The main problem that the Tomb Raider franchise suffered in the PSOne was the lack of improvements.
User Rating: 8.1 | Tomb Raider Chronicles PS
Since Tomb Raider was released, everyone started to see videogames from a different angle. Not only the game was fun, but it offered a nice amount of challenge to complete the levels. Lara was characterized by her amazing acrobatic abilities and strong personality. When the sequence came, everybody was disappointed. Tomb Raider II was nothing more than a copied 1st version with improved graphics and another environments. But the game was quite the same, with anything different. And those disappointing "improvements" were kept until the 4th game was released. It changed the series completely, presenting Lara's new abilities and a variety of gadgets and weapons. But again, the transition from the 4th to the 5th game was the same. Everything is the same, except Lara's new polygonal model, that is thinner and more sexy. Her trademark pistols still there, and there's a nice variety of weapons, but nothing new. I've missed a Grenade Launcher-type weapon in this game, that proved very useful in Tomb Raider: The Lost Artifact. At least one improvement can be seen: not only the graphics, but there are some parts in the game that you'll need to aim in first person view to get past an obstacle (E.g. Trojan Market's boss, the Head Guardian). This is the only use of another weapon, because the whole game can be finished only killing things with your pistols, making the game too easy. Of course, the PlayStation was limited in programming, but they could have found a way to get around this with more work. I admit that they worked hard on this game, but i think Core Design has lost it's abilities to produce a Tomb Raider game. Thank God that the franchise is now in the hands of the veterans from Crystal Dinamics, and they proved with Tomb Raider Legend that they can take the drill. I only hope that the games from now on don't be as silly as they were in the PSOne era, and they put some real work to make the Tomb Raider series as fun as they were in the original game. There are no extras at all, reducing the longevity of the title. Unfortunately, this game isn't worth buying, unless you are a big fan of Lara (like me).
