Tomb Raider - PS1...my eyeballs hurt.

[DeputyMoniker]

Since the new TR has just come out & it's getting such good reviews, I thought I'd break out the first TR & try to remember exactly what I loved so much about it. Well, it's everything. The music, suspence (after the first encounter with the dogs I'm afraid to turn corners), the puzzles, the fully 3D environments...it's an amazing game. Especially for 1998.

I thought it had analog support! I guess if I think hard enough I remember using L1 to look around. That took me by suprise though.

It isnt as pretty as I remember it being. Dont get me wrong, its a masterpiece but the game I remember playing back in 1998 was a little smoother, had a higher frame rate, and the water moved more fluidly. Have they done something to the GH version I'm playing now? Removed some frames? Added some bonus jaggies for nostalgia? Perhaps my PS2 is trying to "fix" it and only making things worse. It could be my s-video, I was using a plain AV cable back in 1998...maybe my s-video is too clearly showing my jaggies?

I think my memory has failed me. Like Leonard Shelby from Momento said: "Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts."

Well, I'm off to play some TR. This is the first time I've played it since 1998 and replaying it is the best decision I've made all month. I'm having a great time with it.

[InsaneDavid]

Bah, I've always hated those games, then again people are pretty much divided right down the middle on them.


It isnt as pretty as I remember it being. Dont get me wrong, its a masterpiece but the game I remember playing back in 1998 was a little smoother, had a higher frame rate, and the water moved more fluidly. Have they done something to the GH version I'm playing now? Removed some frames? Added some bonus jaggies for nostalgia? Perhaps my PS2 is trying to "fix" it and only making things worse. It could be my s-video, I was using a plain AV cable back in 1998...maybe my s-video is too clearly showing my jaggies?

'Tis how it's always been. In the words of 14 Year Old Girls...

Tomb Raider,
Tomb Raider,
I f*ing hate you...

[Ed Oscuro]

PC version ain't too bad. And I also thought III was relatively decent.

Check out the demo for Legend if your ol' Compy can handle it. Same brain-dead puzzles, but the game looks great :D

[c0ldb33r]

It isnt as pretty as I remember it being. Dont get me wrong, its a masterpiece but the game I remember playing back in 1998 was a little smoother, had a higher frame rate, and the water moved more fluidly. Have they done something to the GH version I'm playing now? Removed some frames? Added some bonus jaggies for nostalgia? Perhaps my PS2 is trying to "fix" it and only making things worse. It could be my s-video, I was using a plain AV cable back in 1998...maybe my s-video is too clearly showing my jaggies?

You think the playstation version is ugly? You should try the Saturn version. It's pretty ugly - although I did still play it to death anyway :D
http://img417.imageshack.us/img417/2624/tomb0082zz.th.jpg (http://img417.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tomb0082zz.jpg)

[Damaramu]

Wow, this brings back a memory. Who was the little shit-head that was dogging on the graphics a little while back? Whiskers? lol Monster?

Yeah, the graphics haven't aged quite as well as most of remember, but dammit I sure was impressed back in '96 when I watched a roommate play that game for hours. LOL

[Haoie]

I'm on the camp who have always hated TR titles. Something about them is very unappealing.

That's not to state I dislike 3D action platformers, for example Soul Reaver is 1 of my fav titles.

[Jibbajaba]

Wow, this brings back a memory. Who was the little shit-head that was dogging on the graphics a little while back? Whiskers? lol Monster?

Indeed.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75858&highlight=tomb+raider

Might want to continue your bashing of this game there.

Chris

[roushimsx]

Especially for 1998.

1996, good sir...which made it even more amazing.

Hell, I had the PC and Saturn versions and enjoyed the hell out of both of them. I'll have to follow your lead and fire it up sometime and see if it's as brutally difficult and fun as I remember it being (on PC w/ a glide wrapper, mind you).

If anyone wants to ride the nostalgia train new york hardcore, I'd be more than happy to record some gameplay videos of the Saturn version (as a bonus, I have no svideo cables for my saturn, just composite...so it'll be just like it was 10 years ago) :)

[vintagegamecrazy]

I may try the pS1 version, I played the Saturn Version and dang did it look aweful.

[EricRyan34]

I have all of the PSX versions of the Tomb Raiders. I loved every one of them. I also think that the new Tomb Raider Legend for 360 is amazing, probably the best one yet. I couldnt get over how smooth the controls are.

[Overbite]

I played it using a PS1 emulator on my computer and it made the game look better. Though I think your problem is nostalgia and that you played it last a long time ago when graphics like that were great. Not so anymore :eek 2: :eek 2: ;) :embarrassed: 8-) :-P :D -_-

Still fun though.

[Blitzwing256]

WHAT NO MENTION OF THE NGAGE ONE?

FOR SHAME

or something ;-)

[Anthony1]

I was also going to mention 1996, but somebody else beat me to it. First off, this was one of the first 3rd person action/adventure games in 3D, that was done right. If not "the' first. Also, one must remember that the PS1 is pixel city. That's just the way it is. Games from the early era of 3D, just don't look so good after the years go by. Ever try looking at one of the early polygon sports games? It's hard to imagine we even played those ugly games, but play them we did. You see, when some of these games first released, they were absolutely extraordinary compared to what we had been used to up till that point.


Crash N Burn for the 3DO is a good exmaple. Crash N Burn looks like ass right now in 2006, but in the Fall of 1993, it was absolutely astounding. I know, a buddy of mine actually bought a 3DO the day they were released, and I was at his house virtually every day playing the early 3DO games and being totally amazed by them. Now they look like ass, and it's just a situation where something can have a particular impact at a certain time, and then look absolutely laughable with the passing of time.


Also, I played the Saturn version of Tomb Raider not too long ago, and I was actually quite suprised by just how close it was to the Playstation version. Much, much closer than I would have ever imagined. Back in 1996, my buddy that had the 3DO had one of the first 3DfX computers, and had Tomb Raider for the PC, it absolutely blew the PS1 version out the water, and that was the reason that I ended up getting a 3Dfx computer a few short months later. That and Unreal.

[DeputyMoniker]

Wow, this brings back a memory. Who was the little shit-head that was dogging on the graphics a little while back? Whiskers? lol Monster?

Indeed.

Might want to continue your bashing of this game there.

Chris

:hmm:
And the thread takes a negative turn.
In case one of you are calling me a shithead or telling me to go bash the game somewhere else, let me quote my own bashing.
"..it's an amazing game. Especially for 1998."
"try to remember exactly what I loved so much about it. Well, it's everything."
"Dont get me wrong, its a masterpiece"
"replaying it is the best decision I've made all month. I'm having a great time with it."

Yeah, it does hurt my eyes. That's not a decision I've made though...it just hurts.

(Excuse the mistake, my GH copy is from 1998)

[GrandAmChandler]

Wow, this brings back a memory. Who was the little shit-head that was dogging on the graphics a little while back? Whiskers? lol Monster?

Indeed.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75858&highlight=tomb+raider

Might want to continue your bashing of this game there.

Chris

We have a post about this as Senor JibbaJaba has posted above. Please continue all Tomb Raider bashing there.

Oh, and play nice kiddies, or no candy in your Easter basket tomorrow.

(.)EASTER LOCK (.)