Gallery

Below are a collection of photos of Tomb Raider. Ranging from official promotional artwork, to original concept artwork and magazine scans. Clicking a link will transfer you to our Picasa page where all the photos will be, there you can view and also download the photos you want. To return from Picasa just press the back button. 

Tomb Raider (1996)

Official Promotional Artwork (14)

Concept Artwork (9)

Prototype Concept Artwork (16)

Box Artwork (6)

Magazine Scans (49)

Official Model : Nathalie Cook (5)

Official Model : Vanessa Demouy (5)
TR Promotional Japanese Anime (4)

Mean Machines Sega Magazine Comic (8)

READ MORE - Gallery

Concept of Lara Croft

Lara Croft wasn't originally planned to be in Tomb Raider. At the start Core Design had two ideas, one was to allow the player to choose their own desired gender for the adventure, and two if the decided to set a gender it was going to be male. It was rare in the 90s to see a heroine in a game, women were always the ones being saved or they were weak. The first plan of the hero of the story was a kind of Indiana Jones type guy, with the whip, hat and gun:

Screenshot from Gametap's Tomb Raider Retrospective

When the Tomb Raider team wrote a list of the requirements and skills that the hero would have they then changed it so the protagonist was a woman. She needed the gymnastic skills and grace to be able to solve puzzles and the strong willed and detirmination that will see her through to the end, this woman was Laura Cruz.

Screenshot from Gametap's Tomb Raider Retrospective

 Laura Cruz was a South American woman, however Eidos asked for the heroine to be British probably since both companies were based in the UK and they wanted a British video game icon.The team consulted a phone book to get the name; Lara Croft.

Screenshot from Bit's Tomb Raider Special

 The first drawings of Lara Croft showed her determined, however she was more feminine then she was in the game. She wore earrings and necklaces but this was later removed probably to make what she wore more practical for action and raiding.

READ MORE - Concept of Lara Croft

History

Lara Croft has become an international heroine and role model for gamers everywhere, over the few past years she has been in numerous films, comic books and magazines and has been the face of several different products ranging from SEAT cars to Lucozade. The birth place was in fact in a small office block in Derby where Toby Gard began drawing the concept artwork of the heroine..Or rather the hero at the time. Lara wasn't actually the star of her own game until near the end of the planning. The target for the game was to have two playable characters, a male and a female, who would go raiding for lost artefacts in the tombs, temples and pyramids. After Core designed a list of what they wanted the character to have, they changed their hero to a heroine.

Lara first began as a South American woman named Laura Cruz, however Eidos preferred a British heroine, and so the Core Design team consulted phone book and looked at a list of names (true fact) and settled on Lara Croft. She soon began to take shape and the designs of a girly heroine developed into the bad ass rogue Lara we all know and love today. 

The game was designed to be an interactive movie taking place in pyramids and tombs. Their first game was originally denied from Sony who asked for more material and a better story. The game was altered and accepted by Sony.

Tomb Raider then became an international heroine and an icon of the British video game industry. She appeared on the cover of Face magazine quickly after and her popularity increased with Tomb Raider hitting #1 on gaming charts. There was no doubt that the series needed to go on.

READ MORE - History

Cheats

If you're stuck in any Tomb Raider game I highly recommend my friend's site; Stella's Tomb Raider Walkthroughs, they are detailed, straight to the point, and easy to follow. Stella has helped me out so many times especially in the later Core Design games for getting those extra medipacks I needed for boss battles. However if you're really stuck then here is a list of cheats you can use in Tomb Raider One, to get past those tricky levels and death traps.

        PC
- Skip Level -
Walk One Step Forward
Walk One Step back
Release Walk Button
Turn around 3x (doesn't matter which way)
Jump Forwards

- All Weapons and Ammo (Not medipacks) -
Walk One Step Forward
Walk One Step Back
Release Walk Button
Turn around 3x (doesn't matter which way)
Jump Backward


        Mac

- Skip Level -

Walk One Step Forward

Walk One Step back

Release Walk Button

Turn around 3x (doesn't matter which way)

Jump Forwards

- All Weapons and Ammo (Not medipacks) -

Walk One Step Forward

Walk One Step Back

Release Walk Button

Turn around 3x (doesn't matter which way)

Jump Backwards

        Playstation (NTSC Version)
- Skip Level -
Go To Inventory Screen
L2
R2
L1
Circle
Triangle
L1
R2
L2
Select

- All Weapons and Ammo (Not Medipacks)-
Select
L1
Triangle
L2
R2
R2
L2
Circle
L1

        Playstation (PAL Version)
- Skip Level -
Select
L2
R2
Triangle
L1
L1
Circle
R2
L2
Select

- All Weapons and Ammo (Not Medipacks) -
Select
L1
Triangle
L2
R2
R2
L2
L1

READ MORE - Cheats

Controls

           PC

- Menu -

Menu : Up Arrow

Rotate to other items : Right/Left Arrow Keys

See Artefacts in the menu : Up Arrow Key

Select Item : Enter Button

Quick Save : F5

Quick Load : F6

- Basic -
Forwards : Up Arrow

Backwards : Down Arrow

Turn Right : Right Arrow

Turn Left : Left Arrow

Walk : Shift

Jump : Alt

Sidestep Left : Delete

Sidestep Right : Page Down

Roll and Reverse : Up and Down Arrows at the same time

Draw Weapons : Spacebar

Action : Ctrl


- More Complex -

Look : 0 and arrow keys
Standing Jump : Alt and Up Arrow
Back Flip : Alt and Down Arrow
Side Flip (Right) : Alt and Right Arrow
Side Flip (Left) : Alt and Left Arrow
Running Jump : Up Arrow followed by Alt
Jump and Grab : Jump/Running Jump followed by Ctrl
Safety Drop : End and Ctrl

Shimmy (Right) : Ctrl and Right Arrow
Shimmy (Left) : Ctrl and Left Arrow
Vault/Pull Up : Ctrl and Up Arrow
Handstand onto ledge : Ctrl, Shift and Up Arrow
Push Block : Ctrl and Up Arrow
Pull Block : Ctrl and Down Arrow
Swan Dive : Shift, Alt and Up Arrow

Dive and Roll : Up Arrow, Walk and jump

- Swimming -
Swimming Underwater : Alt and Arrow Keys
Pivot Underwater : Arrow Keys
Swim on the Surface : Arrow Keys (When on the surface)
Climbing out : Ctrl and Up

----  -------------------------    ----

           MAC

- Menu -

Menu : Up Arrow

Rotate to other items : Right/Left Arrow Keys

See Artefacts in the menu : Up Arrow Key

Select Item : Enter Button

Quick Save : F5

Quick Load : F6

- Basic -

Forwards : Up Arrow

Backwards : Down Arrow

Turn Right : Right Arrow

Turn Left : Left Arrow

Walk : Shift

Jump : Command 

Sidestep Left : Delete

Sidestep Right : Page Down

Roll and Reverse : \ (backslash)

Draw Weapons : Spacebar

Action : Ctrl

- More Complex -

Look : 0 and arrow keys

Standing Jump : Command and Up Arrow

Back Flip : Command and Down Arrow

Side Flip (Right) : Command and Right Arrow

Side Flip (Left) : Command and Left Arrow

Running Jump : Up Arrow then Command 

Jump and Grab : Jump/Running Jump followed by Ctrl

Safety Drop : End and Ctrl

Shimmy (Right) : Ctrl and Right Arrow

Shimmy (Left) : Ctrl and Left Arrow

Vault/Pull Up : Ctrl and Up Arrow

Handstand onto ledge : Ctrl, Shift and Up Arrow

Push Block : Ctrl and Up Arrow

Pull Block : Ctrl and Down Arrow

Swan Dive : Shift, Alt and Up Arrow

Dive and Roll : Up Arrow, Walk and jump

- Swimming -

Swimming Underwater : Command Up Arrow/Down Arrow/L/R

Pivot Underwater : Arrow Keys

Swim on the Surface : Arrow Keys (When on the surface)

Climbing out : Ctrl and Up

----  -------------------------    ----

           PLAYSTATION

- Menu -

Menu : Select

Rotate to other items : D-Pad Left/Right

See Artefacts in the menu : D-Pad Up

Select Item : Enter Button

Quick Save : X

Quick Load : Triangle

- Basic -

Forwards : (D-PAD) Up

Backwards : (D-PAD) Down

Turn Right : (D-PAD) Right

Turn Left : (D-PAD) Left

Walk : R1

Jump : Square

Sidestep Left : L2

Sidestep Right : R2

Roll and Reverse : Circle

Draw Weapons : Triangle

Action : X

- More Complex -

Look : L1 and D-Pad

Standing Jump : Square and D-Pad Up

Back Flip : Square and D-Pad Down

Side Flip (Right) : Square and D-Pad Right

Side Flip (Left) : Square and D-Pad Left

Running Jump : D-Pad Up and Square

Jump and Grab : Standing or Running Jump then X

Safety Drop : D-Pad Down then X

Shimmy (Right) : X and D-Pad Right

Shimmy (Left) : X and D-Pad Left

Vault/Pull Up : X and D-Pad Up

Handstand onto ledge : X, R1 and D-Pad Up

Push Block : X and D-Pad Up

Pull Block : X and D-Pad Down

Swan Dive : R1, Square and D-Pad Up

Dive and Roll : D-Pad Up then R1 and Square

- Swimming -

Swimming Underwater : Square and D-Pad

Pivot Underwater : D-Pad

Swim on the Surface : D-Pad, L2, R2

Climbing out : X then D-Pad Up

----  -------------------------    ----

           SATURN

- Menu -

Menu : Select

Rotate to other items : D-Pad Left/Right

See Artefacts in the menu : D-Pad Up

Select Item : Enter Button

Quick Save : B

Quick Load : C or Start

- Basic -

Forwards : (D-PAD) Up

Backwards : (D-PAD) Down

Turn Right : (D-PAD) Right

Turn Left : (D-PAD) Left

Walk : L

Jump : A

Sidestep Left : X

Sidestep Right : Z

Roll and Reverse : R

Draw Weapons : C

Action : B

Look : Y and D-Pad

- More Complex -

Standing Jump : A and D-Pad Up

Back Flip : A and D Pad Down

Side Flip (Right) : A and D-Pad Right

Side Flip (Left) : A and D-Pad Left

Running Jump : D-Pad Up then A

Jump and Grab : Standing or Running Jump then B

Safety Drop : D-Pad Down and B

Shimmy (Right) : B and D-Pad Right

Shimmy (Left) : B and D-Pad Left

Vault/Pull Up : B and D-Pad Up

Handstand onto ledge : B and L and D-Pad Up

Push Block : B and D-Pad Up

Pull Block : B and D-Pad Down

Swan Dive : L and A and D-Pad Up

Dive and Roll : D-Pad Up then L and A

- Swimming -

Swimming Underwater : A and D-Pad

Pivot Underwater : D-Pad

Swim on the Surface : D-Pad and X and Z

Climbing out : B and D-Pad Up

----  -------------------------    ----

           Nokia N-Gage

- Basic Controls -

Forwards : Up

Backwards : Down

Turn Right : Right

Turn Left : Left

- Keypad Controls -

Step Left : 1 

Inventory : 2  

Step Right : 3 

Action : 4 

Jump : 5 

Roll : 6 

Walk : 7 

Draw Weapons : 8

Look Around : 9 

READ MORE - Controls