Fans of Tomb Raider will probably remember one console that generation did not get the first Tomb Raider game. The Nintendo 64. Sure, even the Sega Saturn got a version, but not the Nintendo 64, nope, the house that Mario built was left out on a game that was almost a reality on the failed Sega 32X of all consoles. Well, a fan is working on fixing this anomaly of gaming and has shown great progress already. Even more interesting, this port is not using the OpenLara engine, instead it is using a newer 3D engine called Tiny3D (think engine like Unreal Engine here).
Less Jittery Textures
One thing that is obviously apparent about this port to the Nintendo 64 is, less jittery textures. They might be a little blurrier than the original PlayStation version but they are not messing with your eyes as you run around.
Graphically, Tomb Raider 64 (I can’t think of what else to call this version) is quite impressive. It is amazing to see what Tomb Raider could have looked like on the Nintendo 64 had Core Design taken on the challenge (if they even had the staff to do so for that matter).
No Demo Available
Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there is no demo or download available. Time Extension ponder if this is a hobby or if there is intent to finish this project.
I am a huge fan of the first couple of Tomb Raider games, I dropped out when the franchise moved to the PS2 and newer. I dropped back in on the PSP for the remake of the original but the spark just wasn’t there so I left the franchise completely, sticking to the PSOne games.
Hopefully we will see this project finished. Considering there is nothing really like Tomb Raider on the N64 it will be nice to have such a title for comparison to the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation.