In an era during which girls had to settle for the likes or Barbie or Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as video game role models, Lara gave them someone far flintier to look up to. Some people liked her decidedly exaggerated figure, but the simple existence of a fearless, no-nonsense woman set her apart from the rugged men and rubbery cartoon animals who dominated games in the ’90s. Gamers took notice, too, and Lara soon became far more popular than the games she starred in. Lara began life as a generic male Indiana Jones type, but Core switched around its hero’s gender midway through development - in part to downplay Indy comparisons, and in part because lead designer Toby Gard wanted some sex appeal in his game. Lara eschewed high tea and cocktail parties in favor of getting her hands dirty (and sometimes bloody) seeking legendary relics in the ruins of lost civilizations. Key to the game’s appeal was its protagonist, Lara Croft, a tough, gun-toting archaeologist who had little interest in the upper-crust British life into which she had been born. While thematically inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark and mechanically built on Jordan Mechner's deliberate 2D platformer Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider managed to combine both action and puzzle-platforming in a fresh, exciting and very three-dimensional fashion. The studio had managed to eke out a few moderate 16-bit successes like Chuck Rock and BC Racers, but nothing it had produced prior to 1996 hinted at the innovative, genre-defining work that would be Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider gave developer Core Design its big break.
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