CaityFM

I'm low key getting choked up over this area because this conglomerate of levels was what got me into TR. I didn't realize it until I was able to walk on the water in the temple, then it all came back to me! It's been 10 years since I played this level. I would go to my friend's house every day, listen to Paramore's RIOT! on repeat, and spend hours exploring around the sacred lake. I never said I was good at it, haha. The electric obelisks really brought back the feels. I'm so glad I'm playing this again. Also, 10 years went by pretty fast. Holy crap.

Levels uhhhhhh I forget I hope she's carrying neosporin and bandaids in her pack. or knee pads. good lord.

I think i saw this same thing in Vegas once. On to valley of the kings! In Valley of the Kings, I learned that I am beyond terrible at maneuvering that jeep. Shameful considering I'm a jeep lady in real life. Also, DUN DUN DUN Von Croy the lizard man has returned

Level 1 completed! I have a PS2 controller adapter coming in the mail, but until then I bound all the controls to somewhat make sense to me? The interesting thing is that I ended up binding them so that I can play with one hand. It's been a wild ride. I'm impressed that I remembered how to get through this first part after having taken such a long hiatus! The look on the guide's face there at the last never fails to crack me up. I do have a question though: F12 doesn't take screenshots for me during this game, only prtsc does. Is there a way to get F12 to work so that I can take multiple shots and comb through them after I close the game? Lara please, I'm just trying to pick up these shotgun shells. Yes, I know Nicki Minaj should be jealous. I agree.

HELLO FRIENDS! I'm so excited to jump into this, oh my god. Ok. Before I make my first official official entry, I have something to confess. I've never beaten TLR. I've played bits and pieces, but have never gotten more than halfway through. I do love the look of this game, which is why it was my suggestion. The colors and settings really appeal to me, and 10 or so years ago when I first played the tutorial, it left a lasting impression that I still haven't forgotten of a young, sassy, pigtailed Lara. I'm so nostalgic about it. I will be playing on PC for the first time. I have always previously fired up the ol' PS2, but it's just so much easier to pay the $.97 (WOO, SALES!) and play it on my laptop like I do every other game these days. It will definitely be an experience. Lets goooooooo!!!!!!!

Pretty sure I'm just going to play through TRA and while only reflecting on TR1, since it's still pretty fresh in my mind. And the next time I play TR1 I will definitely play it on PC so I can maybe get my gaming youtube channel up and running. [CatastrophePlays] Midas's Palace: TRA I don't even have anything to say about how frustrating this level can be. Between the spike room, the fire pillar room, and the sandy ascent...eugh. At least I know when to expect gorillas now! Tomb of Tithocan: TRA I started this level out by promptly drowning....BUT IT GOT SO MUCH BETTER!!!!! After a grueling previous several levels, I've finally reached my second favorite part of the game (apart from Lost Valley...) ~THE CISTERN~ Gee whillikers, Batman! I can't really pinpoint what I love about this level, I just just love it. Maybe it's being able to swim through the places you just walked. I'll finish this level later, however.

Surprise surprise! Has it been pretty much a year? Yes! Am I posting another entry? Absolutely! I was looking through my Chrome bookmarks when I came across this forum and it all came flooding back, so I dusted off the PS2 and loaded up... The Coliseum - TRA I have flashbacks on top of other flashbacks about this level. All that time spent running around doing nothing, being killed by various wild animals, inevitably jumping off everything and drowning myself out of sheer frustration.....good times. *eye twitch* You know, it's absolutely incredible how nervous I get while playing specifically this Tomb Raider. (TRA and TR1 both, actually.) The feeling of complete and utter isolation in such huge areas...especially after having spoiled myself on the constant banter between Zip, Alister, and Lara in Legend and Underworld. It really has made it all the more nerve wracking...coupled with the feeling that around any corner a lion or gorilla is going to rip my organs out. The reason it's astonishing how scared I get is because I'm primarily a horror gamer. I literally play Outlast, L4D2, Res. Evil, Slender (and all knockoffs,) countless indie horror games, ect...ALL THE TIME. None of it gets to me. But God forbid I'm trapped in a Coliseum by myself with copious amounts of firepower and a few measly animals...I will pee myself. [That being said, if anyone wants to add me on Steam my GT is Catastrophe and my icon is a little avatar with a bun.] All in all, I enjoy this level a lot more in TRA than in TR1. It was a lot easier than I remembered.

are we still doing the thing ???

[[i'm still on hiatus until everyone catches up]]

St. Francis Folly (⊙‿⊙✿) Jimminy Christmas I hate this level so much. I don't remember it so much in TRA, but it gave me constant and relentless crap in TR1. This is one of those levels where I got stuck so often the first time through that I just gave up and kept swan diving off of everything. This, the colosseum, and palas midas were heck getting through. I was rather mystified with watching Lara turn to gold more times than I should have, however. I'm one of those gamers. ~Intermission consisting of approximately 45 deaths and a myriad of swear words and threats~ This level is fantastically well executed, incredibly challenging, absolutely gorgeous, and I hate it so much. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻) worthy notes: -I was totally able to trigger the Atlas ball without having to run down the ramp. -This level took me 4 hours and 55 minutes to complete. And now I think I'm gonna wait for everyone to catch up.

Tomb of Atlantean Bro #1 I completed this level in TR1 yesterday, and to my surprise it was a lot shorter than I had remembered. I guess I spent so much time trying to figure it out the first time I played it that I didn't realize how short it actually was. I also have to wonder how the heck raptors got in the tomb...if there was a show about all the illogical things that happen in TR it would run longer than The Simpsons. This level is a bit more complicated in TRA. I did the only thing I knew how to do -trigger the boulder- and it turned out to be the thing I was supposed to do. I think. It's frustrating how deadly the darts are in TRA after getting used to them not being very important in TR1. OH, HEY, THERE'S THOSE SWINGING AXES I WAS LOOKING FOR IN VILCABAMBA! Geez, no wonder they gave me two free medipacks. How does this stuff even still work after all these ye-AHHRRAPTOR WHERE DID YOU EVEN COME FROM THIS DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL Yeah, this level is getting on my nerves. Come one Qualopec, cut a girl a break. I knew something bad was gonna happen in the second room, and whad'ya know, the wolf pit I forgot about! I'm glad they kept it. Hey, Larson. Hey, Pierre. And hello, St. Francis Folly...my arch nemesis.

The Lost Valley: aka in the top 5 best levels of any TR game ever. I love this level so gosh darn much. I totally agree with Jessica about preferring TR1 to TRA. I guess we're Tomb Raider hipsters. Cons to this level in TRA: You come in from the wrong side. The wall of cogs at the top of the waterfall serves no purpose whereas in TR1 it's the whole point of completing the level. OK RANT TIME! I hate the t-rex battle in TRA. Hate it hate it hate it. you're forced to fight it and kill it before you can do anything else. My favorite part of The Lost Valley was NOT fighting the t-rex face to face. I liked making a run for the cave that leads to the bridge so that I could (A) feel like indiana jones hauling a** away from a t-rex & ( B ) fight the t-rex from the bridge. that, and pressing R1 50,000 times I got stuck after the battle because I didn't know they put the underwater tunnel in the temple I actually got stuck a couple times but this isn't really a con because it's my dumb fault Just when I was really starting to appreciate the scenery, it was time to go back into the caves the way back to the caves is difficult! Pros: Still drooling over these graphics The path to getting into the valley is kind of nice [minus the bear that I didn't expect] The way you stumble upon the valley is a nice surprise, and I love how the cave gets foggier and greener the closer you come to the valley. I'm glad they made it a have-to thing to climb on top of the temple and skirt the top of the valley because I loved doing that in TR1 and I think everyone should know how pretty it is it seems like there's too much civilization in here for a place with a t-rex hanging out HEY FOUND THE BRIDGE HELLO FRIEND man it is literally so gorgeous wow

Sorry to be jumping ahead, I just love these first three levels. I went out and bought a shiny new PS2 controller [and pizza.] I made my last post having only played Caves in TR1 and trying to remember the Anniversary equivalent, so I'm actually playing both Caves and Vilcabamba today in Anniversary. additional Caves observations: The more I replay this, the more things I realize I forgot about. (freakin Larson) Does the unlucky guide in the Caves intro have a name? Am I allowed to call him Pedro? ...Gonna take that as a yes Pedro didn't bring enough rope to let me climb to the entrance. Rude. Looks like karma came with fangs today. Uh...Lara...you wore sunglasses but not, y'know...a coat. or pants. I know you're hardcore but... ~Vilcabamba~ Firstly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSpHSneHTGc I also love how easy it is to push and pull blocks in Anniversary. Pushing blocks gets really old really fast in TR1. >,> WAIT A SECOND I forgot about the dumb shooting system in Anniversary. I don't wanna push R1 repeatedly, I'm lazy! hold up yo did a single dart just hardcore kill me...well huh *sighs loudly at the annoying door-opening sequence at the end of Caves* When I said the developers kept the general layout of TR1, I forgot about Vilcabamba. A lot of my favorite things about this level aren't there in Anniversary! WOW THE BEARS ARE EVEN MORE TERRIFYING IN THESE GRAPHICS HOT DANG SON heheh it did a front flip when I killed it Oh it's already over! Lost Valley tomorrow.

Alright let's do this! [after spending an hour dragging an old tv upstairs and setting everything up] Caves and...Caves Firstly, I'm not gonna start a new game for TR1 because -what can I say- I reeeeeally like unlimited ammo. Also, I never actually beat Anniversary. I got pretty far but somehow my game got erased. I was at least at the centaur battle, because I remember thinking "wow, now I can be severely annoyed while enjoying these PS2 graphics!" I have to say, the uzis are my favorite weapon. Probably just because they shoot really fast and it makes me feel like I'm doing a lot more damage. The first three levels are my favorite, so when I played Anniversary for the first time I was really hoping the developers would keep a lot of the layout and details and whatnot, which they did. I was afraid it was gonna be like Legend, where there really isn't any sense of adventure for me. The path you're supposed to take is plainly laid out for you and you can't stray from it very much to explore. Legend has a great plot and it's one of my favorite TR games, it's just not great for hardcore adventuring. I like to know that when I get bored I can find random things to climb and end up on top of a mountain in the Lost Valley. I really loved playing the opening of Anniversary instead of watching it in a cutscene. The process of opening the doors to level 2 in Anniversary is pretty annoying to me after having pulled a lever and slid down for so long. [these observations aren't going in order at all] Obviously I love how breathtaking the graphics in Anniversary are and it really is an amazing experience seeing everything. [especially in Lost Valley, but I'll get to that later.] It's super cool not seeing scenery in pixel/block form. MY PLAYSTATION CONTROLLER ONLY LIKES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE X BUTTON EXISTS HALF THE TIME ARGH oh my goodness golly gee I need to invest in a new controller ~

I wish I still had my tv and ps2 hooked up in my room, it would make this a lot easier. I don't wanna be out in the living room interrupting Duck Dynasty... Also I downloaded the TR1 demo onto my laptop to see how terrible I was at the controls...just look at the situation I got myself into!

I'll play both too. I'll do a level in each game and compare, unless I get lazy...which will probably happen...

Man, it's been far too long since I've done a group play. It's been far too long since I've played TR for that matter... I'm really excited to do this!

Jessica- I totally still love killing things, like people, but I dunno...tigers and mythological sea beasts are my soft spot. Actually, I think I'm a little quicker to kill in the PS1 games because the graphics are... less than realistic. xD I also feel bad for not taking screenshots, but they wouldn't look pretty like the ones on PC. ~Croft Manor~ Why EVEN is there so much space underneath that house? Lara even lives on ruins. I don't know why we only just found out about them. Wouldn't you think that Lara would have set up her bedroom down there? xD It took her all those years to find her dad's study, that tape recorder, and the thralls... (which have been running around in her basement.) She probably knew all that was down there, but just didn't bother looking until now. I couldn't have resisted. My friend lives in a very old house with a cellar and sealed doors, and she hasn't so much as went down there once. I did once, when she first moved in... it was insanely cool. And oddly enough, my camcorder (with a previously full battery) decided to die right as I descended. Anyway, why are there candles burning down there in Lara's basement? Even if they're the battery operated kind, they would be long since out. All good questions. I love how the wall in Richard's study leads right into the hallway. I would have definitely taken that route instead of going through all that. Why did Richard risk the lives of 6 explorers just to box up the thralls?! Just leave them be, it's not like he could get close enough to study them. D: ~Above ground~ "Honestly, guys, I can't go excavate my own basement without you burning down my home. What happened, Zip? Did your rotisserie chicken catch on fire while you were taking a nap? Oh, Alister's going to be positively flipping his lid if any of his books get burned." I was pretty nerve wracked the first time I played this level. After all the times where I got to hop around in Croft Manor and lock Winston in the freezer, or find hidden secrets and basically wreck the place, it was all burning to the ground. But nothing could have prepared me for when Doppy shot Alister. I was at my friend's house when I first played this level, so I could scream "NOOOooooOOOoOoooOooooo!!!" as loud as I wanted, and she didn't think I was crazy. I have been a hardcore Larister shipper from day one of Legend. I was a little surprised that the makers actually killed him off. Twas a heartbreaking moment in the world of gaming...or at least my world of gaming, anyway. Welp, onto Southern Mexico! ~End~

I shall be posting like the next 2 levels tomorrow

~Thailand!~ Even on PS2, this level is visually stunning. I love to just look out over the sea for a minute at the start of the level. I'm not sure if Thailand is my first favorite level, but it's certainly in the top 3. I love that part of the world, and I love to study Hinduism. I actually have an "Om" symbol pendant that was made in Nepal that I wear all the time. Every time I kill one of those blasted tigers, I can't help but feel bad for helping them go extinct. I guess it's the same mentality as with the kraken. I think it's very clever how the ruins end up sitting on top of the Niflheim-type ruins. I always praise the creators of these games for tying so many different cultures in with each other. Those Naga though! They die, then they aren't dead, then they're dead. Killing them once is like shooting a zombie in the leg- it just doesn't work. I always end up thinking I've killed them all only to turn around to 3 more of them getting back up. Pretty intense. When Lara reads the rock her dad carved for natla I'm always like "OH HO HO THE PLOT THICKENS!" I realize I didn't write very much for this level x) I'm saving all my wild typing for the croft manor tragedy.

WOAH HI THERE! Sorry I've taken so long! Prologue/Le Med (PS2) I remember way back when I first played Underworld, I was so confused by the prologue. I was thinking "OH my gosh what how oh my gosh CROFT MANOR STOP IT STOP BURNING GAH" Now I just run through it as fast as possible so I can start the actual game so I can weep over the fire later. The med level has always been by far the most boring for me, at least the first part of it anyway. All swimming and no fun! I do really enjoy killing the kraken though, even if it is a majestic creature and would have probably been the most amazing marine discovery ever. Then again, Lara has probably ruined a lot of would-be discoveries! xD I'm sure she would think of it as "cleaning them out" before the more boring explorers started dusting them off. I love being on Amanda's ship, it's the most fun part of the level for me. The dialogue is pretty great. I actually typed out the whole script to this game out once and reenacted it with my Tomb Raider-ignorant friend. She didn't know how to deliver anything xD I just love saying Natla's lines! She's such an interesting character. And darn; the climb up the sinking ship is pretty intense! As a closing thought; I have no idea how Lara found that gauntlet in the ocean after Amanda threw it. That thing would have been long gone if I was the one looking for it. x)

Alrigt guys, looks like I won't be playing on PC. My game card thing isn't good enough. I'll be posting my first level tomorrow!

How are you getting it to work for Windows7?

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll fiddle with it and see if I can't get it running smoothly. Yeah Jessica, I totally did not expect Lara's mum to be (basically) a zombie. I'm not even sure what I wanted to happen, but I didn't really want her to be dead. Or undead. Edit: Welp even with all my fiddling and the patch, it's not working because of some video card disc driver thingy. Maybe if I do all that with Windows 7 it'll work.

Alright! I'm so excited! Too bad I ended up stuck with the PS2 version though. I bought it for PC but I have Windows 7 and it was being too slow. My aunt's laptop has Vista, but for some reason it's doing the same thing. If anyone knows what I could do, please tell me! xD Until then, PS2 version.