Smoothing out those pointy polygons! - Tomb Raider I-II-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft

[@traxthetrashwizard]

"starring Lara Croft" comes from the box art of Tomb Raider II.

[@runarvollan]

I think the first one says Featuring

[@Xehanort10]

@@runarvollan Reminds me of the game of the animated Hercules film being called "Disney's Action Game Featuring Hercules" instead of just Hercules.

[@TheJujubean]

I think by the time part 2 came out Lara was everywhere on tv, movies, magazines, commercials ADs for cars, drinks, all kinds of stuff big designers were using her for promo for their clothes as well she was basically a big celebrity im gaming media. So I think they used “starring lara Croft” as a celebrity thing tbh

[@TonySpike]

​@@runarvollan not in the UK it dosnt, its just Tomb Raider here

[@ghostfaun]

i believe the starring lara croft came from the second game after lara basically became a household name overnight because of the success of the first one. glad to see you playing this ive been having a blast playing it myself!

[@cikame]

That's what i always assumed, very quickly it became more important to put Lara Croft on the box than Tomb Raider.

[@DoveAlexa]

Sounds like a smoothed brained exec didn't think people could simultaneously know the game's name and her's. Clearly, you can't know Luke Skywalker is from Star Wars, that's impossible!

[@Cohult]

Seeing that locking the butler in the freezer now has an effect is the best touch! 10/10 GOTY

[@TexasHollowEarth]

Woo..... hope we can get 4, 5, and an improved Angel of Darkness for Vol. 2 and the XB360/PS3 TR games for a Vol. 3 including that weird XB360-only clone Lara dlc for Underworld 👍

[@phoenixact7219]

If I may be permitted to sound like an old man for a minute. I've been playing this, and before I did I didn't really realise how much I missed this sort of gameplay design. The focus on the puzzles over combat, and the attention paid to all the ruins and the devious traps contained within.

[@sonicsean34]

It’s a big problem with the games industry where they think older is bad. Like I don’t want games like this to replace modem design cos I like many of those games too but it would be nice to stand alongside modern games so we have variety instead of so much feeling the same. So many games now are just mild alterations of other games in the genre to the point you can start playing a new franchise and not need to look up the controls cos everything plays 99% the same now instead of having a bespoke design

[@DefyReality-ll2cg]

I comletley agree!

[@SpectacleFilms1]

Lara casually taking animals off the endangered species list...permanently!

[@runarvollan]

I think you can complete the very first level by killing no one.. but that last wolf will be taking a big chunk out of Lara before she escapes.

[@GenerationWest]

The Halo Master Chief Collection had that, and i was the first time I've ever seen that feature, on the fly switch of graphics.

[@HeinerGunnar]

Well Halo CE Anniversary edition did it before the collection, same with Halo 2 Anniversary Edition. It's just that the versions of those two games in the MCC are the Anniversary Editions, not the originals. (Though due to the 360 lacking power, the switch in graphics in the original CE:A wasn't instantaneous, it went to a short fade to black, which made it difficult to switch in the middle of combat since gameplay didn't stop. You were just blind for a second)

[@jgn]

I'm pretty sure R Type Dimensions also did it earlier, I really like these types of features

[@ryanmason2502]

My 90's wallpaper came from Dead or Alive for PS1. Pop the disc in your PC and boom, 3 wallpapers to choose from.

[@segue2ant395]

"...featuring Lara Croft" was actually the subtitle of the very first game on release, weirdly enough. Later games in the series were titled "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider", presumably following the film release.

[@irkalla100]

I remember the conematics so vividly 😂 Tomb Raider was one of the first Saturn games I owned. I played the hell out of it!

[@carmagician9272]

I bought it on Saturn as well, but when 2 came out I bought the first one on ps1 as well, I think I had up to number 5 on the ps1 but to be honest I stopped playing them about 3/4 of the way through number 3. It was definitely much harder to get lost in 3. The levels were designed different from the first two games

[@Luna-Fox]

Ironically the modern controls make the games harder to play in most instances, especially when it comes to platforming. Though holding R1 to catch yourself from falling is a GODSEND on modern controls, wish they had that as a setting for tank honestly.

[@razu_gif]

This is a tank control game made for tank controls you can’t imply any control to this game same as you can’t imply Tank controls to LAU trilogy or reboots

[@AirLancer]

@@razu_gif apply.

[@Krisstoff001]

If you don't want to fall off edges in tank controls you have to hold the walk button, I haven't tried modern yet I feel very comfortable with tank controls

[@sspivey38]

I really loved this game back in the day. It helped take my mind off the God awful depression I was going through.

[@KadeemG61]

Unfinished Business was an expansion pack for the Macintosh version of Tomb Raider Gold that Aspyr made in 1998.

[@johnwerner69]

The butler used to scare me as a child

[@Beforezzz]

No matter where you went he would find you, eventually. The dark atmospheric graphics didn't help either.

[@DefyReality-ll2cg]

Same lol

[@bookerplayer01]

Lara: Shoots a pack of wolves. "Did everyone see how cool I looked?!"

[@TobyChimp]

They did a fantastic job with this trilogy, clearly a lot of love and care was put into it. Another great remake that allows the player to switch back to the original graphics and music is Alex Kidd in Miracle World (DX). The original was the first game I ever played on the Master System so I thought it was neat to play again!

[@HazzardousEco]

48:36 I mean who didn't lock the butler in the freezer?

[@aurevion]

I believe the reason behind the "..Starring Lara Croft" is because back in the 90s, Lara Croft became very very popular after the release of the first game. She was like a celebrity back then. Because of that, they had to put Starring Lara Croft on the cover of Tomb Raider II to bump up the sales.

[@deezee2965]

This Remaster is everything I have been askin for the last 10 years!

[@IcepickEvans]

if you're gonna check out Legends, then also check out Anniversary, which is a remake of the first game in the Legends style. Those games are really good. Their Lara is faster and snappier and more acrobatic. And yes, they do have death defying leaps.

[@TexasHollowEarth]

Then there's Underworld + the XB360-exclusive clone Lara dlc that can all be bundled for a TR Collection 3, right after 4, 5, and Angel of Darkness for TR Collection 2 👊

[@miguelbranquinho7235]

Faster, snappier and more automatic. Fun 3D platforming was replaced with 2D wall-climbing.

[@Void_Out]

⁠@@miguelbranquinho7235 I’d say the legends trilogy, more specifically Tomb Raider: Legend itself, is still very much in the vain of older Tomb Raider with a lot of what it has you do and how it has you do it, all while being faster and snappier, but far from automatic, what you’re describing sounds more like the Tomb Raider (2013) trilogy with it feeling very automatic at times.

[@IcepickEvans]

Crystal Dynamics actually had no hand in the production of this title. Crystal didn't want to do remasters, so Embracer gave it to Aspyr, who did a phenomenal job. So no, I will not be giving CD any credit.

[@paigecameron629]

This is not true. Aspyr have said that Crystal was involved in the production of the game as well as involved in Lara’s updated design.

[@Pleasecheckusernameh]

Ay buddy. You ever upload Tobal No 2? Thanks!!

[@flophouseplays]

Not yet, but I might later this year!

[@The1000YearWhore]

So the "Starring Lara Croft" is a callback to the subtitles of the OG trilogy. The first 3 games had subtitles of Tomb Raider: Featuring Lara Croft, Tomb Raider 2: Starring Lara Croft, and Tomb Raider 3: Adventures of Lara Croft. The movies were titled as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life.

[@MichaelMolina0390]

I don't remember the first Tomb Raider game having the Lara Croft subtitle. The others definitely did though. I always figured it was due to the popularity of the character after the first game.

[@sonicsean34]

@@MichaelMolina0390apparently, it was on the front cover somewhere saying “featuring Lara Croft” might not have been part of the logo tho. it’s cos ppl really took to the character when it was revealed at E3 (some ppl loved Lara cos she is a badass action star and others cos they were creeps who couldn’t not touch the models dressed up as her at the show) so EIDOS leaned into it

[@snotyay]

being able to press the graphics button in the main menu, loading screen and cutscenes was fun

[@maskofacryingclown3]

I still own all my tomb raider games with the strategy guides except im missing chronicles which i believe was the last ps1 game. I tried playing angel of darknes, which i was very fond of on release. I even beat it without my strategy guide for it. I went back to it about a month ago. I couldn't do it. I didn't even see how this was my favorite tomb raider game at that time. Im so glad they remastered this. Now i can pull out my strategy guides like back in the day.

[@EmperorSeth]

I played the crap out of these games on PC back in the day. I got all five of the original games. It was basically the only "modern" games that my dad would play, but he'd print out the walkthroughs on gamefaqs and use them before he even started the games. I mean, I used them too, but I waited until Inevitably got stumped at least. I remember doing the "walk to the edge, take one hop back, then do a running grab jump" shuffle all the time. You basically had to if you wanted to guarantee making the jumps with the tank controls. I stopped when Angel of Darkness came out, later got the Legends/Anniversary/Underworld trilogy, and only got around to playing the first of the newest remake trilogy.

[@chasesmay7237]

The marketing for the first two games was insane. Every magazine you opened, every demo you got, every piece of mail had Lara’s face (and other parts) staring at you. The level design in 1 & 2 was so good, I spent so many hours with these games. Early 3D was butt ugly and I felt that most games would have looked way better as sprites (still feel that way) but these games made me see the possibility of polygons in level design.

[@DaedrinMolkre]

Tomb Raider 3 was the 2nd game I ever played (after Sonic 3 & Knuckles) but I was only like 4 years old at the time, far too young to really connect with the control scheme especially since I was playing on PC, so that pool of piranha was basically the end of the game as far as I was concerned lmao. I tried many many times and never got past them, now i'm looking forward to getting this set so I can get past and actually see the rest of the game. To this day I still have an irrational fear of video game bodies of water lol, I can still remember how toddler me felt getting eaten up by those damn fish, at that age it was scary as hell.

[@Xehanort10]

10:11 In terms of continuity Tomb Raider's becoming the game equivalent of Halloween or Texas Chainsaw Massacre with 3 or more different timelines.

[@IsoMacintosh]

4:00 Feeling bit nitpicky so gonna point out that i doubt games really ever use sounds that arent royalty free, since that would be an extra cost for no reason. Also just in case some dont know, royalty free doesnt mean free, you still often had to buy the sounds in a collection of discs to get the royalty free license, and those sound archives could cost over thousand dollars, so theres a reason those sounds got used a lot.

[@Prohass]

The cutscenes are upscaled and polished up a bit, they look way more pixelated in the original

[@sonicsean34]

Yeah apparently they put it in an upscaler and just used basic settings rather than fine tuning it for each shot. Cos businesses don’t take the time to go for perfect cos they think it’s more efficient to be “it’s good enough right”

[@ZombifiedBuizel]

@@sonicsean34 It fits the aestetic. It'd feel out of place if they changed it

[@Endocrom]

Man, the deer population in those caves is going to explode with all the wolves getting killed

[@l0rf]

Leave it to the British to show up to a remote, untouched ecosystem in a fragile balance, then introduce an invasive species (.45 APC rounds from twin pistols) and take all the culturally relevant artifacts.

[@xxigeorge]

Oh my god YES I'm so happy you're playing this! Currently finishing up TR1 myself The title is like this because ever since the very first game they wanted to establish Lara Croft as sort of a celebrity. The full title of the original game is "Tomb Raider, featuring Lara Croft", almost as if people were supposed to know who Lara was already and that she was getting her own game. Tomb Raider II is called "Tomb Raider II, starring Lara Croft" and TRIII is "Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft. Also, from 2001 to 2007 the games got renamed "Lara Croft Tomb Raider" to fit the Angelina movies' marketing, like you said. So Angel of Darkness, Legend, Anniversary and the last two Gameboy games are, for example, "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend" instead of just "Tomb Raider: Legend".

[@danhectic5629]

i didn't know you could swap the graphics- that's rad! * puts on wishlist & waits for sale *

[@DAngelProductions]

Halfway thru TR2 and, despite some issues, I’m extremely pleased with the quality of the remaster and hope others follow suite.l

[@MrBrawler16]

3:45 whats scarier? Eyes in darkness or teeth in darkness? I always thought teeth smiling in darkness are super unsettling

[@chrisbaranowski5516]

"starring Lara Croft" was due to Lara being celebrity back when first game released. Probably her name being better known than the Tomb Raider title for non gamers. Her character was used in tv adverts (Lucozade drink, car commercials etc.), she was on front pages of non video game magazines, U2 used her character during concerts. So "starring Lara Croft" was like saying: "hey it's that game with this mega popular virtual celebrity!"

[@bS0up]

Lara's house looks like an out of scale doll house for you Lara Croft action figure

[@smiley77060]

The bats, bears and wolves were eating dinosaur meat. Dinos, apparently, weren't at the top of the food chain in that cave

[@chameleonhrt]

Of the new Tomb Raider trilogy, Rise of the Tomb Raider was also my favorite. I played it early last year and really enjoyed it. Shadow of the Tomb Raider had a great setting, but the game was just disappointing. I played the original shortly after it came out and loved it. I don't remember much, but it would be my second favorite.

[@royfourtwentynine5783]

I found Shadow so boring... Nice graphic and gameplay but... I don't know, it's just not that funny, I'm finding really hard to finish it

[@jcace13]

My only experience with these games back in the day was my friend showing me you could lock the butler in the freezer, that's it.

[@Valor0093]

I would totally watch Matt do a playthrough of Tomb Raider.

[@Beforezzz]

Simple but satisfying remaster for a reasonable price. I wish they'd do the same with Resident Evil 2 and 3.

[@Krisstoff001]

I'm really happy with Aspyr and what they could pull off with this remaster, I'm hoping they can remaster at least The Last Revelation too and of course for the community to enhance all these games even further.

[@runarvollan]

"A little rough" is what Tomb Raider SHOULD look like;)

[@micshork]

I’m wish that it had included Last Revelation and Chronicles.

[@ZombifiedBuizel]

Well there's some good news for you.

[@shadowmpire]

save crystals were on the ps1. on pc im pretty sure u could just save anywhere.

[@TevorTheThird]

I know she's "supposed to" have the braid in Tomb Raider 1, but it was technically impossible to implement at the time. But I do still wish they had HD Lara sans braid for that one. At least as a toggle. Short haired Lara was cool.

[@chiyo-chanholocaust8143]

Featuring Lara Croft from the Devil May Cry franchise

[@C.V317]

Is it me or did the wolves sound almost exactly like original KI Sabrewulf?

[@flophouseplays]

Its stock animal sounds

[@billyirwin9319]

I about cried when you died! I was so waiting on ur reaction running into the T-Rex!! Man I miss the good old days of gaming.

[@Randomninja47]

I hope we at some point get a remaster for Legend and Underworld. Legend is my favourite game. Been enjoying the heck out of this game. Out of these 3 I've only beaten the first one so I'm excited to finally get to 2 and 3.

[@ShanetheFreestyler]

RIP Winston Jeeves (February 7, 1924 - November 20, 1998)

[@thesegaguy6279]

I'm hoping The Last Revelation gets a remaster like these.

[@portalmaster6481]

asterix and obelix xxl remaster has that feature too

[@sihy]

The levels of these games were so rigidly designed around grid movement I wonder how the change in control system affects the specifically tuned jumps. Is that the problem Matt was having jumping in TR2?

[@bS0up]

Seemed that way. And combat without the tank controls means you can't leap away from enemies while shooting, she just turns around and locks off whatever's chasing her

[@ViniPessoal]

26:23 - check evrey knock and granny kids. Its always fun 🌚

[@dnakatomiuk]

Great thing in my life is I grew up throughout some of the best games ever and eras

[@Totalrecarlo]

No decorum. 😂😂

[@ancientmariner9460]

"Inhale during your sleep" explains why I feel that I've ate a bloody horse, when I wake up... ;)

[@vriderch1360]

I can't believe our first exposure to Lara is shooting animals with her magumbos out.

[@chadbranston9741]

Yes, us British do have that bath, it's usually next to the wresting podcast studio

[@alistairblaire6001]

I'm surprised it took this long to release a remaster of the original trilogy. It looks pretty good though. Great feature being able to flip between original graphics in real time. The price isn't bad either.

[@ir3mix3d]

😂 those pointed crofts are rounded now!

[@johnwerner69]

It's been years since i last got hit with so much nostalgia by watching this gameplay

[@fancyactionnow2352]

Can you hold one of the shoulder buttons to walk in this game? I swear you can do that to line your jumps up better

[@mjschlosser]

this was so enjoyable please do another

[@georginagiethoorn6543]

The reason why it says Starring Lara Croft is because the name Lara Croft in the 90's was more popular than the Tomb Raider brand lol she was an icon

[@Nignucs1]

It would be awesome if you did legend and underworld... such nostalgia.

[@skikes3033]

is there a longplay vod of this 👀

[@Gargoyle_Guy]

As a classic tomb raider fan I took endless enjoyment watching you fumble

[@IcepickEvans]

Lara in these old games will definitely auto aim at any enemy in front of her.

[@sonicsean34]

It's apparently not as automatic in modern controls and you have to be facing vaguely at the enemy to lock on. Works fine in tank it seems from reviews

[@kammhia397gaming9]

The one thing I hate is that most of the moves that worked for Tank Controls don't register well for modern Controls like the back steps and backflips other than that I'm enjoying my time with the Trilogy so far.

[@Nightmareof94]

I still want a remaster of nightmare creatures

[@calebpribyl5152]

I do have a copy of the original tomb raider from the 90s on the sega Saturn (I’m not sure if it’s a good port or not) But all I remember was walking around in a cave and that’s it?

[@CJMoody]

Seeing all these wolves getting shot dead makes me wish this game had a mode similar to Grounded's "arachnophobia mode", where you can have the wolves' models replaced with something less canine-looking, and replace their sound effects as well.

[@johnsensebe3153]

Better yet, do like Duke Nukem 3D for the Nintendo 64 and have a way to "save" the animals.

[@thepassingstatic6268]

Or maybe tranq darts. Put 'em to sleep......temporarily, not permanently

[@clover831]

Is there going to eventually be a physical release?

[@WilfredCthulu]

Avenge my frosty chocolate milkshakes.

[@Varner410]

Matt what about the fable anniversary edition did that graphic swap real good

[@snaccpacc651]

TR3 was my jam as a kid. I wish it was more a remake, TBH as some of the throwback features really seem to hold it back but the odds are good I'll buy the piss out of this anyway.

[@TheKeyser94]

You have seen the state of modern AAA games? You want a remake of 100G on your hardrive? I not, thank you, I really not care about photo realistic games, hell, games where photo realistic ten to fifteen years ago, not needed this level of graphical improvement.

[@snaccpacc651]

@@TheKeyser94 I have no issue with 100GB on my SSDs but at no point did I mention photo realism, I was referring to the older features like tank controls (being optional in this is awesome!), the stilted animations, auto-aim being the only way to shoot etc.

[@Sabeythang]

Developers need to bring tutorial sandboxes similar to Croft Manor back. Stop forcing the tutorials into the base game, let us just enjoy flipping and flopping around inside of an isolated area with fun easter eggs and missions to pursue.

[@mjschlosser]

Video of the year right here

[@carmagician9272]

Play the new Tomb Raider featuring our HERO!! Lara Croft, Mass murderer, Animal slaughter, Thief and Vandal of ancient property’s. Yes she is the hero

[@falconeshield]

FoxMaster did a great job with the games before the remasters were announced

[@franciscojrosero]

Just exactly what we would had receives as the N64 version

[@TheKeyser94]

This is the third time that they would reboot the series, I hope that they wont go to the AAA route with photo realistic models, I have enough of that, I really suck at the original Tomb Raider Games, but I become a fan with the Legends games, and two of the new games, I hope that they not beat Lara to death as mark that as "character development" because that was ridiculous.

[@Dragonsmana]

I was so confused by that title too! Thankfully the comments put it in context, because I never caught that back in the day either lol. Also, I really hope some of the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver games can get a similar treatment to this one day.

[@Taraka1]

Lara's greatest fear is her Aunt's Corgi....not joking either.

[@crispin5741]

Thatched Roof Cottages!

[@Prohass]

Which one had the dinosaurs? 3?

[@Beforezzz]

First game.

[@Andrew_TS]

Also TR2 has dinos in first level where one of the secrets is.

[@bewaretheconficker]

All 3

[@blackbirdz714]

Seeing this game reminds of the times playing it on the Saturn and how much last Revelations was a disappointment on the Dreamcast lol. I miss the e3 booth babes that looked like Lara to promote the games. I’m happy we got a decent updated versions of these classics but if embracer group kills any future revival of my beloved Legacy of Kain series that they’ve teased I will riot and rage.

[@Reds-Retros]

Why was it disappointing on DC? It was the most advanced console version of the game and even had bump mapping and enhanced lighting and shadows.

[@kccastorena1102]

Now those dirty pillows are soft and squeezable #nopointypillows 😂

[@graymars1097]

What a different...not talking about the game, but the companies one sues and shuts down people left and right the other offers independent developers a job

[@RogueRotte]

TR is my childhood

[@kennethboozer6148]

Please matt play legend and underworld again

[@YourEvilHenchman]

ngl, the remastered graphics lighting is just way too dark in a lot of places. there's a reason the reboot trilogy gave Lara carriable light sources for dark areas to make its realistic lighting work.

[@Klue_EoL]

Wha Happun "anything tomb raider" would be great!

[@emilysong2000]

Matt did make a What Happened episode on Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness years ago...I wonder if he'll make more Tomb Raider-related episodes in the future?

[@Prohass]

I’m not sure why so many people were down on shadow. I thought it was great, felt just as good as the rest of the trilogy

[@Beforezzz]

Rise was wayyy better than Shadow imo.

[@leahmacdonald5122]

oh man, I didn't realise when I started playing this that I could switch to modern controls... TANK CONTROLS ARE SO BAD.

[@Reds-Retros]

They are actually the best way to play these games because they were designed around a grid based system and her entire moveset was designed to fit that grid. It takes practice to get used to it but the original controls are actually very well designed and satisfying.

[@DrRESHES]

I wished for Lara's Last Revelation but she didn't get revelationazed in this run.

[@Chaz4543]

I played the mobile ports of TR I and II they are literally unplayable with the touch controls. Tank controls + touch controls = totally unplayable.