I've not enjoyed any other Tomb Raider game as much as I did the original. Admittedly, it hasn't aged terribly well - in all kinds of ways - but at the time it was entirely new.
Furthermore, the restrictions it was working within somehow enhanced its atmosphere. Those caves and tombs were empty and eerie, Nathan McCree's minimal score remains possibly my favourite ever in a video game, fitting perfectly with the sense of isolated exploration, and Lara - as originally depicted - didn't feel as awkwardly sexualised as she later became.
Obviously, Tomb Raider didn't remain a small, quirky, release; it was the biggest gaming phenomenon of the 90s - and it's still going today. There's a third game in the successful reboot trilogy due later this year, and a new Tomb Raider movie, inspired by the reboot, out now.
Here are eleven things you might not have known about the series' origins.
Furthermore, the restrictions it was working within somehow enhanced its atmosphere. Those caves and tombs were empty and eerie, Nathan McCree's minimal score remains possibly my favourite ever in a video game, fitting perfectly with the sense of isolated exploration, and Lara - as originally depicted - didn't feel as awkwardly sexualised as she later became.
Obviously, Tomb Raider didn't remain a small, quirky, release; it was the biggest gaming phenomenon of the 90s - and it's still going today. There's a third game in the successful reboot trilogy due later this year, and a new Tomb Raider movie, inspired by the reboot, out now.
Here are eleven things you might not have known about the series' origins.
IT WAS RELEASED FIRST ON THE SEGA SATURN
Though Lara Croft became synonymous with the PlayStation, it was released originally for the Saturn. A deal with Sega ensured that the game had a brief period of exclusivity on the console before it arrived on the PlayStation.
Though both versions were developed concurrently, the earlier Saturn release gave Core Design time to fix bugs and optimise the graphics for the PS1 - ensuring that the PlayStation version was the definitive Tomb Raider experience.
And, let's face it, hammering the first of many nails in Sega's coffin.
Though both versions were developed concurrently, the earlier Saturn release gave Core Design time to fix bugs and optimise the graphics for the PS1 - ensuring that the PlayStation version was the definitive Tomb Raider experience.
And, let's face it, hammering the first of many nails in Sega's coffin.
LARA CROFT ORIGINALLY HAD A DIFFERENT NAME
Tomb Raider's creator Toby Gard originally conceived of the game with a male protagonist, sporting a whip and a hat (sound familiar?), before reworking him into a female South American adventurer called Lara Cruz. She was, apparently, inspired by Neneh Cherry, Tank Girl, and the female characters in Sega's Virtua Fighter.
Lara's twin pistols were a nod to the movie Hard Boiled, while her athletic jumping' n' shooting' - and unlikely proportions - were lifted from the MTV animated series Aeon Flux.
Lara's twin pistols were a nod to the movie Hard Boiled, while her athletic jumping' n' shooting' - and unlikely proportions - were lifted from the MTV animated series Aeon Flux.
THE ORIGINAL LARA CROFT IS NOW AN AUTHOR
Shelley Blond, the original voice of Lara Croft, has written two children's books, The Multi-Coloured Bird and The Lonely Spider.
In a 1996 interview, Blond hissed: "I was asked to do a very monosyllabic ‘female James Bond‘. My voice is naturally very expressive and I was continually reminded to be monosyllabic and play her in a straight way... I wanted to make her voice sexier and more expressive but they insisted."
Blond was too busy to record dialogue for Tomb Raider 2, and was replaced by actress Judith Gibbons. However, Blond's grunts and groans were retained.
Oddly, and entirely coincidentally, she also presented a show for kids' channel Trouble entitled Room Raider, where she redesigned viewers' bedrooms. Presumably while grunting and groaning... in an entirely non-sexy way, of course.
In a 1996 interview, Blond hissed: "I was asked to do a very monosyllabic ‘female James Bond‘. My voice is naturally very expressive and I was continually reminded to be monosyllabic and play her in a straight way... I wanted to make her voice sexier and more expressive but they insisted."
Blond was too busy to record dialogue for Tomb Raider 2, and was replaced by actress Judith Gibbons. However, Blond's grunts and groans were retained.
Oddly, and entirely coincidentally, she also presented a show for kids' channel Trouble entitled Room Raider, where she redesigned viewers' bedrooms. Presumably while grunting and groaning... in an entirely non-sexy way, of course.
LUCOZADE
At the height of her popularity, Lara Croft everything advertised Visa, SEAT cars, a skin cancer awareness charity, and Gourdonstoun boarding school. Most memorably, she was also the face of Lucozade, the disgusting orange "health" drink which, for a time in 2001 (to coincide with the original Tomb Raider movie), was renamed "Larazade".
A tie-in competition allowed Lucozade drinks to visit a real-life Croft Manor, and compete in a Tomb Raider-inspired challenge. The winners of the challenge won a Land Rover used in the movie.
A tie-in competition allowed Lucozade drinks to visit a real-life Croft Manor, and compete in a Tomb Raider-inspired challenge. The winners of the challenge won a Land Rover used in the movie.
LARA CROFT THINKS MEN ARE PIGS
Lara Croft became caught up in the Britpop cultural movement of the mid-90s, appearing on the cover of The Face as a uniquely British sex symbol. Little wonder that many pop stars of the time wanted to be associated with her - and she even appeared on screens during U2's Popmart tour.
She also featured in the 1998 music video for the song "Männer sind Schweine" (Men Are Pigs) by the German pop-punk band Die Ärzte. A CGI Lara was seen engaging in various attempts to murder the band during a performance of the objectively terrible song.
She also featured in the 1998 music video for the song "Männer sind Schweine" (Men Are Pigs) by the German pop-punk band Die Ärzte. A CGI Lara was seen engaging in various attempts to murder the band during a performance of the objectively terrible song.
KATIE PRICE WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL LARA CROFT MODELS
The first model to portray Lara Croft in real-life was Nathalie Crook - now a full-time mum of four children. She appeared at an ECTS trade show in Lara's trademark hot pants and vest alongside two other models, one of which was the Page 3 model Jordan... today better known as gobby Loose Women panelist Katie Price.
Ironically, Price was later accused by another real-life Lara model, Lucy Clarkson, of developing a "close friendship" with her husband. It was, curiously, not the first time Clarkson and Price had feuded in public; at a 2006 red carpet event, Clarkson hitched up her skirt, revealing to photographers the words "Jordan kiss my..." written across her buttocks.
Later Laras included Rhona Mitra and Nell McAndrew... who was fired after she posed nude in Playboy. After complaints from Eidos, the magazine was forced to place stickers on the cover to obscure any connection to the Tomb Raider series.
Ironically, Price was later accused by another real-life Lara model, Lucy Clarkson, of developing a "close friendship" with her husband. It was, curiously, not the first time Clarkson and Price had feuded in public; at a 2006 red carpet event, Clarkson hitched up her skirt, revealing to photographers the words "Jordan kiss my..." written across her buttocks.
Later Laras included Rhona Mitra and Nell McAndrew... who was fired after she posed nude in Playboy. After complaints from Eidos, the magazine was forced to place stickers on the cover to obscure any connection to the Tomb Raider series.
THERE IS A ROAD NAMED AFTER LARA CROFT
As perhaps the only interesting thing to ever come out of Derby, the Tomb Raider series has been honoured by its home town in a number of ways. In addition to a blue plaque on the site of Core Design's former offices - now a block of flats - a 2010 public vote led to a new ring road being named Lara Croft Way. 89% of the 27,000 votes supported the decision.
Other famous Derby residents have included Ted "Fit The Best: Everest" Moult, grime MC Dubzy, and the actor Maxwell Caulfield, who provided the voice of James Bond in the video game James Bond 007: Nightfire.
Other famous Derby residents have included Ted "Fit The Best: Everest" Moult, grime MC Dubzy, and the actor Maxwell Caulfield, who provided the voice of James Bond in the video game James Bond 007: Nightfire.
LARA CROFT IS 50 THIS YEAR!
According to her original official biography, Lara was born on 14/02/68, in Wimbledon, Surrey. That would've made her 28 during the first Tomb Raider, and 50 today.
The biography also revealed that she is 5' 9", weighs 9st 4lbs, and her vital statistics are 34D-24-35 (an important consideration for any video game character). Additionally, the biography reveals she has written two books entitled "A Tyrannosaur Is Jawing at My Head" and "Slaying Bigfoot", and that she has a fear of her Auntie's corgi, which has bitten her on several occasions.
This may provide a rationale for why Lara shows little remorse over shooting animals in the head.
The biography also revealed that she is 5' 9", weighs 9st 4lbs, and her vital statistics are 34D-24-35 (an important consideration for any video game character). Additionally, the biography reveals she has written two books entitled "A Tyrannosaur Is Jawing at My Head" and "Slaying Bigfoot", and that she has a fear of her Auntie's corgi, which has bitten her on several occasions.
This may provide a rationale for why Lara shows little remorse over shooting animals in the head.
LARA'S CREATOR TOBY GARD QUIT OVER HOW SHE WAS SEXUALISED
The man most directly synonymous with the creation of Lara Croft is Toby Gard. He was famously protective of the character, allegedly refusing to include a hidden "nude Lara" Easter egg in the original game (though clever coders later offered their own), and stating that he never intended to create "some kind of Page 3 girl".
Gard left the series following the release of the original game, when he disagreed with Core's vision for Tomb Raider 2, and the way it which the character was being marketed.
He gasps: “What I objected to was the marketing which represented Lara in a way that was nothing like the character. At the time I didn’t like that and it prompted me to want to retain control of characters I created in the future, so that’s why I left."
He went on to create Galleon for the original Xbox, but returned to the franchise for Tomb Raider Underworld, for which he co-wrote the story and directed the cut-scenes.
Gard left the series following the release of the original game, when he disagreed with Core's vision for Tomb Raider 2, and the way it which the character was being marketed.
He gasps: “What I objected to was the marketing which represented Lara in a way that was nothing like the character. At the time I didn’t like that and it prompted me to want to retain control of characters I created in the future, so that’s why I left."
He went on to create Galleon for the original Xbox, but returned to the franchise for Tomb Raider Underworld, for which he co-wrote the story and directed the cut-scenes.
NOBODY KNOWS IF LARA'S BREASTS WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE THAT BIG
Gard has claimed in interviews that Lara's breasts were never intended to be so absurdly proportioned. He claims he accidentally increased their size by 150% instead of 50% while adjusting the character model, and his colleagues agreed unanimously that he should keep them that way.
In 2016, original Tomb Raider level designer Neal Boyd cast doubt on Gard's story, telling Eurogamer: "Toby developed the model to look like his drawings. I knew we'd get flak from people. But he wasn't bothered about that. He was happy with the way she was. I don't know whether he had a thing for big breasts? He was a very secretive guy. He'd never answer a question straight.
"He always claims he slipped on the mouse and made the breasts bigger than he meant to, but how true that is, I don't know."
In 2016, original Tomb Raider level designer Neal Boyd cast doubt on Gard's story, telling Eurogamer: "Toby developed the model to look like his drawings. I knew we'd get flak from people. But he wasn't bothered about that. He was happy with the way she was. I don't know whether he had a thing for big breasts? He was a very secretive guy. He'd never answer a question straight.
"He always claims he slipped on the mouse and made the breasts bigger than he meant to, but how true that is, I don't know."
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