Tomb Raider I–III Remastered

Lore & Background

Tomb Raider I–III Remastered is a collection of remasters of the first three games in the Tomb Raider series, each featuring archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft as she travels through ancient ruins and tombs in search of artefacts, presented from a third-person perspective. Lara is equipped with two pistols with infinite ammo by default and can run, walk, jump, shimmy, roll, swim, and move blocks. The collection includes new features across all three games, such as options to choose between enhanced and original graphics, classic and modern control schemes, camera lock-on, health bars for boss battles, photo mode, and over 200 achievements.

Development began after Embracer Group acquired Tomb Raider from Square Enix Europe in 2022. Aspyr, who had previously ported the first six Tomb Raider games to macOS in the 2000s, developed and published the remaster in partnership with Crystal Dynamics and Saber Interactive. The remaster was revealed on 14 September 2023 during a Nintendo Direct. Aspyr used the original source code and engine, allowing players to switch between original and new visuals. Tomb Raider co-creator Paul Douglas located the original source code and assets. Timur "XProger" Gagiev, developer of the unofficial OpenLara engine, served as technical director. For modern controls, the team took inspiration from Crystal Dynamics' first rebooted trilogy: Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld. The team added health bars for boss fights and replaced 2D sprites with 3D models. Crystal Dynamics used an AI program to upscale textures. A one-time content warning was added at the start, warning about what it describes as "offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racial and ethnic stereotypes."

Reader's Guide

Tomb Raider I–III Remastered is significant as a faithful remaster of three foundational action-adventure games, preserving the original geometry and gameplay while adding modern conveniences. Its release on 14 February 2024 coincided with the canonical birthday of Lara Croft. The collection received generally favourable reviews on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, but mixed or average reviews on Nintendo Switch and Windows, according to Metacritic. Critics praised the updated visuals, new gameplay features, and overall faithfulness, but criticized the modern control schemes, some art direction choices, and glitches. The game's modern controls were called "annoying" by some, and the lack of a rewind function was noted as a "glaring oversight." The remaster retained original sounds and FMV cutscenes upscaled with AI. In the United Kingdom, the physical release debuted at fourth place on the all-formats sales chart in its first week. The collection was followed by Tomb Raider IV–VI Remastered on 14 February 2025.

The Core Design Era: Forging a Franchise (1994–2003)

Development of what would become one of gaming's most enduring franchises kicked off in 1994 at British studio Core Design, with the debut title hitting shelves in 1996 for the Sega Saturn before expanding to PlayStation and PC. The early years were defined by relentless momentum: after the first game's critical and commercial triumph, Core Design committed to shipping a new entry every year for four consecutive years, a pace that visibly wore down the development team. Tomb Raider II (1997) and Tomb Raider III (1998) followed in quick succession, with the second title locked into a PlayStation exclusivity arrangement with Sony that ran through 2000. The streak continued with The Last Revelation (1999) and Chronicles (2000), before a three-year lull gave way to The Angel of Darkness in 2003. That sixth entry, however, stumbled during production and was widely regarded as a disappointment upon release, prompting publisher Eidos Interactive to hand the series' future to American studio Crystal Dynamics.

Reboot and Reinvention: The Crystal Dynamics Chapters

With the baton passed to Crystal Dynamics after 2003, the franchise entered a new creative chapter. The first full reboot, Tomb Raider: Legend, arrived in 2006 across a remarkably wide platform spread—Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PSP, GameCube, GBA, and Nintendo DS. A year later, Anniversary reimagined the 1996 original using Legend's updated engine, followed by Underworld in 2008. In 2011, PlayStation 3 players received The Tomb Raider Trilogy compilation, bundling remastered Anniversary and Legend alongside Underworld, plus bonus developer diary videos, avatars for PlayStation Home, and a theme pack. The second reboot, simply titled Tomb Raider, launched in 2013 for Windows, PS3, and Xbox 360. Its 2015 sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, carried a timed Xbox exclusivity before expanding to PS4 and PC in 2016, and the trilogy closed with Shadow of the Tomb Raider in 2018, which also spawned a Bandai Namco arcade cabinet in Europe.

Corporate Ownership and Commercial Scale

The business history of the Tomb Raider intellectual property mirrors the broader turbulence in the video game industry. Core Design created the series under the ownership of Eidos Interactive, but in 2009 Square Enix absorbed Eidos, bringing the franchise into its European portfolio. That arrangement lasted until 2022, when Embracer Group acquired both Eidos and the Tomb Raider IP, with CDE Entertainment now operating the brand. Despite these ownership shifts, the commercial numbers speak to the franchise's staying power: by 2002 it had already generated roughly $1.2 billion in revenue, and by 2024 the series had surpassed 100 million units sold worldwide. Critically, the games have maintained a generally positive reception across their long run, a consistency that has helped sustain the franchise through multiple studio transitions and two full reboots without losing its audience base.

Lara Croft as Cultural Icon and Expanded Universe

Few video game characters have achieved the cultural penetration of Lara Croft, the fictional British archaeologist who has been traversing the globe through tombs, ruins, and hostile territories since 1996. Her recognisability has been formally acknowledged through placements on the Walk of Game and entries in Guinness World Records, while she has also collected numerous industry accolades. The franchise's reach extends well beyond the core action-adventure games: film adaptations, comic book series, novel tie-ins, and dedicated soundtracks have all been produced to expand her world. Gameplay-wise, the series has consistently centered on exploration, puzzle-solving, navigating trap-laden environments, and combat against enemies and militia. Even in the spin-off space—ranging from early-2000s Game Boy Color side-scrollers to the isometric Lara Croft subseries Crystal Dynamics developed between 2010 and 2015—her name has served as the franchise's unifying brand.