Tomb Raider: Anniversary
"Tomb Raider" is the first game in the titular franchise, and introduced the series' gameplay standards and its protagonist Lara Croft. Developed by British studio Core Design, "Tomb Raider" was a commercial and critical success, and was followed by five successive games between 1996 and 2000. Their sixth "Tomb Raider" game "" was beset by developmental problems and rushed to release, resulting in low sales and mixed critical reception. The game's failure and Core Design's fatigue with the series prompted franchise publisher Eidos Interactive to move development of "Tomb Raider" to the American studio Crystal Dynamics, who rebooted the franchise with "". "Legend" released in 2006 to critical and commercial success.
Tomb Raider III
A specialist was hired to enhance the game's artificial intelligence and give enemies more lifelike behaviour. In previous "Tomb Raider" games, enemies would simply run at Lara and attack immediately, whereas in "Tomb Raider III", enemies can pop out of the dark and attack the player, or retreat back into the level and regroup to attack later. A stealth element partially inspired by Rare's 1997 hit "GoldenEye 007" was also introduced, giving players the option of sneaking around and avoid detection. New vehicles that are critical to complete certain levels were added; the team also experimented with the idea of putting Lara on horseback, but they ultimately discarded it. The development of the game took eleven months to complete, and incorporating all the new ideas into the engine was considered the most difficult task of the project.