Tomb Raider has been an iconic video game series for over 25 years. With new fans picking up the remasters or registering the upcoming Netflix anime on their radar, we've seen lots of chatter about specific eras in the franchise history. What are these eras? The Classic Era of Tomb Raider covers the original games developed by Core Design, which released on the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and Dreamcast, consisting of:

• Tomb Raider

• Tomb Raider II

• Tomb Raider III

• Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation

• Tomb Raider: Chronicles

• Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness

These games kicked off a legacy embraced by fans eager to explore the world for artifacts, relics, and ultimately lift the veil on ancient mysteries. Lara Croft's classic era adventures included 'helping' Natla find pieces of the Scion, a showdown with Marco Bartoli in dragon form, and investigating meteorites in Antarctica. Her story was fleshed out further with insights into her past adventures with her mentor Werner Von Croy and a retelling of her exploits told in a memorial format. This era closes with... the accusations that Lara Croft murdered her mentor?! We took to Twitter and Facebook to ask the fanbase: why do YOU love the Classic Era of Tomb Raider and here's what many of you said!

"The classic era of TR is such a huge part in gaming history. These 90’s games were such a huge milestone back in the day and it’s a great way to learn how gaming has evolved. So many games have taken inspiration from this era, and if you didn’t know it’s time to find out why. " - Apollo_353

"Once you take a bit of time to learn the controls, the traversal of the levels becomes *extremely* satisfying. The whole place is a playground and you're in complete control of your every move. If you're into traversal and puzzles, you can't go wrong (And some combat)" - Potkanice

"Get lost in the ambience of solving puzzles with beautiful background music playing. The hours would fly by. " - TR Archives

"She redefined what it means to be a platformer, just like how Mario did back in the 90s. The combat was thrilling, the puzzles made you think, the music was beautiful, and Lara Croft made it all come together perfectly. She is the Heroine of Video Games, the Tomb Raider." - Gamer_0wl

"complicated and deep level design like no other, hard and satisfying platforming, insane bosses, the best sense of adventure ever! that's what make classic Tomb Raider so so good! " - SOP-9

"She was the first video game character I ever came across when my mother began playing the very first Tomb Raider when I was just 3 years old. Lara is the reason I fell in love with gaming. There’s no other character like her & the stories & locations you visit are just stunning!" - Kobrakid80

"Classic Tomb Raiders the greatest music, best levels that felt like a puzzle and had the 90s cheese thrown in. " - Matty

"They should play the classics because they were revolutionary for their time, it was the first real 3D action adventure game. The remastering of the graphics with the original environment does the game a great justice, especially for people who didn’t grow up on Ps1 graphics. " - Kurt

"The feeling of wonder that's captured in the classics are like nothing else. A powerful sense of discovery and loneliness as you go through ancient tombs. The soundtrack is fire, too.

There's a reason these games started an entire franchise " - Seth

"Because these adventures never get old. At least not for me anyways. Love me some classic Lara! " - Paul "Because of the wonderful flair. You explore so many ancient places, solve riddles and there are not so many enemies. The background music sequences are the best!

I grew up with the classics and of course I had to buy the remasters- they made my year!" - Nadine

"It’s the perfect combination of story, adventure and puzzle solving! They were the greatest games of that generation! " - Andrew

"my dad bought me classic Tomb Raider 2 when I was a kid and said that I'm "brave just like that character" I loved that game ever since. (also my dad called her "Lara Craftberg" once because he's terrible with names ) " - Olga

"Beautiful India.. Has secrets even at the very beginning of the game, before you slide down. It is not easy to beat the game and find everything. One needs to explore a lot and find out what Lara is capable of" - Maarit

The Classic Era has stood the test of time as a break-out hit of the late 90s, offering innovative gameplay, moody music, and exploration unique to the genre. We will never get tired of backflipping out of danger while shooting dual pistols, Lara's sass to those who would try to best her, or that classic jingle denoting you've found a secret of the level. What did you love about the Classic Era of Tomb Raider? Was it your favorite? Stay tuned as we explore more reasons fans love the Tomb Raider franchise on this very blog!

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Tomb Raider (1996)

Tomb Raider II

Tomb Raider III

Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation

Tomb Raider V: Chronicles

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered

Video Games