Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered review

Lara Croft may need no introduction, but her first three artefact-swiping, wildlife-bothering, lever-pulling adventures were in real danger of becoming exactly the sort of forgotten relics she hunts for. Tomb Raider Remastered hauls this trio of excellent action-adventure-puzzle hybrids and their original expansions—foundational examples of a style of adventure game we're still enjoying today—back into action. This is the definitive version of these games, feeling both 25+ years old and also brand new at the same time.

What is it? Three legendary action-adventure games given a loving makeover
Expect to pay £24.99 / $29.99
Developer Aspyr, Crystal Dynamics
Publisher Aspyr
Reviewed on Intel i9-13900HX, GeForce RTX 4080 (laptop), 16GB RAM
Multiplayer? No
Steam Deck Verified
Link: Steam 

Tomb Raider Remastered runs fantastically: Whether played on PC or Steam Deck, it scales to whatever my current display's maximum resolution is without effort or fuss. No matter how long I played or how many times I jumped between games, saves, or hardware, it never did anything other than work exactly as intended.

I was disappointed to find the old graphics options gone, replaced with the ability to read a dry EULA. Aside from a chance to tweak a few basic control/sound settings (both traditional «tank» controls and modern analogue alternatives are available), there's basically nothing here I can fiddle with. But the ability to swap between old and new graphics was clearly the priority, and it's implemented very well here.

The framerate didn't wobble even when I was mashing the game's dedicated graphics toggle button, seamlessly switching back and forth between the tastefully updated (and default) new look and the classic style, crude 2D keys and all. It works at any moment—the toggle is so comprehensive it applies to every FMV cutscene, as well as menus, menu fonts, and even the static loading screen art. 

These little sharp-edged worlds are the perfect place to play out all of my wildest