It’s good to see the little Tomb Raider icon again after so many years. Like the first time I played the game on my old Blueberry-flavored iMac, I click the little square with Lara’s face (in high resolution this time around). However, I’m no presented with an option screen: I can launch the game in full screen, or in a window. There’s already been some discussion of this on Tomb Raider Forums: in full screen, the image is slightly distorted. On MacRaider, there are some instructions about modifying the files in order to get the picture to look right, but I found the distortion to be minor enough that I haven’t tried to do anything about it.
The videos begin . . .
The Copyright screen appears, followed by a new Aspyr video, as well as the Eidos video and Core video that appeared in the later TR games for MAC (TR: The Last Revelation and TR: Chronicles). Then we get the intro video, outlining the history of the Dagger of Xian: how it was plunged into the emperor’s heart to give him the power to turn into a monstrous dragon; how he was defeated by Tibetan monks who have since devoted themselves to protecting the dagger at all costs; and how the dagger was returned to the emperor’s tomb (launching the power of the lazer disco, according to Cj’s Talkthrough Tomb Raider 2, definitely worth a watch).
The image looks the same as 1998, although the blacks are more grayish when the screen is fully bright.
The FMVs look fine, and aren’t distorted, but they suffer a little bit when the screen is turned to full brightness. Blacks begin to look gray, and all the colors are a little washed out. The game itself actually looks best when the screen is at only half brightness.
Also, if you haven’t seen TR2 in 5 Seconds . . . kaboom! good bye!
New font for the menus!
The menus have all been updated with slick fonts in high resolution. The passport too has much more detail on the cover than in the original. I’m excited to see the updates, but at the same time I enjoy having the classic game to compare them to: the changes detract from nostalgia, but they look good.
Next: back to Lara’s Home!
TR2 Review 