The classic Tomb Raider trilogy of the 1990s are undoubtedly some of the most well-known and beloved games in the history of the industry which are very much hailed for setting out the action-adventure template that so many other games would go on to replicate. There have been a handful of ports of the original Tomb Raider games, but after all these years, the first three games are finally being fully remastered for modern consoles for new and longtime fans to jump into.

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While these games are considered to be some of the best in their respective genre, they certainly aren't perfect, and there are a few specific issues that make it quite difficult to go back to them nowadays considering how far games have come. It would be a wise move for developers Crystal Dynamics to iron out some of these annoyances to make for a much more enjoyable experience, and these problems listed below are the biggest ones they should probably think about fixing up first.

7 Improved Facial Expressions

This is admittedly a fairly small change, but it would go a really long way in making the characters more believable and realistic. Of course, given the time that the original games were released, the technology didn't allow for advanced character models which often made Lara and her allies feel pretty stiff and robotic when they would interact with one another.

Simply adding a touch of expression to the faces of each character would really drive home moments that are supposed to be more shocking and scary throughout the game. With that being said, no one is expecting the facial animations to be as advanced as those seen in the Survivor

Trilogy that was released in the 2010s, but it wouldn't hurt to at least touch them up a little bit.

6 Weapon Wheel

Throughout her adventures during the first three games, Lara comes across a range of weapons that will not only help her overcome enemy encounters, but that are also often needed to complete certain puzzles. Usually, the player would need to go to the inventory screen to manually switch between weapons, but this is quite an outdated system that has since been replaced by a much quicker and more convenient weapon wheel in a lot of action-adventure games.

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Not only would this make the combat a lot more fluid and fun, but it would also make using med-packs much more seamless without taking the player out of the action. This is another pretty small addition, but it would really help add to the immersion and pacing of these games while also feeling a lot more comfortable for players who may have come from the Survivor trilogy.

5 Enhanced Lighting

This was primarily a problem with Tomb Raider 3, but it did also affect the other 2 games in certain spots too where the levels were far too dark. Because the classic games don't feature an objective marker or minimap, it means the player would need to analyze their surroundings and figure out where to go next, but this was near-impossible on levels like London or the underwater sections in Aldwych which made them an absolute nightmare to play through at times.

In fact, many players have resorted to using cheats so that they can carry around an infinite amount of flares to counter the problem, but they really shouldn't have to go to these lengths just to see what's actually going on. Improving the lighting in these areas would be a very welcome change that would make a playthrough of Tomb Raider 3 much more manageable and fun overall.

4 More Forgiving Enemies

While the very first Tomb Raider was pretty light on its combat, leaning into the adventure aspect of the experience much more, developers Core Design decided to ramp up the challenge considerably in Tomb Raider 2 which led to some very difficult, and often annoying, enemy encounters. The inclusion of ranged enemies is the main issue as they can easily stun and kill Lara from a fair distance with rifles, shotguns, and in some cases, even flamethrowers.

On the other hand, there are armored enemies who felt like they would take an age to take down, using up every last bullet which left Lara with nothing to defend herself from the next few enemy groups. These enemies don't necessarily need to be removed entirely, but it would be very much appreciated if they were at least nerfed a little bit so that they not only deal less damage but also are a lot easier to kill so that Lara can get back to exploring as soon as possible.

3 Subtitles

Subtitles may be a staple feature of video games nowadays, but back in the 1990s, they were actually pretty rare and only reserved for RPG games in most cases, so the classic Tomb Raider games, unfortunately, missed out on them. The audio quality for the voices in the original trilogy wasn't exactly the best, and it meant that it would be extremely hard to understand what any of Lara's comrades were actually saying, especially the butler who has become somewhat of a meme among the fanbase for how difficult it is to make out his words.

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The inclusion of subtitles would also make the game a lot more enjoyable for players who aren't native English speakers who will now be able to follow the story a lot easier. It's a very modern feature that is almost guaranteed to be included in the remasters, but it's one that fans have been rightfully begging for ever since they were first announced in the Nintendo Direct.

2 Better Save System

Having a limited number of saves was very common for games back in the 1990s with other popular franchises like Resident Evil also using it to make the player think twice about recording their progress, but it could easily become pretty frustrating in Tomb Raider 2, and especially the third game. Save Crystals in Tomb Raider 3 were often hidden in the most obscure of places, meaning if players didn't investigate every single inch of every room they traveled through, they would most probably miss out on them, leaving them with barely any opportunities to save.

This is actually quite a divisive system as while some enjoy the Save Crystals for how much they add to the immersion, there are others who see them as an unnecessary nuisance, and there's no doubt that they would limit the accessibility of the remasters for new players. Therefore, rather than removing them entirely, maybe offering the option to use them or simply an auto-save feature when booting up a new playthrough would be a much better option.

1 Easier Movement

By far the biggest obstacle to enjoying the classic games in their original form was the clunky movement which, while impressive for the time, has become extremely outdated by today's standards. Luckily, it's already been announced that modern controls will be included alongside the tank controls which will make Lara a lot easier to control, but there are a few other much-needed enhancements that would make the game overall a lot more enjoyable.

Faster movement in general would be a great addition since Lara moves painfully slow when shimmying across a ledge or climbing in the originals which does end up harming the pacing. The same is true with crawling through small spaces and pushing objects as part of a puzzle. A free camera would also go a very long way in making the movement feel a lot more comfortable and fixing what is, for many people, the biggest downside of the classic titles.

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered Starring Lara Croft

Platform(s)

PC , PS5 , PS4 , Switch , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Xbox One

Released

February 14, 2024

Developer(s)

Aspyr , Crystal Dynamics

Genre(s)

Action-Adventure