I picked this game up purely by chance last week. what caught my eye was that it was being billed as an updated/modernised version of the original game which was released in 1996. If memory serves me correctly I had a Sega Saturn at the time and most likely played the original game on that.

Even back then it was a ground breaking game and I spent hours and hours playing it.
From my own point of view I lost interest in the series as more shooting encounters were added to the game - I enjoyed the puzzle solving aspect of it. So it was with some trepidation that I bought this.

Some stunning graphics

I am pleased that I did buy it, when you first run the game its hard to see where the connection to the original is but once you get further into it though you start recognising some places like the Damocles room with the hanging swords and the coliseum.

This game does bring back a lot of memories but is very enjoyable in its own right for those who never played the original. There are some very frustrating and time consuming puzzles - which is what you expect (and want) from a game like this and in a market that is swamped with bloody war games (no pun intended) this is a very refreshing change.

Lara swinging

Interestingly the game features built-in cheats which you can unlock as you progress through the game. Some of them are typical, such as infinite health/ammo etc but there are also different outfits you can unlock that Lara will wear such as a shiny black rubber catsuit :s

Lara in rubber
Other bonuses include things such as a texture-less play mode, game commentaries, music and an art gallery.

The art gallery was quite interesting for me as you don’t appriciate how advanced the anniversary edition is from the original until you see some of the side-by-side game examples.

A direct side-by-side comparison with the original game
Its definitely worth buying if you have a lot of free time and like puzzle solving.