Some may understandably associate the Tomb Raider series, like WipeOut and Crash Bandicoot, with PlayStation. Lara Croft shot to prominence as the poster girl of gaming in the lad-mag era of the late-’90s and feels forever tied to the cultural cornerstone that is Sony’s debut console.
However, Core Design’s original game launched for Sega Saturn and PC, too, and while Sony negotiated console exclusivity for the sequel, the series has appeared on practically every game platform made since the turn of the millennium, including Nintendo systems.
But what’s the best Tomb Raider game? That’s what we’re here to find out.
This ranked list of every Tomb Raider game on Nintendo consoles is governed by each game’s User Rating in our database and is subject to real-time change depending on its score, even as you read this! Simply click the star rating and assign a score from 1-10 to exert your personal influence on the ranking. (You’ll have to refresh the page to see the changes, if any, take effect.)
Enough exposition. Let’s grab our guns, pull on our relic-hunting pants, and discover the best Tomb Raider games, starting at the bottom…
Human Soft developed both handheld versions of Tomb Raider: Legend, and this is the lesser of the two. The game isn’t unimpressive in the visual department, with clean animation and sprites created from renders (think Donkey Kong Country) and a story that’s conveyed through comic book-style stills.
Lara’s repetitive grunts as she clambers around the scenery soon begin to grate, though. Couple that with irritating motorcycle-shooting sections, and it’s not a game we’re desperate to dig up.
Lara’s DS debut, this isn’t a bad effort — not legendary, but not bad. Much like its portable predecessors, Legend on DS is a fair stab at translating the gun-toting, puzzle-platforming sensibilities of the 3D games into a side-scrolling format which makes sense on more modest hardware, and the extra power of this console over its predecessor meant that these handheld tombs certainly looked better than ever.
We’d never choose to play this over the full-fat version, but it comfortably beats the GBA entry that carries the same name.
Santa Cruz Games took the reins on this reworked side-on platforming version of the home console game. This portable version of Lara’s ninth official adventure manages to cram in voiced cutscenes, along with the requisite inventory access on the touchscreen and continues the calm and calculated platforming of the Game Boy entries.
DS Underworld isn’t a must-play, but it’s not an embarrassment to the Croft name, either.
Lara Croft’s first venture onto the Game Boy Color, Tomb Raider is a side-on action platformer which sees the titular raider of tombs scrambling up walls, swinging across vine-filled ceilings, and leaping over chasms searching for treasures and the like.
It’s a more cinematic, slower-paced plunder — more Prince of Persia than Mario — but features some impressive animation. Overall, a decent 8-bit interpretation of Croft’s 3D adventures.
This sequel to Lara’s first Game Boy Color adventure had Activision on publishing duties and was launched just a couple of weeks after Angelina Jolie’s cinematic debut as Ms. Croft. Curse of the Sword followed the formula of its predecessor, with the same style of acrobatic, slow-and-steady gameplay taking you out of the tombs from New Orleans to New York.
Given the limitations of the system, Core Design did another decent job distilling the core tenets of Lara’s 3D exploits for the GBC.
Developed by Ubisoft Milan, this is a 3/4 top-down affair featuring Lara’s familiar acrobatic platforming and that slow-and-steady run cycle of hers that makes her the envy of marathon runners the world over.
Tomb Raider: The Prophecy is an unremarkable but fairly enjoyable jaunt featuring all the environmental puzzling and gunplay you’d expect from lofty Crofty, although it can’t hold a candle to the home console games.
Tomb Raider: Underworld represents Crystal Dynamics’ last attempt at what many deem to be ‘classic’ Lara Croft before rebooting the franchise completely in 2013. You’d be forgiven for thinking that Underworld is a bit of a wet lettuce in terms of quality, then, but it’s actually a solid entry in the franchise that’s well 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 performed well below publisher Eidos Interactive’s expectations.
Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is an odd release in that only one of its three games can be considered a genuine classic. Yet despite this, it’s still a collection we’d tentatively recommend checking out if only to appreciate how such an iconic video game series was almost completely derailed.
The remastered visual upgrades – particularly in the fourth and fifth entries – don’t always work, but the addition of 60fps performance alongside the retro aesthetics is very welcome. If you’re a fan of Tomb Raider or enjoy revisiting flawed curios from days gone by, this might be worth looking into. But this isn’t essential like Aspyr’s previous Tomb Raider collection.
Crystal Dynamics’ first foray with Lara after taking the reins from originating studio Core Design, Tomb Raider: Legend centres on Croft’s search for Excalibur, mythical sword of King Arthur. And a John Boorman film.
Legends was a more modern-feeling take on the tomb-raiding formula following the poorly received Angel of Darkness on PS2. Keeley Hawes took over Lara’s voice in this entry, and with its new approach to the classic character, this reboot helped get Lara back on her feet after a stumble, bringing her properly into the 21st century and introducing the ’90s icon to a new audience.
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered is one of Aspyr’s most accomplished projects, successfully giving three of gaming’s most iconic titles a much-needed lick of paint while upgrading the controls to give newcomers a welcome leg-up.
Some of the lighting is a bit off with the new visuals, and the need to manually save your game is a big no-no for us these days, but a series of patches have addressed various issues since launch and if you’re curious as to how Lara Croft got her start in gaming, this is an impressively faithful rendering of some classics – easily the best way to experience the original trilogy.
Sadly not as definitive as the title implies, Aspyr did the work to make Tomb Raider (2013) — the first game in the Survivor Trilogy — run at a solid 60fps on a handheld (on Switch 2; the Switch 1 version struggles to maintain a 30fps target).
However, it seems the cost of that smoothness was graphical fidelity at almost every turn. Not to mention the bizarre implementation, or lack thereof, of motion controls and unwieldy mouse options on Switch 2.
Thankfully, though, this entry in the Tomb Raider mythos remains one of the very best, and clever visual design means that your trip through Yamatai is far from ugly, as long as you don’t inspect too closely. Crystal Dynamics’ reinvention of Lara Croft just might be the best entry in this decades-old franchise, and for the asking price, you’re getting a thrilling action romp that’ll keep you hooked until the credits.
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 original 1996 Tomb Raider, and forms part of the ‘Legends’ trilogy, which was capped off with Underworld the following year.
This remake modernised various aspects and overhauled the visuals, with the Wii version adding motion controls and exclusive puzzle gimmicks, too. As with many a waggle-filled Wii port, the motion controls were cute and immersive to some, and an irritation to others.
But overall, Anniversary was a relatively classy reimagining and for many years remained the only way for Nintendo gamers to experience Lara’s very first adventure.
The Lara Croft Collection saw two excellent Tomb Raider spin-offs from Crystal Dynamics hit Switch in a winning package that offers plenty of puzzles, slick combat, and fun local co-op action.
Comprising 2010’s Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and the 2014 sequel, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, there are a few performance issues in the latter, and the lack of online co-op for both games is a shame, but overall we still recommend picking this double pack up if you’re Lara-curious.
They may initially look like watered-down takes on the main franchise, but make no mistake, these are two of Croft’s very best outings.
Some real treasures in there, along with a handful of unpolished gems. Disagree with this Tomb Raider ranking? Remember, you can rate the games you’ve played even now and influence the ranking in real-time. Just click on the stars on each entry to assign a score from 1-10.
 rank? - Updated with Ms. Croft's latest outing on Switch (and Switch 2), Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. Enjoy! <related i...){kind=link}