lara takes matters into her own lovely hands. After examining the surrounding rocks near the temple, she manages to pull on the right combination to trigger an opening. For better or worse, she cautiously enters the temple determined to find the truth behind Illiat's disappearance and to ensure The Nightmare Stone remains safe and sound. As she ventures forth to seek her destiny, the opening from which she came ominously closes shut -- she's on her own from here on out!

All this is fine and good, you say, but what exactly do you do in this first portable version of Tomb Raider? You'll be able to look on with admiration as Lara mows down foes with her dual pistols, freeing her to run, jump and roll from dangers such as spikes, lava and other traps. Those who would rather focus on the mission at hand instead of Lara's ample bosom will partake in an adventure that spans five levels ranging from 5 to 15 maps in size, with each map consisting of multiple screens in length.

Enemy characters include the likes of humans, birds, skeletons and other unsavory types, all of which can be defeated with a few well-aimed shots from your pistols. If the enemies prove too daunting for you, power-ups are available to transform your weapons to the equivalent of shotguns and machine guns. Other items include dynamite sticks, keys and various artifacts.

~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

If you've played the famous Tomb Raider PlayStation series, the first question on your mind has to be what's new for the Game Boy Color version. Well, Lara has gone from polygons to pixels, her most common enemies are now lethargic scorpions, not trained mercenaries, and throughout the course of the game, there's (gasp) nary a cleavage shot in sight.

Okay, so that last bit isn't completely true. Lara Croft wouldn't be an industry icon without her sex appeal. So, even on the less visually titillating Game Boy Color, Core has obligingly tossed in a few painstakingly rendered cut-scenes of Lara pouting, posturing, and generally showing off her assets.

No one is complaining. For the first time since Tomb Raider II on the PlayStation, this installment of Lara's spelunking exploits seems less like interactive soft porn, and more like hardcore action -- puzzle-solving action, that is. Developer Core, undoubtedly aware of Lara Croft's waning status among gamers, both in their brains and in their wallets, has found inspiration within the challenging constraints of the Game Boy Color.

The result? A new Tomb Raider game that is true to its roots. Truer than ever, actually. Tomb Raider for the Game Boy, with its side-scrolling 2D perspective, resembles logical precursors to the original Tomb Raider. Games like Prince of Persia, Out of this World and Flashback provide the basic blueprint from which Tomb Raider for the handheld draws its gameplay and graphic style.

As previously mentioned, the emphasis in this iteration of Lara's adventures is on solving puzzles. There's a strong compunction for lever-throwing in this Tomb Raider, as well as scouring for keys and the like. These little tests of problem-solving and spatial reasoning take place within five enormous and labyrinthine areas. Unfortunately, since the sub-stages that the areas are broken up into feature somewhat bland and homogenous backdrops, it's extremely easy to get lost and lose your bearings. Thus, finding just the right lever that will raise the wall in front of you may take hours to locate, and it's quite likely on the opposite end of the level.

This is not always the case, luckily, and a majority of Tomb Raider's puzzles are pretty forgiving. But those exceptions will frustrate many players to the breaking point, especially when a fatal plummet onto a bed of spikes erases all progress that was made since the last game save. This happens quite often within the game, by the way, making it absolutely essential that you backup your game every chance you get.

The gracious developers have balanced out all the thorny brainteasers, however, by tediously fashioning some of the most complex and elegant controls ever experienced in a Game Boy game. The multitudinous frames of animation Lara enjoys are put to expert use, and it really is breathtaking to see her perform nearly every move in her impressive repertoire on the tiny screen. Lara can walk (re: slink), run (jiggle), leap forward (double jiggle), and leap up (super-double jiggle). And those are the very basics. Lara can also pull herself up on top of platforms, swing across vines, climb up ladders, do mid-air backward somersaults, and swim like a fish. She can even perform many of these demanding tasks while blasting away with a pistol in each hand. Sexy.

Beyond the copious amount of visual splendor that Lara exudes (as usual), and beyond the impressive cut-scenes, there isn't much else in the game that is particularly eye-catching. The game isn't graphically weak, per se. Compared to traditional Game Boy fare, Tomb Raider is a visual powerhouse. It would have been nice, though, to see more parallax scrolling, which looks really nice during those rare scenes it is put to use.

Also, the enemies could use more character and, well, scariness. Here you are with an infinite supply of ammo, and generally superior aim, and you're supposed to feel intimidated by a rattlesnake? A scorpion? A teensy weensy bat? Give me a break. Lara wants a challenge. She wants to kick butt. Some more of those club-wielding Amazon women would be nice.

Gamers will be rightly surprised to find that Tomb Raider for Game Boy Color features nearly no audio. Even the ambient noise that's poured out in buckets among the game's console cousins has been pared down here to an occasional thud when landing from a cliff, and the odd screeching bat. If it weren't for the loud blasts from Lara's firearms, you'd swear the volume was turned all the way down.

Because of this perplexing omission, one gets the feeling of playing a game that's unfinished. The game's ambience would have been strengthened and deepened immeasurably if Core had spent at least some effort in developing some appropriate sounds for the game.

Despite some questionable stylistic choices, Core and Eidos have ultimately succeeded in bringing a game of unusual depth and indomitable control to the handheld system that is finally beginning to stray from its humble beginnings. This 2D Tomb Raider may not be a work of undisputed genius, on par with Metal Gear Solid's handheld makeover, but it is still a title with enough craft and inspiration to join the Game Boy Color's upper echelons.