Tomb Raider 25th anniversary ---------------------------------------------- Originally created by a small, six-person UK developer, Tomb Raider has grown into one of the biggest video game franchises in the world, selling 84 million copies and spawning several Hollywood movies ---------------------------------------------- Original 1996 character model (right) made up of 230 polygons. By 2013 iteration (above), Lara Croft consisted of around 200,000 polygons – more than double amount original PlayStation could handle ---------------------------------------------- TOMB RAIDER GAMES/MOVIES Launch platform* (Games in bold are canon) 1996 Tomb Raider Saturn, PlayStation (PS), PC 1997 Tomb Raider II PS, PC, Mac 1998 Tomb Raider III PS, PC 1999 The Last Revelation PS, PC 2000 Tomb Raider Game Boy Color 2000 Tomb Raider Chronicles PS, Dreamcast, PC 2001 Curse of the Sword Game Boy Color 2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Movie 2002 The Prophecy Game Boy Advance 2003 The Angel of Darkness PS2, PC 2003 Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life Movie 2006 Legend PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PC, GameCube, PSP, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS (DS) 2007 Anniversary PS2, Xbox 360, PSP, Wii, PC, PSP 2008 Underworld PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, DS 2010 Guardian of Light XBox 360, PS3, PC 2013 Tomb Raider PS3, Xbox 360, PC 2014 Temple of Osiris PS4, Xbox One, PC 2015 Relic Run Android, iOS, Windows Phone 2015 Lara Croft Go PC, Android, iOS, Windows Phone 2015 Rise of the Tomb Raider XBox One, XBox 360† 2018 Shadow of the Tomb Raider PS4, Xbox One, PC 2018 Tomb Raider Movie 2022 Tomb Raider Reloaded Android, iOS 1994: Aged just 23, video game designer Toby Gard (above) creates Latin American game character, Lara Cruz, later changed to British Lara Croft 1997: Gard quits Core Design, citing creative differences. Tomb 1998-2000: Games begin to look jaded as pressure to release new title each year takes its toll 2001-2003: Two financially successful but critically panned movies released Protracted development of Angel of Darkness on PS2 sees publisher Eidos force game out unready, to critical mauling 2004-2018: Game development taken from Core and given to Crystal Dynamics in U.S., who hire Gard as consultant. Nine successful games released Movie reboot replaces Angelina Jolie (left) with Alicia Vikander (above right) in lead role. Critics applaud casting, but find plot uninspiring 2022: New cartoon-style video game for smart- phones and tablets (right) Original box art for 1996 game Gameplay revolves around exploration of hostile habitats, solving puzzles and avoiding deadly traps ---------------------------------------------- *Games were frequently ported to other systems in subsequent months/years (omits mobile games, slot machines and other spin-offs) †Heavily criticised exclusive release for XBox consoles only – arrived on PS4 and PC one year later. Sources: Square Enix, Crystal Dynamics, GamingScan, Wikipedia, Nick930 (YouTube), Statista. Pictures: Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics, Warner Bros, Paramount, Getty Images, Creative Commons © GRAPHIC NEWS