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Genre: Action/adventure

Format: DVD

Developer: Crystal Dynamics

Macintosh Developer: Robosoft Technologies

Publisher: Feral Interactive

Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.4, 1.8GHz Intel Mac, 512MB RAM, 64MB video card, 4GB hard disk space, DVD ROM

Review Computer: 2GHz 20" Intel Core Duo iMac, 1GB RAM, 256MB ATI Radeon X1600

Network Feature: No

Processor Compatibility Intel only

Price: $49.95

ESRB Rating: T (moderate fantasy violence)

Availability: Now

Demo: Various locations (273MB)

Official Website: www.tombraider.com/anniversary/

It's already the Tomb Raider's anniversary, and here I didn't get her a gift. Of course, what do you get a girl who already has everything? When I say everything, I mean, yeah, pretty much everything. "Here, Lara, it's a pot from Pier 1. I thought it'd look nice sitting there next to your Atlantean Scion. I know you had to kill gorillas, giant bats, mummies, centaurs, and a freakin' Tyrannosaurus Rex to get that, but dude, I had to deal with Pier 1 saleswomen."

Thankfully, it's not that kind of anniversary. This is the anniversary of the original Tomb Raider, the game that finally realized 14-year-old kids might enjoy staring at a woman's butt for two straight hours, and the sequel for which pretty much single-handedly saved Macintosh gaming from oblivion.

It's no secret to any of our long-time readers that I'm quite a fan of the Tomb Raider franchise. As such, I've been perhaps too forgiving of some of Lara's later outings, which lost their way a bit. This is understandable, as the developers had to do something to keep the games fresh. Unfortunately, the decisions weren't the right ones; the later games shifted the focus from exploring to action, introduced other playable characters, and basically lost their sense of imagination. Rather than continue this trend, Tomb Raider Anniversary takes us back to the first game, updating it with modern gaming technology, larger environments and new moves. The end result is a little bit hit and a little bit miss, but still manages to be the best Tomb Raider game since Tomb Raider II.

The first thing fans will notice is that Lara looks better than ever. I'd even go so far as to say she looks better than Angelina Jolie in the movies, but that'd be 1.) tremendously geeky, and 2.) tremendously disturbing. But the game does look great. Not just Lara (the water details are fantastic, and her clothes actually get dirty as the game progresses), but the environments as well. Although they're still stuck with the green/grey/brown color palette, the amount of detail makes them feel much less drab. There are some excellent lighting and fog effects, too, which are very important in a game that places so much emphasis on location. Gone are the blocky environments that previously felt like hallways with fancy textures, replaced by more organic environments that force Lara to use them instead of just run through them.

What's most amazing about this is how well the game plays considering the quality of the graphics. My review computer was just above the minimum requirements (albeit with a much better graphics card), and I was able to completely max out the graphics settings with barely a performance hit. The game would slow down a tad when loading up a new environment and sometimes during heavy action, but not enough to really harm the gameplay. The box states the game isn't playable on Intel GMA processors, but this is a misprint; the game is compatible with MacBooks using the GMA 950 graphics chip. The gang at Robosoft did a fantastic job porting Tomb Raider Anniversary to the Mac, and I hope their relationship with Feral is a long one; they really know what they're doing.

Of course, graphics wouldn't matter if the gameplay wasn't any good, but that's not the case here. Developer Crystal Dynamics nailed what makes a Tomb Raider game great. That's not an amazing feat considering this is simply an update of the original, but a project like this could've ended in disaster at the hands of someone who had no love for the source material (see Myst III). This isn't to say that the "bigger = better" worked across the board. Some of the new elements are incredibly frustrating, such as wall running. Here, Lara uses her grappling hook on various items, then runs across the wall to get across large expanses. It's cool the first time you do it, but it gets old very fast because it's simply used far too often and in very difficult situations. Jumping the right direction at the end of a swing seems completely random, and Lara will often just suddenly stop running along the wall for no apparent reason other than that the camera wasn't positioned correctly. Numerous times, I became so frustrated with my inability to complete this maneuver that I had to quit playing the game out of anger.

Another annoying bit is the adrenaline dodge. In this, the game drops to slow motion during certain enemy attacks, at which point Lara must dodge left or right and fire a single shot at a precise time. Again, it's cool the first time you do it, but it does become frustrating. You have to master this move in order to beat some bosses, but can otherwise rely on the time-honored run/shoot/jump/shoot/repeat in order to progress.

Controls in general can be tricky at first, considering this game was designed, more or less, for gaming consoles. The instructions offer only WASD + mouse details, but the game does recognize game pads if you have one plugged in. Thankfully, the environments are somewhat forgiving. The game will generally prevent you from over-hopping certain platforms, and Lara will usually turn around grab the ledge over which you inadvertently made her step.

The general scope of the game ends up having an odd impact. By today's standards, the original Tomb Raider was somewhat short, and no new levels are added. Instead Tomb Raider Anniversary was expanded by making the levels larger. There were times, therefore, when I'd step into some new massive area and find it somewhat oppressive. Whereas the original Tomb Raider games kept me playing from level to level ("seriously, I'll go to bed as soon as I get past this one puzzle"), Anniversary made me want to quit just because I knew the puzzles were too massive and intricate to bother continuing with.

Thankfully, the save structure has been much improved. Rather than force you to find save game crystals (or was that just the Playstation version?), Tomb Raider Anniversary presents you with numerous checkpoints that automatically save your progress. You can save at any point, of course, but you'll lose your progress back to the last checkpoint. There are times when the lack of a checkpoint made me replay certain portions more often than I would've liked, but it's generally a fair and efficient system.

Despite its shortcomings, I loved Tomb Raider Anniversary. Absolutely loved it. I'm old-school, though. This is the type of game I was playing when I first started writing for Applelinks nearly a decade ago. What I'm not sure about is whether the focus on timing and puzzle solving will be enough for today's generation of gamers. Yes, there are dinosaurs and gorillas and mummies and giant bats to kill, but that's not what Tomb Raider Anniversary is about. We play Tomb Raider for the adventure, not the action, and this game makes no apologies for that. For that, I love it...I'm just not sure everyone else will.

Although, my four-year-old daughter did. I played quit a bit of the game with her on my lap. At one point, she asked me, "Can I do this when I grow up?"

"What?" I asked. "Play this game or explore tombs?"

"Explore tombs."

"Sure," I approved. "Only you have to wear more sensible pants."

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