Longplay of Tomb Raider (1996)

[@nikodem123asdf]

Here we have Tomb Raider on the Sega Saturn, I was going to do the PSX version but my PSX had other ideas. This game is one of the first attempts at 3D platforming and it actually aged quite gracefully as they went for a very rigid control scheme with very specific inputs. The whole game was built from squares and the Gym stage even teaches you how to take advantage of that. For example: taping back on the control pad moves you exactly 1 square back, running jump takes 1 square of wind up for execution standing jump is 2 squares up ect. The stage design still holds up to this day with clever if not a bit obscure puzzle that require you to look and examine your surroundings. And while there are no "find poem to press buttons in right order" puzzles there is a bit too much reliance on having to die, repeatedly, over and over, in order to learn what you need to do what levers not to press what corridors to go through. Plus the reliance on finding secrets to survive is too strong with this one, the secrets are REALLY well hidden and they're the only consistent source of pickups. What ends up happening an unexperienced player will have it difficult all the way while an experienced player will get all the shit they don't need. Now onto this version of the game specifically. While it was developed along with all other original versions, it was very clearly rushed as evident by more glitches, unreasonably large rendering distance (considering how much the game slows down) and some missing animations (like the handstand). I had a sweet sour time with this one I'm glad played it and I appreciate how much of a milestone it was for 3D games as a whole but MAN do I not want to revisit it like ever.

[@spyrobandicoot356]

Hmm. I wonder if Proton Jon has this version show up on a Fortune Cookie livestream?

[@Mr_x_19922]

Still much better than current gen tomb raider games

[@myretroworld1121]

I never could get use to the ps1 controls on this game. I would always go in the direction I didnt want to. Is it any different on the saturn?

[@EOTA564]

Control wise I always thought it was basically Prince of Persia in 3D.

[@nikodem123asdf]

@@EOTA564 that is a great comparison seeing as both have very specific controls for various types of jumps.

[@waynesWyrdWorld]

I remember getting this for Christmas on my Saturn. It definitely was glitchy, but this game was truly immersive. I remember the wolf howl sound effect never worked!

[@Lord_Kratos69]

I like these 30years old games❤

[@material___]

I love everything about this. That 90s hazy color, the pixels, the framerate, everything. I’ve had both psx and Saturn copies, yes Psx is 100% better but I prefer this!

[@dempart5558]

There is an incredible "charm" to the saturn version. way more enjoyable than the ps1 although the ps1 looks better. the saturn version also was way more fluid (fram rates) than the ps1. the saturn tomb raider is one of the best games i ever played, if not the best. the level of immerssivness was, and still is unparalleled.

[@stevereeves2140]

@@dempart5558 Totally agree with you about the charm of the Saturn version, it compels me to play it and the controls seem more comfortable than the psx version. Am currently near the end of the US NTSC version.

[@elbowdeep2472]

If I could go back to the nineties again, the Golden age of gaming.

[@andrewattenboroughtwothumb4697]

one of my favourite games on ps1 and sega Saturn

[@juliamenezes8053]

This is a great play through good work getting the secrets yes more supplies in the first game and later it switched to the dinosaurs. What is mesmorizing about the game is the music played when discovering the old ruins and temples that makes me like it so much. Yes its very angular and getting pixelated still good art. I got the playstation version it wasnt really glitched just hard to get a copy of the entire game not just the sample levels so about 3 years ago I completed this. I can play it on the PS Vita and still have to finish the third

[@DeadRaymanWalking]

My paternal cousin had this lovely gem on his Sega Saturn...although it could've been his father's (aka my paternal uncle). While I have played the DOS version lots of times, I gave this game a go (along with my older sister), and it has held up with the test of time. I recently got Tomb Raider Remastered on my Nintendo Switch in honor of my cousin and my late paternal uncle who sadly died five years ago. This July he would've been 60 years old. At least my cousin is still alive with a family of his own. ❤

[@gregreynolds6312]

Just purchased the NTSC version as the European version has a few flaws. This version is more polished without missing secrets and more details on textures and frame rate seems improved. I love the Saturn version the colour palette is more vivid and (imo) lighting is more dynamic. There aren’t many NA NTSC version videos on KZbin mainly the original European version so thanks for the upload! Enjoyed looking at the comparison between the two versions and decided to purchase this one! 👌🏻

[@nikodem123asdf]

You're welcome, I also found it quite odd how there were no videos of the US version of Tomb Raider on the Saturn. I'm a bit divided on the colors as the color space is definitely lower than the PSX version and they made everything also really dark, making certain locations very hard to navigate, later games at least have some sort of flares and such. But It also makes the game more atmospheric. I did have to bump up the in game brightness cause otherwise certain screens were just completely black. Interestingly enough someone did cover the Japanese Saturn version of the game and it's near identical to this one except, of course, the voice acting is Japanese (it actually sounds allot more professional) and the enemies are WAAAY easier to kill. The PAL Saturn version (aka the one covered the most as it is the earliest release) runs slower cause it's not fully optimized, interestingly while the visuals don't fill the screen fully in that version, the actual aspect ratio is of the ingame graphics is correct (going off of the PC version as "how it's supposed to be"). On the contrary all the NTSC versions of the game feature slight vertical stretching (not as big as what forcing PAL game into NTSC would do but still not correct), so Lara's a bit taller in America and Japan than she should be.

[@scoobybhk]

Brought back deep forgotten memories 👍🏿

[@ganjadavid9716]

I loved me Sega Saturn.. Loved this game. To few games for the system.

[@mad-k6q]

I never got to take advantage X-men children of the atom (& Marvel Superhereos?) with the 4 meg cart for no loading times.

[@DKingd88]

Saturn has nearly double the library of N64. Most were not released outside Japan...

[@Lord_Kratos69]

Ps1 is better

[@RetroCat31]

I really was blown away by these graphics back in the day. 20 years later, I'd rather play a solid 16 bit game than this.

[@nikodem123asdf]

Super early PSX 3D is like that. One of the best examples of that is Wild Arms 1, when you walk around towns or the world map it looks like a top of the line SNES/Megasis game and ... than you go into the 3D battles which have some of the ugliest modelling on the system. But by the end of PSX they did figure out how to not make low poly look completely trash or use the ugly to their advantage like Soul Reaver or Silent Hill are actually better for how low poly they are. My favorite kind of early 3D is stuff like Grandia, Wild Arms 2, Persona 2 or Dark Savior where 3D world is combined with 2D characters, those have allot more of a timeless look to them since making stuff in the environment where characters are 2D pictures doesn't require too much detail to look good.

[@EOTA564]

I think 32 bit 3D graphics have a certain charm to them but it’s worth bearing in mind that 3D platforming basically didn’t exist when these consoles were developed. The Saturn’s 3D hardware was basically designed for stripped down versions of Model 2 arcade games which were very polygon heavy but due the limited 3D environments they could optimise the car/fighter models (e.g. VF2 on Saturn uses high res 2D backgrounds whereas the arcade used 3D models). You can’t do that with a fully 3D open world. Crash Bandicoot really raises the bar for PS1 graphics but if you listen to a recent interview with one the two lead developers you will discover they had to use all kinds of programming cheats to produce those visuals (basically hacking Sony’s developmental libraries). Tomb Raider truly was something unique and incredible on release. If only Sega had agreed exclusivity with Core (which would have meant they could spend more time on this version) then the Saturn might have had a bit more fight left in it.

[@RetroCat31]

Enigma of the Absolute Such a well written reply, I enjoyed reading it. Since I posted that, my feelings on the 32 bit era have changed a little. They do have a charm to them. I really wish a hadn’t sold my Sega Saturn years ago :(

[@لايك-ن8ح]

wonderful ...i do love the old TR games thanks

[@frankfernandez7634]

Surely is this the Pal? Gladly captivated.

[@retroland9703]

The Saturn is powerful but a nightmare to program

[@nikodem123asdf]

Absolutely, and this game used only half of it's processing power, most western games did in fact. The VDP 2 (background processor) stays put throughout this whole game, granted I don't really see any meaningful way of using it with the way this game's level structure (not too many large vast plains, darkness beyond rendering distance ect.). Plus there is also the fact they were forced to ship the game barely finished, the other versions had an extra month to polish things out.

[@rarakurofuto]

Did anyone notice the Torso Boss's 'hurt' sound effect seems to be that of Winston (the butlers) 'oof' from TR2 😂

[@marakarthegreat]

This may not be as good looking as the PS1 version, but tomb raider on the Saturn is still fun to play.

[@jakescartoons6045]

In my opinion, the Saturn has the advantage of having a controller with a better d-pad, so it makes games with tank controls far more bearable. Sure, the PS1 version may have the better graphics, but that d-pad on the PS1 controller is not built for diagonal movements, despite the fact that the PS1 was made with 3D gaming in mind! What was Sony thinking?!

[@WALDENSOFTWARE]

The colors on Saturn are richer and the lighting from dark to light areas (and vice versa) is gradual, making the saturn version different, not inferior. PSX has better definition and water effects, but is too pale.

[@Theshark15z]

If you use the S-Cable on the Saturn it makes the colors look better. :)

[@nikodem123asdf]

Honestly I recently learned how to make the colors pop more but trust me what you're getting here is about as good as it gets with original hardware.

[@livingglutenfree4815]

Got this for my sega even after 20 years never finished the game lol

[@darobster5520]

Are you planning on doing Tomb Raider I-III Remastered any time soon?

[@WorldofWrestlingGames]

this graphics on the saturn version look more like the ngage version than anything else

[@notinmyworld8239]

Wrestling Fanatic84 I know. 🤔so archaic

[@nikodem123asdf]

I've played the N-Gage version and I don't think Saturn looks THIS bad. There is a reason the game looks as weird as it does it's because all the environments are built from sprites warped to fit into the wireframe as opposed to polygons (or in case of saturn quads), it's fascinating if not incredibly inefficient and processing heavy. The Ngage version was also missing all scenes BUT it had the option to save at any moment and none of this savecrystal BS, however the controls and framerate were far worse.

[@marakarthegreat]

the PS1 version looks like a pc game while the Saturn version looks like a DS game

[@nikodem123asdf]

@@marakarthegreat that's a fair comparison

[@zes767]

He are using SSF emulator for PC. The Sega Saturn version looks better.

[@DanielMilhazes]

How nostalgic! The resolution was around 360p, the frame-rate dropped down to 24fps and I didn´t give a fuck.

[@princesspeach395]

Does this game work with the 3D controller?

[@AmmarGuerroudj]

No

[@hassanhossen2703]

Good louk frend ilove tomb rider games colcthen go go go 👍👍👍👍👍

[@nikodem123asdf]

I plan to do other tomb raiders as well

[@sentelnbalivebolton7399]

What saturn controller are u using?

[@nikodem123asdf]

Standard Japanese controller, this game didn't support the Nights controller and the movement is designed for the D-pad regardless.

[@zerotolerance5581]

Wish the Saturn had had a different fate. Dreamcast too.

[@nikodem123asdf]

This game really illustrates how Western Sega's poor marketing decisions resulted in poor reception of their system. They really pushed too many ports/versions of 3D games that made a bad impression. If they stuck to 2D games and 3D games built specifically for Saturn's weird quirks (like Gungriffon or Nights) it would make a much better impression. Granted this one was built for the saturn from ground up but Sega was like " release it before it's finished so it's the first version available". But even then considering what they had to do in order to make this game work ... I don't think it would have been as good as the PSX version regardless but it would have been at least more polished or somewhat more comparable.

[@ulysses2162]

Sega went for an overly complicated hardware set up with multiple processors which made it hard to program for back then. A lack of communication between Sega and 3rd party developers and even game stores, not the greatest of marketing, a rushed release. They should have went for a simpler, single processor (CPU) design like the PSX did.

[@lapesmattie6329]

Mickey Donald And Goofy In The Three Musketeers

[@MP-nq9ht]

If you ever wanted to play this game, I’d reccomend playing the anniversary edition of it on the wii and 360. The OG version isn’t bad, but it clearly hasn’t aged all that well.

[@nikodem123asdf]

Or if you really need to motorboat some cone titls, play it on the emulator or the Modded PC version cause saving anywhere is almost a necessity to not go insane playing this (Saying this as someone who was recording this off of the original hardware with save crystal BS). Anniversary is so much different it's almost hard to put it as an alternative to experiencing...this

[@hassanhossen2703]

Bliv thet👏👏

[@mistamontiel00]

7:16:28 ah yey bacon Lara

[@АндрейШмитько]

LongplayArchive please write to me Longplay of Spyro 3.

[@RealCanadianGaming]

Андрей Шмитько that one is coming!!!

[@darkstar4450]

Damn this looks gross

[@nikodem123asdf]

I suggest finding a moment when the camera turns towards Laura's face and than keep pausing while it moves, the way the textures warp on her face is ... fascinating

[@D413373R]

Didnt know tomb raider was on the Saturn. Damn its fugly...

[@nikodem123asdf]

Correct and because sega rushed the core to release this version early for limited time exclusivity it's barely finished. And while nowadays games can be patched if they're released buggy... back then the sucky rushed version was forever trash.

[@Mr_x_19922]

Worst frame rate ever

[@nikodem123asdf]

you've not seen too many early 3D games have you?

[@DTM-Books]

Well, don’t ever look at Nintendo 64 games.