KEY POINTS:
Hard to believe it, but it's a decade since Lara Croft first arrived to thrill young male gamers and spark an inevitable debate about whether she was just hot and sexy, or strong, heroic and a good role model.
As time went on, she became more than just a hard-out fighter with physical attributes. We discovered she did have some intelligence, wit and didn't always throw the first punch.
But there was no way to distract from her curves. Then finally something went horribly wrong.
The eagerly-awaited next chapters started to disappoint big time. Lara became a bit of an anti-hero and the gameplay was complex and some difficulty for gamers, a bit like the Prince Of Persia series, and not the usual fun we remember so well.
And then toward the end of the first decade we ask if Lara was having - in games terms - the equivalent of a midlife crisis?
Just when we had given up all hope our love affair could ever be reignited with Lara, a new games developer Crystal Dynamics took up the challenge and produced a game called Tomb Raider: Legend, which restored our faith and brought the series back on track.
The game again had a deep story and puzzles; that expansive outdoor environment and cheeky Lara in her usual feisty gym-toned form doing her usual skilful job of scaling cliffs and plugging wolves with lead. It was simple and fun.
So with bated breath, I tore open my PS2 copy of the new Tomb Raider Anniversary - a new single-player adventure from publisher Eidos and developers Crystal Dynamics.
And the game gurus have again realised what is needed: something that faithfully preserves the elements that made the original games a classic at the same time as using today's technology to give us a new gameplay experience.
It is so seamless, so beautiful and visually impressive, so effortless to play. This is how I remember it from PSOne.
Indeed, it's a remake of the original 1966 3D classic that sold over seven million copies and rates up there as one of the best action/adventure games ever.
It's a nostalgic trip as Lara seeks to uncover ancient artefacts in old worlds from the original games including Peru, Greece and Egypt as well as strange, unexplored lands. It has some familiar moments such as the dinosaur battles but it's not a total remake.
One welcome feature is that the game is saved at the last checkpoint. If only every game loaned such a basic save system, there would be less frustration whenever you fall to your death in a game (and often have to start your way scrabbling back up the rocks).
The magic is back but ten years ago when we first put the game into a PlayStation and went "wow, cool babe, cool graphics" we would never have dreamed of seeing a game with realistic graphics, detailed characters and smooth animation like this.
The environments are so much bigger that they could ever be on a PSOne game, which on reflection were probably quite small even though we didn't realise.
The enemy A.I. is sharp as they act more realistically to Lara's combat moves. Lara's aerobic skills are trickier and yet simpler than ever and after all it's about gunfire. Lara's ability to literally leap from one tight spot to another or swim and crawl the way out of danger makes her somewhat of a lithe creature and beautiful to watch.
We have come a long way and Lara joined us for the ride, at least that is what it felt like playing Anniversary. The game has gone straight to number one on the UK, German and French game lists.
It's released on PC and Wii, PSP and Xbox 360 versions are planned or rumoured for release.
What memories do you have of Lara Croft games?
COMING SOON:
The Darkness is a first-person action -horror shooter. It has an interesting twist - you are the horror! You are Jackie Estacado, a mafia hit-man who wakes up on his 21st birthday with an unexpected present awesome and terrible powers of the "Darkness" which enables him to wreak terrifying havoc on his enemies.
Based on the comic book The Darkness, created by Top Cow, this horror looks macabre and full of violence - but don't let that dissuade you.
Darkness comes on PS3 and Xbox 360 on June 29.
