Tomb Raider : Anniversary

Tomb Raider: Anniversary for PSP brings Lara Croft's first adventure back to PlayStation Portable in a 2007 action-adventure remake. Developed by Crystal Dynamics with Buzz Monkey Software and published by Eidos Interactive, it revisits the 1996 Tomb Raider story through the framework and controls established by Tomb Raider: Legend. Lara is hired to locate the Scion of Atlantis, an ancient artifact whose pieces are scattered across dangerous ruins. The portable version gives PSP players a full third-person expedition built around exploration, acrobatics, environmental puzzles, and combat.

The campaign follows Lara from Peru to Greece and Egypt before its final stretch through the Lost Island. Each region is made up of tombs, caverns, temples, and other interconnected spaces where the route forward is rarely just a straight hallway. Players look for switches, keys, movable objects, and safe paths through traps while judging jumps across gaps, climbing walls and ladders, squeezing through tight passages, and diving beneath the surface when a puzzle demands it. Checkpoints soften the consequences of a missed leap or a hostile encounter, but careful observation remains central to getting through each location.

Anniversary reshapes the original game's level ideas around Lara's expanded movement set. She can jump, grab ledges, shimmy along narrow holds, climb poles and ladders, swing from ropes, crawl, swim, and perform a selection of evasive maneuvers. A grappling hook adds another tool for traversal and puzzle solving, allowing Lara to interact with designated rings and mechanisms. The PSP controls map these actions, the camera, aiming, and inventory functions to the handheld's buttons and analog nub, making the game a portable interpretation of a console-style Tomb Raider adventure rather than a separate side story.

Combat punctuates the exploration with wildlife, mercenaries, and larger threats. Lara begins with her signature dual pistols and can find secondary weapons and ammunition as she advances. Targeting keeps enemies in view while the player moves to avoid attacks, and dangerous opponents can force a quick response. When a charging enemy opens an opportunity, the adrenaline dodge briefly slows the action, giving Lara a chance to evade and line up a powerful counterattack. Health-restoring Medipacks, collectible supplies, and the limited ammunition of non-default weapons add practical choices to the journey.

The remake preserves the broad premise and memorable destinations of the first Tomb Raider while redesigning many layouts, puzzles, scenes, and character moments. Lara's search eventually draws her into conflict with businesswoman Jacqueline Natla, rival treasure hunters, and the buried history of Atlantis. Secrets reward thorough exploration, while artifacts and relics can unlock extras. Completing the campaign also opens time trials for individual levels, giving experienced players a reason to revisit the routes with speed and efficiency in mind.

As part of the Tomb Raider Legend trilogy, Tomb Raider: Anniversary connects Lara's reimagined early quest to the direction of the 2006 game and its 2008 follow-up, Tomb Raider: Underworld. Its PSP release arrived after the PlayStation 2 and PC editions in 2007, placing a substantial remake of Lara Croft's debut adventure on Sony's handheld. For players exploring Tomb Raider: Anniversary on PSP, the draw is its mixture of archaeological fiction, landmark environments, platforming challenges, and puzzle-led progress, all centered on one of the series' defining expeditions.