Naysayers who cling to the most detrimental aspects of her creation are missing the point. What she represents to me is way more appealing - another female in popular culture who kicks arse. IвЂ™m not a frequent gamer so I remained unfazed by the logistics of her abilities. SheвЂ™d be unable to walk, never mind leap with bazungas that size, some other people probably said. SheвЂ™s a construct pandering to the male gaze, people said. Like Barbie, her exaggerated proportions became a massive talking point when the first Tomb Raider game was released. Gem: Much has been made of Lara Croft and her buoyant bosom. This week, IвЂ™ve welcomed fellow Inverse writer Gem Seddon, a wonderful wordsmith whose finger is on the nerdy pulse like mine is, to finish this entry with a womanвЂ™s perspective. Though I try hard to learn about the world beyond what I see as a straight dude, it isnвЂ™t enough. SheвЂ™s attractive and inspiring - I seriously encourage everyone to play the 2013 reboot.Д¬roftвЂ™s novelty as a strong, sexy woman in gaming is very responsible for the franchiseвЂ™s enduring success. And I love her, as much as you can love something in a reasonable way that exists only in ones and zeroes. When she was thought to have been killed in 1999вЂ™s Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, its creators spent the next installment with Tomb Raider: Chronicles a flashback episode like in a sitcom but as a whole game, and the very next installment bringing her back in Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. These games have never and can never star anyone else. Tomb Raider is Lara Croft, franchise and hero are one. Yet until 2008, the franchiseвЂ™s marketing team hired actresses, gymnasts, and glamour models to give the character flesh in promotional events, a Lara Croft you could touch (with security, making it more like like DisneylandвЂ™s cast members, but still). In the 2001 episode of G4tvвЂ™s Icons, Eidos developers were vehemently vocal about their anti-sexism and their reverence for Lara CroftвЂ™s creation. Is Lara Croft problematic? Is she feminist? Are the games sexist? Are we to blame? Is there anything to blame for? I will never defend chauvinism, but there is a reason LaraвЂ™s notorious proportions were what they were: It was a mistake. The original game, in bold letters at the top, actually says, вЂњSOMETIMES HAVING A KILLER BODY ISNвЂ™T ENOUGHвЂќ on the back of the case. IвЂ™ve made mention of LaraвЂ™s figure several times on purpose. (ItвЂ™s a stunning coincidence that none of the caves she traverses have crevices lower than her waist.) Still, it was the game Adventure and Pitfall on Atari wanted to be, with a protagonist that was easy on the eyes who can stylishly shoot like sheвЂ™s in a John Woo movie, albeit with shittier aim than a Stormtrooper. Though Lara is a hardened adventurer, she is incapable of crouching and crawling, which IвЂ™ve done with precision on playgrounds when I was 7. You can climb ledges, swim, climb ledges, and sometimes if youвЂ™re lucky, climb other ledges. But this being 1996, the environments werenвЂ™t all that. On a technical level, Tomb Raider was innovative for its 3D environments that demanded exploration as required by its premise of, uh, tomb raiding. It was also a game where you shoot down a T-rex and a maniacal bro on a skateboard. Released to critical and commercial acclaim in 1996 for the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and PC, Eidos InteractiveвЂ™s original Tomb Raider was a monumental action-adventure platformer that created a pop culture icon in Lara Croft and was a pivotal conduit for debate on feminism and gender in gaming. I like to think this rebooted Lara is or will be better than her previous self. SheвЂ™s a whip-smart nerd made of iron, and the new game is her transition into perhaps one day becoming the gun-toting вЂњTomb RaiderвЂќ as we first knew her almost twenty years ago. Lara must survive against nature and man, wolves of all kinds, while continually proving her theory of an ancient society correct. SheвЂ™s barely seen a gun when her crew are shipwrecked on a remote island. In the 2013 reboot developed by Crystal Dynamics, sheвЂ™s a young archaeologist on a voyage to find a lost Japanese civilization. ItвЂ™s funny that the reverence for New Lara as gamingвЂ™s social progress is hinged by her inexperience.

Tomb raider 1996