Title: Tomb Raider Collection 1
System: Evercade
Price: $24.99
Release Date: Mid 2024

Prelude

Deja Vu! Last year one of my hardest reviews to write was of the Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Collection, which brought these classic games into HD and gave them a nice makeover combined with a toggle to play with the original graphics. Most of my thoughts in that review can apply to this one almost exactly, but that doesn’t make this Evercade version fully redundant. For starters, these are the original PS1 versions, meaning all the original PS1 quirks are here. No bonus expansions, different saving systems, and some system-specific presentational quirks that not even the retro style of the remasters caught all that well.

As a nice little treat to myself, after trying and struggling a lot with the remasters in the modern control setting, I decided to also shake up how I played the games in this collection vs how I did in the remaster. While I just embraced full modern controls and constant saving in the remasters, I decided to fully embrace the tank controls on Evercade without any remapping attempts, and to try and challenge myself to beat a couple of stages via Tomb Raider 1’s infamous Save Crystal system, which led to bigger penalties and a higher challenge in that original entry. I still used save states plenty for the other two games though, but I still wanted to shake up my experience so it didn’t feel like a 1:1 copy of my earlier attempts.

Also, cheats! They were in the remaster, but I didn’t use them there for the sake of focusing on a more pure experience. Here in TR I-III though? I gladly gave myself extra weapons, but didn’t go further beyond that except in Tomb Raider III for very obvious reasons. Either way, I hope this leads to an interesting review when paired with my other one of the remasters, so I don’t feel like I’m repeating myself all the time! And in the end, will there perhaps be a superior version on Evercade VS the remaster?!?

Presentation

All three games are PS1 titles, which as per usual take a bit longer to load on anything that isn’t the Super Pocket or original Evercade. The OG evercade has control shortcuts to make up for the lack of buttons, but otherwise it’ll play these games fine. Do note the mini HDMI feature doesn’t play nicely with this cart on the OG, but I don’t know if anyone even used that port.

This is also the first “Giga Cart”, but it just means the cart is bigger with more storage. Nothing fancy about the loading or any extra features, just a means to fit more games in space.

Anyhow, you might remember from my remaster review how I was a bit grumpy with the lighting in these old games, since there were a few moments in which I had to switch between the retro and new styles just to see certain areas properly due to how the shadows look. I was actually kinda worried going into these PS1 versions that I’d be struggling with visibility more often than not since I couldn’t just hit a button to see my surrounding area differently, but to my shock the lighting in all three of these games are way better in their original PS1 form; more consistently lit, easier to distinguish, and no spots where it felt like I was covered in pitch black like in the remasters.

All in all, the low poly nature of these original versions were very charming to go back to, and I found myself preferring the look of these PS1 versions over the way the remasters showed the “retro” style. The weird jagged edges and chunky polygons just look way better here compared to the remaster, although I will prefer how the presentation is in Tomb Raider III remastered solely due to how the framerate isn’t constantly choking like in this original version. Not that TRIII is a particularly great game, but you can really feel the stress that new engine was putting on the game with that one.

Gameplay

You know the drill by now. 3 games, 3 I basically reviewed already, and am re-reviewing here on Evercade. Any extra context on what I think can pretty much be filled in by reading my remaster review.

TOMB RAIDER– The original game that started it all! Still my favorite of the three, as it brings the fun little cinematic platforming flair to the third dimension in a fine way, especially considering there weren’t analog sticks on the PS1 controller back when this originally came out. You move and traverse throughout multiple countries, going through massive levels and making the most out of the delicate controls.

It takes a bit of getting used to at first, but once you realize how the windup for jumping and your movement is a lot like a cinematic platformer, the Tomb Raider games are really enjoyable to play, and the difficulty curve here is just right. Unlike the remaster, you can only save your game’s in-game progress here by doing so at Save Crystal checkpoints, though the Evercade save states makes it easy to circumvent, but I at least managed to get some fun out of trying to clear early stages the old fashioned way, with just the crystals and my own built up skills.

TOMB RAIDER II: Starring Lara Croft– The sequel to the original game, refining the core gameplay loop from the original game, having a bit more combat, and introducing new things like vehicles to play around with during the stages. Pretty darn fun, and unlike the original game you can just save from the menu, making this the most like the remaster when it comes to its save system.

Is it as fun as the first game for me? I honestly had this as my favorite of the three for a while, but I shifted over to the original game since it felt more pickup and play, while moments like the vehicle sections and some of the areas of the second world felt a bit more complicated and easier to get lost in than similar levels from the original game. Not to mention some later levels get outright irritating with block pushing and slow paced progression, leading me to prefer the first game’s puzzle-oriented stages a bit more overall.

Still, Tomb Raider II si very fun to play, and a natural difficulty increase from the first game that doesn’t feel unfair or extreme, unlike what comes up ahead… This one is a much longer game than the original Tomb Raider as well, so you’ll be in it for a while.

TOMB RAIDER III: Adventures of Lara Croft– Yep, I still hate this one, even in the original form and even with playing with cheats. It still took the great ideas from the first two games and did new things with them, but the increased difficulty is just still way, way too frustrating to have as much fun as you could in the original games. When I was able to still challenge myself with the save crystal mechanic in Tomb Raider 1 and have more fun with that old school save structure, compared to trying to play this one with cheats and save states, that honestly says a lot about how this game tries to ramp up the challenge to the point of absurdity.

Thankfully, Tomb Raider III still isn’t an impossible game, and if you manage to memorize and brute force at it a bunch, you will get to see some cool locales and decent stages. They upgraded to a new engine after all, and this game has several moments of using said engine rather well, even if the framerate tanks constantly as a result of such upgrades. Still, vehicles are back, as are a huge variety of locales and weaponry, so if you’re up for a challenge or just want to cheat your way through in order to see the ending, this one is a long but tolerable adventure.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as much as this set of games may seem utterly redundant with HD remasters available on literally any modern system you can get your hands on, there’s still a pretty great charm to these original PS1 versions, and the Evercade handles them wonderfully. Playing this after having tried the HD versions last year, and I found myself slightly preferring the originals with save states here VS the remaster and the weird lighting in spot, making this my go-to method for actually working to finish these games.

Still, even if these games are long and offer a lot of fun, they do have pretty big learning curves, and you’ll either bounce off it hard or have it click with you enough to enjoy this collection for dozens upon dozens of hours. Even Tomb Raider III can be somewhat fun if you get the hang of that one, but even if you only end up liking one of the three games here, I definitely find this trio of adventuring games to be more than worth your time on Evercade.

I give Tomb Raider Collection 1 a 7 out of 10.