Tomb Raider (1996 video game)
The front of the Derby Studios building where Core Design worked on the game was later used as the front of Croft Manor. It is Core's contention that the company was struggling somewhat with 32-bit development at that time. The first glints of the game were seen on Sega Saturn development kits. However, Gard stated that though Core and Sega had a deal for "Tomb Raider" to be a timed exclusive for the Saturn, the game was developed simultaneously for the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation. Following the release of the Saturn version, a number of bugs were discovered that affected both versions of the game; because of the timed exclusivity, the development team fixed these bugs for the PlayStation version. While the series would see four more instalments on the original PlayStation, no additional "Tomb Raider" games were released for the Saturn. Additional Sega ports were released on the Dreamcast.
Tomb Raider (1996 video game)
A three-dimensional action-adventure like "Tomb Raider" was unprecedented at the time, and the development team struggled to find a way to make Toby Gard's vision for the game work on contemporary hardware, in particular getting the player character to interact with freeform environments. According to programmer Gavin Rummery, the decision to build the entire game world on a grid was the key breakthrough to making the game possible. Though the 3D platforming gameplay, player character abilities, and focus on exploration have been likened to "Super Mario 64", the developers have denied it was an influence on "Tomb Raider", and development on "Tomb Raider" started well before "Super Mario 64" had been shown to the public.