Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Prophecy

The Good
The exploration of this game is by far its strongest aspect. There is just something fulfilling about running through a level utilising all of Lara Croft's skills (climbing, long jumps and hanging from ledges).

Lara's skills are brought to life by the amount of animation put into her character, as her character is a 3d model. The 3d model also helps to make Lara stand out from the background, making sure you don't lose her in the background.

The isometric design of this game is very ambitious and a little off putting at first. Despite my early reservations the isometric design really works. While there were a few deaths caused by misjudging a jump, it wasn't as common as I was expecting. Instead the isometric levels allow for a playground to utilise all of Lara's skills.

Speaking of tombs, the game is split into 4 sections with around 6 levels each. The game's levels are both a pro and a con, in terms of the pros the shorter levels are really satisfying to blast through quickly. The shorter levels also fit the game's portable nature as they are quick to run through even if they take multiple tries.

All of the above pros help to not only make the game stand out on GBA but also to bring the Tomb Raider experience to the handheld.

The Bad
SPIKES. The main annoyance of this game are the cheap deaths and the biggest culprit of this are the spikes. Spikes were the main cause of death during my playthrough, the hit detection on them is extremely sensitive. This means that if you brush up against the side one it will be lights out, since they are a one hit kill.

Dying in this game is rather frustrating as it has 2 major consequences. The first is that you have to restart the current level from scratch. This isn't an issue on early levels, but when you get to the longer levels that are littered with spikes and bottomless pits, it also takes away the game's portable appeal.

The second consequence of dying is an even bigger issue. The game takes all the items you have found (excluding statues and guns) off you, instead starting the player with a pre-set loadout on each level.

This really discourages picking up items or hoarding them as it is unlikely they will be with you for long. This also makes combat scenarios harder, as you are often going in with less than ideal ammo and med kits. This is an even bigger problem when on a boss level, as you won't have any opportunities to resupply (pro tip: give yourself unlimited uzi ammo).

One final issue for this game is its lack of evolution. The gameplay will stay the same for the majority of the game. Yes new puzzle elements will be introduced for certain sections and levels grow in size but the core gameplay doesn't grow. This leads to the game starting to feel like a slog in the second half of the game, with it really out staying its welcome.

The Bottom Line
Overall this game has some amazing ideas and truly succeeds in bringing the Tomb Raider experience to the GBA. However the game does not succeed in keeping the player's attention or making the game portable friendly and even while the exploration is fun the combat side is very boring.

Overall worth a play but not a must.