Reloading...Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Remembering the App Store classics that are sadly no longer with us. This is when Lara finally made her iPhone and iPad début, and it's a treasure!

It was Lara Croft, but not as we knew her, and that's a very good thing. The viewpoint had changed from third-person 3D to isometric, and the branding had lost the two words that would once, long ago, guarantee the sound of cash resisters ringing in games shops the world over; Tomb Raider. Most shockingly of all, having adventured alone throughout the entire franchise, Lara Croft had a playable sidekick, a 2000 year old Mayan warrior named Totec. Yet for all the changes and rebranding, Ms Croft's first iOS adventure was one of her best yet.

The plot was fairly generic, dealing with the usual tomb raiding, a cursed artefact and the unleashing of an evil god bent on the destruction of the world, so business as usual! Flimsy story-lines are part of the franchise and have rarely been more than an introduction to the next level and an excuse for hammy dialogue. Narrative niggles aside, the gameplay was excellent, blending the core elements of puzzle solving, exploration and gun battles that have made the Tomb Raider franchise a household name..

Two's company...