What's the best way to play the original Tomb Raider these days? I gather you don't approve of the remaster.
The remaster isn't bad, actually.
I replayed the original on Steam out of the box last year, Steam runs it through DOS Box. There are a few minor graphical glitches but it runs stable and you get the full original 1996 experience.
Many people recommend using fan patches to polish up the original, but those patches increase the view distance, and limited view distance is a BIG factor in some levels' atmosphere (particularly Saint Francis' Folly).
If you want the truest TR1 experience, just buy it on Steam or GOG and play it straight out of the box without any modern patches.
As for the remaster, I only have an issue with their design decisions regarding the overhauled graphics.
Some areas have their entire vibe changed, like the example I posted of Palace Midas now being open air rather than underground.
The new textures often look significantly different to the originals, usually not in a good way. Some textures are even quite obviously AI upscaled and look hideous.
Lara's character model looks great (and there's barefoot mods available so that obviously gets my approval
) because it's based on the original cutscene model of Lara, this is the one visual overhaul the remaster devs actually did right. Character models in general look great. However, animals look goofy as fuck, just look at this fucking shot taken straight from the Steam store page lmao:
But the worst element of the new visuals is how key items are MUCH harder to spot now. Keys are much smaller and more realistic-looking, so they blend in with the environment. Same with some other key items, like the iron ingots in Palace Midas:
You may also notice how the lighting in the remastered graphics is more subtle and realistic. The original's lighting looks much brighter and more uniform, while the new lighting is more about keeping it dark and moody.
It may look better, but it makes reading the room harder, which isn't a good thing in a game all about reading the environment in order to solve jumping puzzles.
However, the remaster allows you to
seamlessly switch between modern and original graphics by hitting F1 on your keyboard.
All these comparison shots I posted are taken from the remaster. It's perfectly playable with original graphics. Keep in mind, however, that the view distance is larger than in the original (this is only an issue for TR1 though, TR2 and TR3 had a higher view distance in the originals too), so it's not a 100% accurate representation of TR1's original 1996 version. It is, however, pretty much exactly the same as playing TR1 with the most recommended fan patches.
For all its faults with the graphical overhaul, I like what the remaster offers: it's the easiest way to play the three original games flawlessly on modern machines, you can switch between original and remastered graphics with the push of a button, and - most importantly - the remaster contains all the expansion packs for TR1, 2, and 3, which contain some of the best level design the original Tomb Raider games have to offer. Those must usually be hunted down from old download sites and are a bit of a hassle to install, so having them bundled and ready to play in the remaster is a huge point in its favor.
Overall, the remaster is solid and I can wholeheartedly recommend it as a good way to play classic Tomb Raider.
My only problem is with the art direction of the new graphics. 99% of the artistic decisions they made here are truly baffling.
