A new teaser has been unearthed from Prime Video’s live-action Tomb Raider adaptation, and it shows Sophie Turner as the series lead, Lara Croft.
Earlier this month, Prime Video let the cast out of the bag with the live-action Tomb Raider. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s live-action project has confirmed that Jason Isaacs and Sigourney Weaver will star in the upcoming series adaptation, alongside other notable cast members with roles plucked from the video games. At the time, Sophie Turner had already been confirmed as the series lead (shortly after the series was greenlit in 2024), and today, Prime Video has given fans a first look at her portrayal of the legendary video game archaeologist. Amazon MGM Studios released the photo as it announced production is underway on Tomb Raider. The full image can be seen below, courtesy of Prime Video.
Prime Video’s Tomb Raider is based on the iconic video game franchise, which follows the adventures of Lara Croft. In an interview with SiriusXM (posted to Instagram), Sophie Turner revealed she’s playing the video games and reading the comics to prepare for the role, but she’s avoiding watching the previous on-screen versions of the characters, saying “I’m kind of doing all of it, but not really focusing on the previous iterations, because I don’t want to imitate, I’ve gotta create my own thing. So, as much as I love those movies, I can’t watch them right now.”
Phoebe Waller-Bridge serves as creator, writer and executive producer on the series, and Chad Hodge is an executive producer and co-showrunner. Jonathan van Tulleken will serve as director and executive producer. Alongside Turner as Lara Croft, the cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs, Martin Bobb-Semple, Jack Bannon, John Heffernan, Bill Paterson, Paterson Joseph, Sasha Luss, Juliette Motamed, Celia Imrie, and August Wittgenstein.
Prime Video’s live-action Tomb Raider has just entered production, so it may be a while before it hits the screen. Until then, Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is on Xbox Game Pass.
Alicia Vikander's turn as Lara Croft in 2018's Tomb Raider adaptation is having a bit of a renaissance it seems. The film, which is largely based on the rebooted Survivor timeline, recently popped up on the Netflix top 10 films list, seven years (give or take) since its initial release.
The year 2026 is shaping up to be a total collision course of legacy sequels and high-budget gambles that might actually pay off. We are looking at a calendar where the industry finally stops leaning on the cross-gen crutch and starts pushing hardware to its absolute limit. Between Rockstar’s inevitable gravity well and Capcom reviving dead samurai franchises, the release schedule looks like a minefield of potential masterpieces and expensive flops. I’ve parsed the hype, filtered the noise, and ranked these projects based on their likely market dominance and cultural footprint.
Grand Theft Auto VI – GTA6 is always top to wait game
The Titan That Will Swallow the Industry: Grand Theft Auto VI
Rockstar is finally ready to show us where the money went. November 19, 2026, is the date everyone is circling with a mix of excitement and genuine dread for their free time. Expected to push the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S to their absolute breaking point, this is the biggest thing happening in 2026, period. It’s the kind of project that forces every other publisher to move their release dates out of sheer terror. Expect a level of detail that makes current open worlds look like a collection of cardboard boxes. It’s going to be a massive commercial beast, and we’ll see if the writing can still hit that cynical Rockstar sweet spot in today’s world.
Max Payne I and II Remake PlayStation Xbox PC
The Brutal Edge of Superheroes: Marvel’s Wolverine
Insomniac is carrying the PlayStation brand on its back right now, and this PlayStation 5 exclusive is their most aggressive move yet. We’re expecting a visceral, R-rated Logan that refuses to play nice. If you want a game that feels like a punch to the gut, this is the one. It’s got the high-budget polish and the talent to be the biggest thing outside of the Rockstar orbit. It’s going to sell millions on brand name alone, but the raw grit is what will make it stay on your hard drive. This is easily the silver medalist for 2026 success, catering to everyone who wanted the Spider-Man quality with a lot more blood.
Resident Evil Requiem
Horror Royalty and Speed Demons: Resident Evil 9 and Forza Horizon 6
Capcom is calling this one Resident Evil: Requiem, and the word on the street is that it’s the bridge connecting the entire series for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It’s horror for the masses, polished to a mirror finish. Right next to it, Forza Horizon 6 is finally taking the festival to Japan as a flagship Xbox and PC title. The car culture there is legendary, and if Playground Games nails the neon aesthetic of Tokyo and the rural mountain passes, it’s going to be the visual benchmark for the hardware. These two are the heavy hitters for the mid-year window that will dominate the conversation.
Forza Horizon 6 expected 2026
High-Budget Fantasy Gambles: Fable and Rise of Hydra
Microsoft needs Fable to be a home run on Xbox and PC. It’s been in the oven forever, and while the pedigree of Playground Games is undeniable, translating that British wit into an RPG is a different beast entirely. It’s a dark horse that could dominate the holiday season if it finds its voice. Then there’s Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, aiming for a cinematic launch on consoles and PC. With Amy Hennig involved, the expectation for a cinematic powerhouse is sky-high. It’s a straightforward action play that will move units on the Marvel name alone, even if it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel.
Resident Evil Requiem 2026 – Leon
The Thinking Man’s Games: Control, Slay the Spire 2, and Tomb Raider
Remedy doesn’t make games for everyone, and that’s why they’re great. Control: Resonant is headed to PS5, Xbox, and PC for the heads who want their brains scrambled by high-brow weirdness. It’s a specific vibe that won’t hit GTA numbers, but it will be the critical darling of the year. Slay the Spire 2 is the indie king here, likely dominating PC first. It’s pure mechanical perfection that will ruin your sleep schedule. Meanwhile, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is trying to prove Lara Croft still matters across all major platforms. Reimagining the original is a safe move, but it needs to do more than mimic the Uncharted formula to stand out in the 2026 meat grinder.
Grand Theft Auto VI – GTA6 expected in 2026
Nostalgia Plays and Specialized Hits: Onimusha and Monster Hunter Stories 3
Capcom is digging into the vault for Onimusha: Way of the Sword for PS5, Xbox, and PC. It’s a nostalgia play that has a dedicated following but might struggle with a younger audience that didn’t grow up with the PS2. Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is another specific win, likely finding a home on Nintendo’s next hardware and PC. These are solid performers that know their lanes and stay in them, providing that old-school flavor for the players who miss the straightforward brilliance of the early 2000s.
Control Resonant
The Wuxia Dream and the RPG Newcomers: Phantom Blade Zero and Blood of the Dawnwalker
Phantom Blade Zero looks incredible in motion, like a Hong Kong action flick come to life for PS5 and PC. The concern is whether the gameplay holds up under the flash. It’s a new IP from S-Game that could be the breakout hit of the year if the difficulty is tuned right. The Blood of Dawnwalker is the first outing from Rebel Wolves for consoles and PC. It’s got that CD Projekt Red DNA, and RPG fans are starving for something with that kind of depth. It’s a long shot for the top of the charts, but it has the street cred to be a sleeper hit for the hardcore crowd. So lets wayt for Phantom Blade Zero a bit to see.
Onimusha – Way of Sword
The Nintendo Guard and the Creator’s Return: Mario Tennis, Yoshi, and Gang of Dragon
With the Switch 2 in full swing, Nintendo is dropping Mario Tennis Fever and Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. They’re the reliable revenue earners—low risk, high polish. They won’t set the world on fire with innovation, but they’ll be in every household with kids. There’s also the faint hope for a Super Mario Galaxy 3 announcement to coincide with the movie, though that’s leaning more toward wishful thinking for the Switch 2.
The Blood of Dawnwalker – gameplay 2026
Toshihiro Nagoshi is also stepping out with Gang of Dragon on PS5 and PC. It’s a gritty urban adventure from the man who gave us Yakuza, and while it’s a niche appeal, the quality is usually undeniable for anyone who likes their games with a bit of street-level grime.
Tomb Raider- Legacy of Atlantis Lara is back in 2026
The Expansion Fatigue and the Valve Pipe Dream
Blizzard is trying to keep the lights on with World of Warcraft: Midnight on PC, but the real test is Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred. After the last expansion left a lot of the community feeling cold, this move on consoles and PC is starting to look like a play for a player base that’s already moving on to greener pastures. Then you have the absolute madness of the Half-Life 3 hope. Every year some optimist thinks Valve is finally going to count to three on PC, and 2026 is no different. It’s the ultimate believe-it-when-I-see-it situation, but the cultural weight of that brand is so heavy it can’t be ignored even if it’s probably just another beautiful lie.
Tomb Raider- Legacy of Atlantis 2026 gameplay
The Cult Creeps and Horror Junkie Fixes
The 2026 horror landscape is a chaotic mess of legitimate scares and nostalgia bait. Hellraiser: Revival is bringing body-horror back to consoles and PC, which carries weight if you actually care about visceral aesthetics. The Sinking City 2 is also crawling out of the woodwork on PS5, Xbox, and PC, trying to fix the jank of the first one while leaning into that damp, Lovecraftian misery. Then there is the Fatal Frame: Crimson Butterfly remake for consoles, which is basically the IP holders realizing that we’ll pay for the same trauma twice if the ghosts look high-def enough.
Fable 2026 expected game – Walking medieval downtown
You also have Ghost Master: Resurrection for the strategy nerds and Crisol: Theater of Idols, a PC-focused shooter where your own health is literally the ammo. Poppy Playtime is still kicking around too, proving that the mascot horror trend is far from dead on all platforms.
Phantom Blade Zero Demo games 2026 .jpg
Indie Grinds and Licensed Brawlers Fighting for Scraps
Mewgenics is finally looking like a real thing on PC, and anyone who knows Edmund McMillen knows that it’s going to be a disgusting, addictive masterpiece. Alongside it, we have Neverway and 1348 Ex Voto representing the smaller, more personal projects that usually end up being the games we’re still talking about five years later. On the fighting front, it’s a weird mix of licenses for all systems. Invincible VS and Avatar Legends are clearly aiming for that specific fan crossover, while Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is trying to carve out its own space in a genre that is notoriously hard to break into. These games won’t be topping the charts, but they provide the texture that keeps the industry from becoming a monotonous loop.
Control Resonant expected 2026
The Nintendo Trap and Remedy’s Backlog
Nintendo is playing the long game with the Switch 2, and their 2026 lineup is a masterclass in emotional manipulation. There’s the faint hope for a Super Mario Galaxy 3 announcement to coincide with the movie, though that’s leaning more toward wishful thinking for the new hardware. On the technical side, everyone is wondering what’s happening with the Max Payne 1 & 2 Remakes. While Remedy is pushing Control: Resonant, the shadow of those noir classics looms large over PS5, Xbox, and PC. If they manage to drop both in the same window, it’ll be a total takeover of the mid-tier market. Meanwhile, Poppy Playtime is still kicking around on all platforms, proving that the mascot horror trend is far from dead for the audience that likes their childhood toys turned into homicidal monsters.
Control Resonant gameplay in 2026
Licensed Brawlers Fighting for Scraps
On the fighting front, it’s a weird mix of licenses for all systems that feels like a fever dream for the tournament scene. Invincible VS and Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game are clearly aiming for that specific fan crossover, while Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is trying to carve out its own space in a genre that is notoriously hard to break into. These games won’t be topping the charts or making Rockstar-level money, but they provide the texture that keeps the 2026 calendar from being a monotonous loop of the same three genres. It’s the grit at the bottom of the pan that actually gives the year its flavor, even if most people are too distracted by the shiny stuff at the top to notice the real work being done here
After several incredible releases, big-name titles, and surprise hits, 2025 in gaming is rapidly coming to an end. It's time to look forward.
Below, we've gathered just some of the games we're looking forward to playing in 2026. Make sure to let us know what you want to play, which games you're curious about, and which ones you'll pre-order the moment it's possible.
And you know what the best part is? These are just scratching the surface. There's a whole calendar of 2026 titles to look forward to, plus plenty more surprises that will drop and take the gaming world by storm.
It starts and ends with GTA 6 in 2026. It's currently slated to finally launch on Nov. 19, and is not just the most anticipated game of 2026, but probably of all time. It's got impossible expectations, and its pricetag will be a point of discussion up until it's finally out (will they actually charge $100 for it?), but everyone in the industry and world is waiting for this one to drop.
Resident Evil Requiem
Image via Capcom
First-person? Check. Survival horror? Check. Third-person? That too. Action gameplay? You got it!
Leon S. Kennedy and newcomer Grace Ashcroft take the stage in what's being described as the end of an era in the Resident Evil franchise for its 30th anniversary. Whatever comes next will be different, but for now, RE9 is looking and sounding like the best of both distinct identities the series has had.
Marvel’s Wolverine
Image via Insomniac Games
Get ready, bub, because Insomniac Games' follow-up to its Spider-Man games is finally coming in the fall of 2026. The action-adventure game promises lots of rage, even more blood, and a whole lot of mutants and X-Men cameos.
Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
Image via WB Games
Imagine a LEGO Batman game that's based on several different movies and appearances of the character (like The Dark Knight and more), but with the open-world, action combat gameplay of the Batman Arkham games. We can't wait to visit LEGO Gotham in this one.
The Duskbloods
Image via From Software
From Software's next title is a Switch 2 exclusive that features both PvP and PvE in multiplayer fashion. It's still unknown what this game truly is all about, but Elden Ring: Nightreign has shown that the Dark Souls maker is venturing into full-fledged multiplayer a bit more.
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis
Image via Crystal Dynamics
Lara Croft is officially back in 2026, with a "reimagining" of her original 1996 PS1 classic. Crystal Dynamics promises some surprises in this remake-that's-not-a-remake, so franchise fans everywhere will be booting this one up with excitement and curiosity.
Marathon
Image via Bungie
This one may turn some heads, but I'm looking forward to seeing what Marathon accomplishes as a new extraction shooter when it drops in March. Will the game be good? Will it matter, after months of bad PR? Will ARC Raiders' popularity have a negative or positive effect?
After months of feedback and testing, once the game was delayed, it's looking and sounding like a better title than what players experienced in last year's closed alpha. It remains to be seen just how the game will feel on day one.
Amazon's upcoming live-action Tomb Raider series from Pheobe Waller-Bridge will interconnect with the video games, rather than being a standalone story with its own continuity in the vein of the Angelina Jolie films.
The Witcher 4 – going head to head with Elder Scrolls 6? (CD Projekt)
The Monday letters page wishes Astro’s Playroom had been a Switch 2 launch title, as one reader worries that a Tomb Raidr reboot is doomed to failure.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Epic showdown There’s always lots of talk about The Elder Scrolls 6, which I understand because everyone loves Skyrim and Bethesda are such a mess it’s just interesting following them. But I’m surprised there’s not been any discussion of The Witcher 4 lately.
We at least know a little bit about that, in that Ciri is the main character, but it seems likely that both are going to come out at almost exactly the same time. CD Projekt said no earlier than 2027 for The Witcher 4, which probably means at least 2028, and that’s exactly when The Elder Scrolls 6 is due.
Based on their recent track record I have to say I’m much more interested in The Witcher 4, and much more confident that it will be good. But both games have sold almost the same, at around 60 million (Bethesda seem to have Sony-itis when making up sales figures but let’s just assume they’re both more or less the same).
So, what would you bet on being more successful and more loved? Which are not the same thing. Personally, I think The Witcher 4 has got to be the early favourite. Johnson
Prior reading As someone that’s never played the series, I’m very curious to see if there is going to be a Half-Life 3 and if it will be on consoles. Steam Machine can’t have exclusives, but they can keep games PC-only and it seems likely they’ll do that here, which would be a shame I think.
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As far as I understand nobody knows for sure that Half-Life 3 is coming, so could the game actually be a remake? I know there’s been some fan ones, on PC, but I would like to see a big remake of the first two for all formats, so I can get a good look at it and have a chance with the backstory and the lore and everything.
It’s weird to me that one of the most talked about games ever doesn’t have a decent console version and most casual gamers have never heard of it. Bootles
Gradual influence The Reader’s Feature about Microsoft’s reverse Midas touch made me laugh, because I’ve been thinking something similar myself recently. The funny thing is I don’t there’s been enough time for Microsoft to have had any effect on Call Of Duty yet, given how long games take to make.
Being on Game Pass is obviously a difference, but that isn’t what made the game a big pile of you know what. So Microsoft couldn’t really have changed anything for Black Ops 7, I don’t think.
It’s actually more likely that Activision knew, or had a good idea, this was going to be a disaster when Microsoft bought them and just carried on anyway. They would’ve had their money by that point, so what do they care? Bruno
The one and only So I had a look at my friends list, as was trying Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 on Game Pass, terrible game on every level and about 80 were online. I was the only one playing Black Ops 7 and on top of that no one was playing EA Sports FC… a massive change from few years ago when everyone would of been playing those games
Those were games my son would get every year with his mates, now they won’t even try them as they’re rubbish. So the golden goose is well and truly cooked for both, too many similar reincarnations every year with nothing new. I also note my son’s generation are actually falling out of love with gaming, which is worrying for the future.
Microsoft buying Activision for $70+ billion looking like the worst buy in history. They saw Call Of Duty as easy money every year but now that’s backfired big time… worrying times. Thanks for everything over the last year, seasons greeting and all the best. TWO MACKS
Becoming a relic Very much agree with the weekend feature about Tomb Raider. I think the biggest problem, at this point, is it’s just too late. The reboot trilogy wasn’t that big, so you’re talking 20-odd years since Tomb Raider was number one in pop culture.
I think most people think of the films first, and Angelina Jolie, before they do the games. I definitely think younger gamers will probably be pretty ignorant of the series, and that wouldn’t really be their fault.
I hope the new game is good, and comes out sometime soon, but if they say it’s cancelled and they’ve sold the franchise on to someone else I wouldn’t be surprised. If it does come out then it’s going to have to be amazing to reverse years of increasing irrelevance. Focus
It’s the children who are wrong You’re the most reliable review site bar none, such that I frequently make decisions based on your detailed and informed analysis (your passion for the form coursing through the beautifully crafted prose). After reading your review, I’ll definitely be downloading Sektori, as it’s a genre I love.
But the Kirby Air Riders review has me slightly baffled as it’s a total outlier and I can’t think of a comparable example in the 20 or so years I’ve followed your reviews. Despite very positive reviews by Eurogamer and IGN, yours is enough to put me off buying it.
Have you ever considered writing a feature on your most controversial reviews and reflections on whether you stand by them (and whether vindicated over the passage of time)? GTA 5 comes to mind as, if memory serves well, you gave it (a very generous in my opinion) 8 out 10.
Secondly, when, as with Kirby, your appraisal is such an outlier, does it give you cause to reconsider and even give the game in question another try? I’d love to see a reflection piece on that particular review and the contrasting takes on the game.
People like to say it’s all subjective and ‘just your opinion’, but you’re experts and your views are not the equivalent of a casual gamer or biased towards a particular company, IP or genre, they actually matter and materially affect what people purchase and play – they do me at least! Ciara
GC: Thanks, but we’ve already spent more than enough time with Kirby Air Riders. Perhaps we will do a feature on other times we’ve disagreed with the consensus, if anyone else has any ‘favourites’.
Nintendo by Sony Bought a PlayStation 5 on the Black Friday sale and I have to say Astro’s Playroom is amazing. It has to be the best pack-in game ever.
This is what Welcome Tour for Switch 2 should have been. goldbricks23
GC: If only.
Face of the franchise I’ve been following your ongoing coverage of the new IO Interactive James Bond game, primarily because I’m a fan of the developer but I do have nagging doubts about the face that they’ve chosen for James Bond.
I was trying to think, throughout the movies does Bond smile at all? Certainly not a lot. I’d cross the street to avoid 007 First Light’s smirking cheeky chappie interpretation of Bond, if that is indeed the face that IO Interactive are going with. He looks like the kind of bloke who’d find his own rubbish jokes hilariously funny or go on and on about the fortune that he’s just made buying and selling crypto currency, which is going to enable him to retire 30 years early and so he’ll have plenty of time to enter and win another around the world yacht race and tinker with his vintage sports car which he bought on a whim but has actually turned out to be a terrific investment.
007 First Light Bond would also own at least one pair of driving gloves. You know he would.
It’s possible that I’m overreacting or being oversensitive, but that smirking reinvention of Bond really winds me up every time I see it. I know the game is based more on the books but isn’t Bond meant to be emotionally cold and ruthless and, above all, dangerous? First Light James Bond simply looks annoying.
I wonder if any game has been financially scuppered by the appearance of its main character? Surely video game avatars have to appeal to the people who control them to some extent because they are the player’s core connection to the game. There was a big fuss over being forced to play as Raiden in Metal Gear Solid 2 but didn’t the game sell well anyway?
Maybe it doesn’t matter what a game’s playable character looks like if the actual game plays well. Michael Veal (@msv858)
GC: We would hope so. Although we don’t disagree with some of your descriptions.
Inbox also-rans As someone that’s never really played much Battlefield before I am surprised at how well the new one is doing. Is it really so completely different to Battlefield 2042, which was a complete flop? Toasty
Am I the only one that played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with French voiceovers? If you played silent Hill f and Ghost Of Yōtei in Japanese I really don’t see why this would be any different. It’s the langue the game was made in and they’re all clearly French. Label
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It’s been a long time without a new Tomb Raider game (Aspyr)
Upset at the lack of progress on a new Tomb Raider game, a reader makes some suggestions of how to improve Lara Croft’s next adventure.
There was an update this week on the new Tomb Raider, and it did not shock me when it turned out to be bad news. For the third time, developers have been laid off at Crystal Dynamics and there’s still no sign of the game being announced any time soon, let alone released.
The new game was announced back in 2021 and we’ve seen absolutely nothing of it so far. There’s no word on what it will be like, just that it will ‘unify the classic and reboot timelines’, which tells you nothing. I’m of the age that the original Tomb Raider on PS1 was a very formative game and at the time I always imagined it would be one of those series that would go on forever.
At first it did but then we got to Angel Of Darkness and everything started to go wrong. Things picked up again with the reboot trilogy but by the end of that I’d become sick of psycho Lara and turning the whole game into a generic third person shooter, with a little bit of stealth. I wanted a new game to go back to the series’ roots but I’m starting to worry it’ll never happen at all.
There’s lots of video game series that haven’t been looked after well over the years, but Tomb Raider has got to be the worst. Looking back at it now, with adult eyes, it’s clear that they were just churning them out as fast as possible back in the PS1 days, with no thought about where they were going or how they were going to stop people getting tired of the formula.
Angel Of Darkness was meant to shake things up, but it was a complete technical mess and I don’t think I really liked any part of it, including the story. The only thing I’d say for it is it was set a lot in ordinary locations, rather than only in rocky caves and the like.
I always felt that the obvious way to expand on Tomb Raider was to make Lara a more general action star, so she could have fights and car chases in cities but also tomb-raiding in remote places and weird locations. In the old days they always used to compare Lara to a female James Bond and on the PS1 you could see them try to expand the locations as they went along.
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For some reason, the reboot trilogy was all very one note though, mostly just non-descript jungles and the odd snowy mountain. That’s a part of Tomb Raider, for sure, but it really needed to move beyond that. If you’re getting beaten by a PS1 game, for the variety of your locations, then something’s not going right.
A lot has been said about how boring and serious Lara was in the reboot series and I would agree with that. But I would expand that and say there’s basically no interesting characters in any of the games. For me, this is one of the main failures, that should’ve been easy to fix with modern consoles, especially the fact that there’s no recurring or iconic villains.
The stories are also super forgettable and the things she’s after are always uninteresting. I think it’s been a mistake to base things on various mythologies and lost artefacts, because it just feels like she’s after whatever hasn’t been used by Indiana Jones yet and it all comes across as dealing with the scraps.
What I’d do is make things more based on fictional things, like have her run into a Cthulhu cult or do something proper with the dinosaurs that used to appear in the early games. This was never explained and I really don’t know how she’s not gone to a ‘lost world’ or Savage Land equivalent yet. Instead, we got weird zombie samurai for some reason.
There’s so much more you could with Tomb Raider, but I’m worried that even if this new game does manage to come out it’ll be another reboot that’ll rerun the old games again with better graphics. As much as I Iove those old games they could be so much better today, if they expanded beyond what they were 29 years ago.
It’ll be 30 next year, so hopefully we’ll find out something about what’s going on then, but I’m not hopeful that it’ll be anything close to what I think the series needs.
By reader Cranston
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider was a long time ago now (Square Enix)
The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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It’s easy to throw around the word ‘classic’ when talking about games, but 2013’s Tomb Raider stakes a solid claim to the label. This is the game that reinvented Lara Croft for a new generation, setting in motion a great trilogy of action games, while also inspiring a new cinematic outing for the British heroine.
Some 12 years later, that original title has finally raided its way onto Nintendo’s consoles for the first time, for both the Switch 2 and the original Switch. Returning to the game in 2025 reveals just what made it so special, though you may want to experience it on the Switch 2, rather than its older sibling.
With the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 release, Aspyr has ported across the Definitive Edition of the game with all of its original DLC, scrubbing the game up and enhancing it with a few Nintendo-specific bells and whistles. In 2025, it is definitely showing its PS3 and Xbox 360 origins, but that doesn’t diminish its status as one of the best action-adventure games of all time.
To be honest, just the fact that Lara is listening to wired earbuds in the opening cutscene is enough to date Tomb Raider, but her shipwreck and subsequent kidnap have lost none of their initial impact as she’s separated from her friends amidst some truly terrifying iconography.
The Nintendo Switch 2 version of the Definitive Edition is certainly crisp and sleek looking, and while the textures are showing their age, it’s still an eye-catching game, all these years later. It’s also running at a locked 60fps, making it feel as smooth and responsive as you could hope for a 12-year-old game. The original Nintendo Switch version sticks to 30fps and a lower resolution, but it’s otherwise the exact same game, just losing some of that sense of immediacy.
I’d forgotten just how brutal Tomb Raider 2013 was. Lara is impaled within the first five minutes of the game, she spends most of her time screaming, grunting, or dying, while she’s surrounded on all sides by dead bodies, walls covered in bloody smears and flickering candles.
Admittedly, most of the dead bodies here are of Lara’s making, and as a Lara Croft murder-simulator, Tomb Raider Definitive Edition is visceral, painful and without mercy. She is, of course, fending for her own life, and those of her friends, while trying to escape from a cursed island full of cultist soldiers, but at least once or twice you’ll likely wince with the impact of a few of the blows.
So much of what we think of in terms of the modern action-adventure was in place for Lara’s 2013 outing, and while some of the gameplay elements are definitely of their time – hello split-second QTEs with instant death for failure – there are other aspects, like the life-like climbing and clambering, dual-path skill tree, stealth kills and kinetic bow and arrow action, that remain as of-the-moment as anything else released this year.
The Rihanna Pratchett-penned tale also ekes out plenty of drama from the proceedings, and manages to make Lara feel both vulnerable and terrifyingly strong and single-minded. It’s been long enough since my last playthrough that I’d forgotten many of the story beats, and I was easily wrapped back up in the island of Yamatai.
Aspyr have opted to include some features that are exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game, but… well, they’re not especially useful, or impactful. First up are motion controls. ‘Great! That’ll work really well for lining up those head shots or hunting a deer’ I hear you say, but wait! These motion controls are only for spinning around artifacts that you’ve discovered, which isn’t particularly useful.
There’s also mouse controls, which is great when a lot of developers seem to have forgotten that they exist. Unfortunately, they’re so sensitive as to be completely unusable in their current form, which makes you wonder how much testing Aspyr put into them before launching the game. Perhaps the shadow launch was also a surprise to the development team?
Sarcasm aside, both of these things can be easily fixed with a patch or two, which I hope Aspyr will be willing to put the time into, and neither is integral to the experience. With the game sitting pretty in second place on the Switch charts right now, I’d hope it’s worth their while to finish things off.
A big part of that draw will be the budget pricing, with it retailing for a very reasonable £16.39, plus a 10% launch discount to knock it down to £14.75 on both Switch 1 and Switch 2. While the Switch 2-specific features offer literally nothing as it stands, it’s a great game to return to once more, and it still holds up visually, particularly on the smaller screen.
Impressively, Aspyr have even fired up the multiplayer servers, and while many players won’t even remember that Tomb Raider had a multiplayer mode, it’s here in its entirety, letting you sneak around, finishing off other players with abandon. Thanks to the game’s popularity right now, there’s also plenty of players to face off against, so if you fancy a spot of 2013-centric Lara Croft multiplayer, you can.
Tomb Raider Definitive Edition may offer returning fans a nostalgic run through one of Lara Croft’s best adventures, but in 2025 it’s still a remarkably solid experience, especially on the Nintendo Switch 2.
BSzili is certainly no stranger to the Amiga scene, as not only did he release the Amiga port of Blake Stone Aliens of Gold, but there was also ports done of Exhumed / Powerslave, Wolfenstein 3D, BLOOD and even my personal favourite Shadow Warrior. Well it looks as if BSzili isn't done with the Amiga scene just yet, as he has released a proof of concept 'Tomb Raider' for the Commodore Amiga
Tomb Raider developers Crystal Dynamics have announced another round of layoffs, their third round of jobs cuts this year. The studio say "just under 30 team members across various departments and projects" are losing their livelihoods, and claim this is necessary "to optimize the continued development of our flagship Tomb Raider game, as well as shaping the rest of the studio to make new games for the future".
When I was younger, I was always convinced that the first Tomb Raider game got a sort of remake on the Game Boy Color. It makes a lot of sense in my mind, since the title of the game was Tomb Raider. And in the same time period, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine also got a port to the Game Boy Color. That game was an interesting remake in 2D. Now, we are not here to discuss an Indiana Jones game, so let us focus on the Tomb Raider games.
I do not always do research before I start playing a game. This game is one perfect example. I just started the game up, expecting the story starting with a rendition of the Ice Caves. But, to my surprise, the game started up different.
The actual subtitle of the game is The Nightmare Stone. On the box-art, we just got Tomb Raider as a title. On the box-art, we see that Lara is running away from an erupting volcano and behind her, you see several skeleton enemies. The bottom section is reserved for company logo’s like Eidos, Core Dynamics, the licensor Nintendo, and the publisher THQ. We also got the “Only on Game Boy Color” triangle in the left corner.
The game was released in June 2000. On June 7th, North America, Europe got it on June 28th and the UK two days later. Only Australia got the game a little bit later. Their version got released on July 18th. Nowhere on the box-art, the game got the subtitle The Nightmare Stone. The game just released as “Tomb Raider” in North America and released as “Tomb Raider: starring Lara Croft” in all other regions. This is a practice also done with the other Tomb Raider games. It would have been easier if they just added the subtitle, to make conversation easier.
The critics gave Lara Croft is first entry on the Game Boy Color very high praise. Various gaming magazines and websites gave this title 8 or 9 out of ten. The average score of this title is 79% on the aggregator GameRankings. One of the lowest scores I could find was by a German magazine named 64 Power in their June issue, giving it a three out of 5 or 60%.
Since Core Design developed this game, it will not be a surprise that you find a lot of developers on this game also worked on the main Tomb Raider games. This game was developed by people who knew how a Tomb Raider game should play. In this title, Lara is hunting after the Nightmare Stone. This stone is in possession of a treasure hunting group who wants to use it to release the evil god Quaxet, a factious god in the Mayan mythology.
Playing through this game, you really want to play through a Tomb Raider game. Of course, there are some big differences since the game got released on a handheld. The most obvious difference is that the game is in 2D. There were only a handful of 3D Game Boy games, and most of them did not involve jumping.
Another significant difference with the main line Tomb Raider games is that this game plays a lot slower. The controls are more limited on the Game Boy Color, and more action-packed gameplay could not really be implemented, per se without it becoming really clunky.
Speaking about the controls, it takes some time to get used to. I mostly played platformers or adventure games on the Game Boy, and I was so used to push the A button to make my character jump. But Lara jumps with the up arrow in this game. Not only that, if you want to climb up ledges, you need to hold B. Which is the button you use to run. If you are moving left or right and press B, Lara starts running. When Lara is running, and you press the jump button, Lara jumps in the direction she is running. This gives you a hint how to jump a gap when standing still. You have to press B first before the jump button to jump over a gap.
This control scheme is quite ambitious since there is no real tutorial in game explaining the controls. You do not have a training or testing level in Lara’s home. The manual explains these things quite well, but if you bought your copy today from a garage sale without the manual, I would advise you to look for it online. The control scheme is something that you will not really expect from a Game Boy game.
Earlier, I mentioned that this game has a slower pace compared to the main line Tomb Raider games. That was intentional. If you start running everywhere, you will find that this game will be quite harsh and brutal. There are several pits and gaps that either eat a good chunk of your health or kills you right away. Enemies are also hidden everywhere, and their damage can be unforgiving.
You cannot save where you want in this game, since the save crystals from early Tomb Raider console games return in this game. Learning where the save crystals are important. It is the only way you can save, and it is you respawn spot when Lara losses all her health. The save crystals are not close to each other, either, so I was always happy to find one.
If you do not really know the controls, it can feel a bit like trial and error. For example, I did not know that when you are running and jump, Lara will land further than from a standing jump. I did not expect this mechanic to be in the Game Boy Color games as well. Other things like dynamite being able to use to explode walls, which is something I’d have loved to get explained to me.
Overall, visually, this game is extremely impressive. Once everything starts clicking together, and you get used to the controls, this game is a hidden gem on the Game Boy Color. When you know what you are doing, this game takes around 4 hours to play through. For a first playthrough, I would say that you can finish this game in roughly 15 hours.
The game must have been quite successful since a year later we got a new adventure in the same engine and style. Eidos tried to get this game released around the time the first Tomb Raider movie released. Tomb Raider – Curse of the Sword, released in late June in North America and in August in Europe.
This time, the game was not released by THQ, but by Activision. Most of the team who worked on the first Game Boy game also worked on this title. Because this game got a shorter development time, this game is shorter compared to the first Game Boy Color game. If you know what you are doing, this game can be beaten in two and a half hours. For a first playthrough, I estimate that it will take 8 to 10 hours.
The sequel got the same reception from critics when it released. This game still shows off impressive visuals for the Game Boy Color. Remember that the Game Boy Color is an 8-bit system, and these two Tomb Raider games had such fluid animations that it looked next-generation. Did you know that there are over two thousand animation frames per game to make the animation work? Lara’s model is also forty-eight pixels, making her one of the most detailed characters on the Game Boy Color.
Personally, I feel like both games are amazing entries into the Tomb Raider series. While they play quite different from their console and PC counterparts, both are an amazing adventure through various locations. You still must solve various puzzles and platform your way around. In Curse of the Sword, you even have a chase sequence on the rooftops.
When I look with a critical eye at these two games in 2024, I would say that the lack of a tutorial for the controls really hurts the game. Also, some people might be put off from the difficulty level of this game. These games have some really difficult sections. Use the save crystals well! Otherwise, you might lose a lot of progress. And if I am really nitpicky, I could say that some areas would benefit from a map screen. But the levels are a bit too complex for those and with the small Game Boy Color screen, the map might not be even readable. Thankfully, there are various sources online, like Stella’s Tomb Raider site (tombraiders.net) that have amazingly drawn maps.
When you read this, you might think that beating these games without a walkthrough is almost impossible. But do not worry. These games are quite linear and straight forward. I rarely got stuck in these games by not knowing what to do next. Most of the time, I did not know I was able to perform a certain action or how to solve a certain puzzle.
The streak of releasing a new game every year continues in November 2002. The Game Boy Color was on its way out, and the next title was released on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. For this title, Ubisoft Milan was tasked with creating a new game. That is because the main team was working on the sixth main title, Angel of Darkness. Tomb Raider – The Prophecy was released to mixed reviews. It released in early December in Japan.
This game played quite different compared to the Game Boy Color titles and played more as a top-down isometric puzzle platformer. If I am very honest, this is the gameplay style I expected more of the Tomb Raider series on the Game Boy. It is mainly because I associate Tomb Raider more as a top-down game on handhelds than it being a 2D side view game. The Game Boy Color version of Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine showed me it was possible to have a game like that on Game Boy Color.
The story of this title is about the Tome of Ezekiel. In this tome, a story is told about three magical stones that bring great power. She faces a big cult by the name of Teg-du-Bhorez. The game takes about 6 hours to complete on a first playthrough. If you really know what you are doing, this game can be beaten in 2 hours and a half.
Honestly, for a portable Tomb Raider adventure, I really enjoyed this one. It is a rather underrated gem in my opinion and really can be quite exciting to play. Especially since the formula really works this way on the Game Boy Advance. The big issue is that reviewers compared it too much to the mainline series, which is quite unfair to do. What I can agree with, is that this game can feel a bit repetitive at times in terms of puzzles and level mechanics. But it is way less repetitive compared to the Game Boy Color titles, since a lot more puzzle solving like statue placing is used.
The final Tomb Raider title on the Game Boy line of platforms came in 2006. After the very mixed reception to Angel of Darkness, the IP was given to Crystal Dynamics and Tomb Raider Legend was born. Talking about that, can be an entire article in itself. But, to close off this article, I want to quickly focus on Tomb Raider Legend on the Game Boy Advance. I know there is a port to the Nintendo DS, but I do not have any nostalgic memories for that one. I do have nostalgic memories for the Game Boy Advance port.
Now, let me tell you, the Game Boy Advance port was rough. The game went back to the style in like the Game Boy Color games. Yet, it also tried to do intractable doors. I can totally understand why reviewers back in the day were extremely negative about this game. Especially, since the console and PC versions of this game were such a blast of fresh air in the series.
Still, why did I beat this title 100% three times? Because, it had a certain charm. You could find various secrets in the game to unlock secrets like concept art or even cheat codes. But you were not able to see if you got all treasures in a level. The jumping and swinging controls were a bit awkward, yet you had very forgiving checkpoints.
There are a few things that stick with me to this day, the fact that the final boss is rendered a joke in this version. Just mash the attack button and you easily win. No matter the difficulty. Also, the mini-games and exploring Lara’s home were fun distractions as well. Moreover, I want to thank all the pizza boys who delivered me pizza during the writing of this article, like in the credits of this game.
And with that, I want to wrap up this brief nostalgic look into the 4 Tomb Raider titles on the Game Boy Color and Advance. My name is NekoJonez and if you enjoyed my writing and want to read more of my work, you can find me over at: https://arpegi.wordpress.com. I want to thank you all for reading my article, and I hope you enjoy the work of the other writers in this magazine. But for now, I am out! I hope to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care!
Editorial note: This article has been written for a gaming magazine. Did you find this article interesting? Then you should read the other articles right here. Thank you so much Dominus for letting me publish an article. There are various articles about Ultimate Underworld Retrospective – Sin God – The Making of the Wipeout logo design – …
