Lost Tomb Raider remake apparently discovered, made partially playable

An apparently lost remake of the original Tomb Raider game has been discovered and partially playable – and may also have been planned as a possible Indiana Jones or National Treasure game. As reported by PC Gamer, Tomb Raider: 10th anniversary edition is being preserved in the Internet Archive and can be reproduced with some adjustments. The files include several levels, including Croft Manor, but there are no enemies present.

The construction was originally posted by Tomb of Ash, who says in a playthrough video that the files were uploaded by a former Core Design developer. By Tomb of Ash, Tomb Raider: 10th Anniversary was being developed for PSP by Core Design, the original creator of Tomb Raider, before being canceled in 2006.

Interestingly, these files apparently represent a compilation of the game created after the cancellation, when Core Design may have tried to remake its work and create a game based on Indiana Jones or the National Treasury. The Modder XProger apparently discovered a ma menu screen that includes a National Treaure logo, but an Indiana Jones model. A tweet from Emircan mentions that, in the game’s archives, the Indiana Jones model on that screen is called ‘Cage’ (potentially referring to Nicholas Cage, star of the National Treasure series). You can check out several videos of the building in action on Roli’s Tomb Raider channel on YouTube.

Have you ever played Tomb Raider?

YEANOT

As for what was to come next for Tomb Raider, publisher Eidos asked Crystal Dynamics to create its own remake of the first Tomb Raider, resulting in Tomb Raider: Anniversary, which was released on PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo Wii and mobile devices in June 2007.

Here’s our review of Tomb Raider: Anniversary, 2007. In other Tomb Raider news, Crystal Dynamics’ Shadow of the Tomb Raider is currently one of the PlayStation Plus games for January 2021.

Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.