But what is the best Tomb Raider game? That’s what we’re here to find out. This ranked list of every Tomb Raider game ever on Nintendo consoles is governed by the user rating of each game in our database and is subject to change in real time depending on the score, even as you read this! Simply click on the star rating and assign a rating from 1-10 to make your personal impact on the rankings. (You will need to refresh the page to see the changes, if any, take effect.)
Before we begin, fans of the series will quickly notice the absence of several entries, including the excellent Survivor Trilogy — Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raiderand Shadow of the Tomb Raider it never came to Nintendo consoles, unfortunately. Fingers crossed for a ‘Switch 2’ port perhaps?
Enough exposition. Let’s grab our guns, put on our relic hunting pants and discover the best Tomb Raider games, starting from the bottom…
Lara’s DS debut, it’s not a bad effort — not legendary, but not bad. Much like its portable predecessors, Legend on the DS makes an honest attempt to translate the gun-toting, puzzle-playing sensibilities of 3D games into a side-scrolling format that makes sense on more modest hardware, and this console’s added power over its predecessor meant that these handheld tombs certainly they look better than ever. We’d never choose to play this over the full-fat version, but it’s comfortably better than the GBA entry of the same name.
Developed by Ubisoft Milan, this is a 3/4 top-down affair that features Lara’s famous acrobatic platforming and that slow-and-steady running cycle of hers that is the envy of marathoners the world over. Tomb Raider: The Prophecy is an understated but quite enjoyable outing with all the cryptic environments and gunplay you’d expect from the sublime Crofty, though it can’t match the home console games.
Human Soft developed both handheld versions of Tomb Raider: Legend, and this is the smaller of the two. The game is not at all visually impressive, with pure animation and ghosts created from renders (think Donkey Kong Country) and a story conveyed through comic book-style photography. But Lara’s repetitive grunts as she climbs the landscape soon begin to creak. Couple that with the irritating motorcycle shooting parts and it’s not a game we’re desperate to dig.
Santa Cruz Games has taken the reins in this reworked platform version of the game for home console. This portable version of Lara’s ninth official adventure manages to cram in voice cutscenes, along with the requisite touchscreen inventory access, and continues the calm and calculated platforming of the Game Boy entry. DS Underworld isn’t a must-have game, but it’s no shame for the Croft name either.
Lara Croft’s first venture on the Game Boy Color, Tomb Raider is a side-scrolling action platformer that sees the titular tomb raider climbing walls, swinging across vine-filled ceilings, and jumping chasms in search of treasure and the like. It’s more of a slower paced movie heist – more Persian prince from Mario — but it has impressive animation. All in all, a decent 8-bit interpretation of Croft’s 3D adventures.
Tomb Raider: Underworld represents Crystal Dynamics’ last attempt at what many consider the ‘classic’ Lara Croft before the franchise’s full reboot in 2013. You’d be forgiven for thinking that Underworld is a bit of a soggy salad in terms of quality, then, but it’s actually a solid entry into a franchise worth checking out with some decent motion-controlled puzzles to solve. Unfortunately, after multiple entries in quick succession, Underworld suffered from being ‘just another Tomb Raider’ and fell far short of publisher Eidos Interactive’s expectations.
Activision is responsible for this sequel to Lara’s first Game Boy Color adventure, and it was launched just a few weeks after Angelina Jolie’s cinematic debut as Mrs. Croft. Curse of the Sword followed the same formula as its predecessor, with the same style of acrobatic, slow and steady gameplay that takes you from the tombs of New Orleans to New York. Given the system’s limitations, Core Design has done another decent job distilling the main users of Lara’s 3D exploits for the GBC.
Crystal Dynamics’ first foray into Lara after taking over from original studio Core Design, Tomb Raider: Legend centers on Croft’s quest for Excalibur, the legendary sword of King Arthur (and John Boorman’s film).
Legends was a more modern take on the tomb raiding formula after being poorly received angel of darkness on PS2. Keeley Hawes took over as Lara’s voice in this entry, and with her fresh take on the classic character, this reboot helped Lara get back on her feet after a stumble, bringing her into the 21st century and introducing the ’90s icon to a new audience.
A co-developed project between Crystal Dynamics and Buzz Monkey Software, who handled the Wii port of the game, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a 2007 remake of Core Design’s 1996 original. Tomb Raider, and forms part of the ‘Legends’ trilogy, which concluded the following year with Underworld. This remake modernized various aspects and revised the visuals, with the Wii version also adding motion controls and exclusive puzzle tricks.
As with many judder-filled Wii ports, the motion controls were sweet and immersive for some, and irritating for others. But all in all, Anniversary was a relatively elegant reimagining, and for years it was the only way for Nintendo players to experience Lara’s first adventure.
The Lara Croft collection has two excellent ones Tomb Raider spin-offs hits the Nintendo Switch in an excellent package that offers plenty of puzzles, smooth combat and fun local co-op action. There are a few performance issues with Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, and the lack of online co-op for both games is a shame, but overall we recommend picking up this dual pack. At first they may seem like watered down takes on the main franchise, but make no mistake, these are two of Lara’s best outings.
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered is one of Aspyr’s most successful projects, successfully providing a much-needed addition to three of the game’s most iconic titles while upgrading the controls to welcome newcomers. Some of the lighting is a little off due to the new visuals, and the need to manually save your game is a big no-no for us these days, but if you’re interested in how Lara Croft got started with gaming, then this is an impressively faithful representation of some of the classics, and simply the best way to experience the original trilogy.
It has real treasures, along with a handful of uncut gems. Disagree with this Tomb Raider ranking? Remember, you can already rate the games you’ve played and influence the ranking in real time. Just click on the stars on each entry to assign a rating from 1-10.
