This Tomb Raider Fan Remake Turns The Game Into a 2D Side Scroller

The Tomb Raider franchise has been pretty much dormant since the release of its last major entry, Shadow of the Tomb Raider. While fans have been eagerly anticipating what’s next in Lara Croft’s journey, there is still plenty to chew on. 

Major Takeaways:

• Tomb Raider is getting a fan remake.
• It’s made by a fan named “Delca.”
• The remake recreates the original game in 2D.

Recently a fan by the name of Delca has shown off his remake of the original Tomb Raider…entirely as a 2D side-scroller.

While this may seem like more of a demake in the sense that it further narrows down the original game while keeping to its old PS1 graphics, it is certainly a very interesting proof-of-concept that at least I personally, am eager to see how it looks in the future. 

The original Tomb Raider getting a 2D fan recreation is somewhat ironic as Tomb Raider was one of the very first games that implemented 3D platforming and were released the same year as Nintendo’s groundbreaking Mario 64. Both games accomplish the same goals but the pacing between both games is drastically different.

While Mario’s movement in 64 feels a lot more freeform and liberating with tons of movement options like air dives, triple jumps, and backflips, Lara Croft’s movement feels a lot slower and more deliberate requiring a more cautious and thoughtful playstyle. 

This was one of the most beloved aspects of the original series, as it made the players feel as if they were actually out exploring these treacherous environments as foreign adventurers. There’s a reason that many used to (and some still do) consider Uncharted as “Tomb Raider but with a guy”. 

The reboot trilogy then directly borrowed elements from its competitor as a mix between Uncharted’s action set pieces and Tomb Raider’s puzzle-solving and platforming elements. While the ratio between these two factors varies between each entry in the trilogy, it’s hard to say that any entry in the new trilogy feels unsatisfying (except maybe the last one).

That makes it all the more pleasant to see that fans are still willing to go back to the series’ roots and make it feel fresh and new all over again. 

Thankfully, Tomb Raider is finally out of the hands of Square Enix and back in the hands of developer Crystal Dynamics. There’s still some hope of a new entry in the franchise in the future, preferably after a new Deus Ex.