Level reviews

"Back in the day it seemed like a new version of this came out every other week, so that the public could be privy to any minuscule change that this project underwent; a questionable publishing policy then, I care even less about it now. This version, however, diverges most widely from the original - not in gameplay, which is the same old same old (though the collapsible tiles are missing; and among the jackals who stand in for the wolves, some extras have been inserted, in part to make up for the lack of bear), but in visual design. The texture set is an odd hodge-podge of TR2 Tibet brown for the caves and TR3 Tinnos brown for the stonework, taking the location away from Core's Mayincatec land into the realm of pure (but mostly brown) fantasy; the secrets are easier than ever, now highlighted by torches which you can not only see but also hear; you get flares, because shadow bulbs have been placed in various spots; the twin bridges look even more 2D than the original, and the Aztec calendar is now one of the water-spouting sculptures from TR4's "Temple of Poseidon" (more brown). Rather too consistent in its colour scheme, then, and wildly incoherent in every other respect, this attempt deserves a few token points for at least trying, even if it falls flat and never manages to get up." - Mulf

"A remake of the first level of TR1. The main change we see is the textures and some darkness added. The rooms are almost the same as in the original game, only with some minor changes. The 3 secrets are there and they are registered. Some music tracks would have been fine." - alan

"An entirely faithful remake of the TR1 level only with a new coat of paint, courtesy of Tinnos. A few dog attacks spice things up and the opening flyby was nice, but it's business as usual, although not badly constructed." - Ryan

"Possibly remakes were more of a novelty back when this was made, but now of course we've seen it all before. It's always interesting to see TR1 levels in TR4 crisp format, but there are better examples about. Still, for its age, it's a valiant effort." - Jay

"Yet another remake of the original TR. What I liked about this one is how the author added new elements such us torches. I liked this remake even though you know beforehand what to do and what to expect." - Gonxii

"The Caves; one of the most remastered levels from TR1. This time the textures have a good look, but even so sometimes they are bad applied in small surfaces and another times they don't fit well in big walls. At least, the author could place some musics or another entertaining tasks, but not: the same old level shooting bats and dogs and pulling some switches. Boring." - Jose

"Simply just another copy/paste 'repackaging' of the Caves level from TR1, albeit with different textures, somewhat decent lighting and use of jackals and bats throughout, instead of packs of wolves and a bear(as in TR1's version of the level.) Better off playing through TR1 again over downloading this, as this 'remake' doesn't really have anything truly unique to justify the download by modern standards." - Ceamonks890

"This was the only level of this series that had something we could call "self-performance". Other TR 1 textures, Tinnos textures, but also the snow from the original cave level were used to create this level. Few own objects were used. Apart from this, everything (architecture, gameplay) is simile. 6 minutes." - manarch2

"Even way back then they made remakes and judging by the number, this is version number 6. This one you can do almost blindfolded, as it is very much like the original. Different textures are used; some of them even could use a little tweaking as I saw quite a lot of squashed ones. Almost at the end I got a crash, could finish it but nasty all the same." - Gerty

"A solitary point for gameplay,as the builder slavishly followed the original level room by room but at least had the decency to add a few extra dog attacks to keep the player on their toes. As this was built so long ago it feels somewhat churlish to wonder (yet again) why so many builders feel compelled to faithfully reconstruct someone else's work,rather than have a go at something original of their own;but it must be said that this is an extremely faithful and accomplished reconstruction,with heaps of atmosphere and a decently chosen and applied texture set.The opening 20 seconds are beautifully done,and the whole thing is a doddle from the players perspective." - Orbit Dream

"What should I write to this level? Everything is said basically. Though the textures look good (mostly, in any case), however, do not fit so properly. At least not in the caves. There other textures have to go there. Now and again one must fight against a few dogs or bats. And for the whole rest one can switch on the autopilot." - Scottie

"This is basically a remake of the first level of the original game so there isn't much of originality here however, it was just like playing to real thing only with better graphics. A lot of effort went into recreating this level and I enjoyed playing it. The new version removes the opening flyby but I quite liked this here. Not sure why it was removed unless the author wanted the level to represt the original as best as possible and in the original there was no flyby. Still very enjoyable even though I have played this level countless times. It never gets boring. :)" - Necro

"Ok this is hard to rate as you can't really compare a tombraider 1 level to the standards of the tr4 engine. I chose to rate it as a remake and how close it comes to the tr1 level. The author's goal seems to be to make it look as much as the original tr1 caves level as possible and he has almost succeeded! Cool new textures and (almost) all secrets/ switches/ enemies etc are on their correct place. It is sad that it crashes just before the end though ;( I really like this level though and the author has done a great job making this remake! 2005-05-28" - QRS

"A nice idea but somehow doesn't quite look like a finished product. The new Lara looks good with her assets. There are way too many dogs compared to the original, no bear and too many bats as well. Texturing is pretty good, but I feel there could have been more done like add in a couple of extra rooms so the player would not become bored and so there is something new too. Nice try but left a little short. If I had to give this level a grade, I would give it a D+, a fail mark." - The Aussie Adventurer

"The same Original TR1 The Caves level only the Textures were replaced and it's looking nice now." - Yoav

"I have no idea how to rate this because it's really not a level. It has brown caves all over with some possessed dogs that are out of place and bats. There are two secrets, a timed run. Other than that it's all switches and that's it. The big bridges were nice and it lasted five minutes. Not a level really." - Kristina

"(v6.0) This is a 'remixed' version of the Original version of this remake. I am a real fan of the TR1, which really was a 'tomb' raider game. This version shows you the same map textured with different textures from various levels in the whole TR series. What was nice is even better. What I really can't understand is that many players skip these remake levels, which are for sure very good - they bring back the old and good memories from these games. I am sure that there are a lot of TR1 fans among us, and if you are one of them - stop by, you just found a great level! Also, a simple reminder for all those ungrateful players: when Artimus built this level, there was NO tool like TR2Prj that extracts the room geometry, ie, Artimus made everything from the scratch! A lot of effort was put into this level, and I appreciate that. Thanks Artimus! :)" - Treeble

"This is an excellent rendition of The Caves from TR1, in fact it's a better version because of the clearness and clarity of Lara, the thing is as a level it is pretty tame and not that interesting. There's not much more to say about it really, so either go reminisce or if you haven't played it before then see it the way Core/Eidos should have released it." - Sash

"This version of the replica of the original TR1 Caves level features a different texture set, which I actually liked more than the original one. Other than that no news here." - Michael

"Another one of the author's attempts at The Caves from Tomb Raider one, but they are looking better all the time. Still, nothing new here except for the brilliant textures." - Torry

"I had played KingSpyder's other version of the Caves quite a while back so just had to see what he had done differently here. There are few changes from the original Caves level, but the most noticeable are the new textures used throughout. This is probably the way the levels would have been textured had these been available, and they are very well-done here, they just weren't the same for me though. I'm glad his other version has the correct textures. Other than that, only the enemies are changed slightly. There are no bears or wolves yet, so they are dogs here, plus more have been added and I found them where there were no enemies before, which was a welcome surprise. Also, there are a few dark spots since flares are now available and they make some areas look a little more realistic." - RaiderGirl

"This is a modified Version of the caves. Although the new texture set looks a lot better, the feeling of the original TR1 gets lost. Therefore a small degrade in the atmosphere. Worst of all, the level bombs in the last room... The original approach is the one, I like better." - LaraFan

"Ain't we had fun in the good old days. Enemies of the animal variety that were killed from a save distance, timed runs that were managable on the second try, straightforward jumps, levers next to the door they open and enough medi packs to open your own Pharmacy. Was it really that easy and have we all become so experienced? Shall you feel frustrated with all those tricky levels that have you search for levers and crawlspaces, torture you with impossible jumps and mindbending puzzles, this is a good way to boost your ego. The rooms are a bit empty and plain, I missed the bear and the secrets are not so secret at all but the fast paced and linear gameplay is kinda entertaining and I do love running through the snow." - Dimpfelmoser