Level reviews

"I think this is the second remake of this level I play, I'm not quite sure. But still the gameplay and all remains the same, except that in this one there's also no bear. I guess it was a problem to find enemies that worked as bears at that time. Anyway, there's nothing too new here except from a new menu background which was also present in the previous remake from this author. If you a fan of TR1 then play it for the nostalgia!!! I'd like to see one of St. Francis Folly, though." - alan

"Faithful remake of the City of Vilcabamba except that the bear was missing in the first part of the level. Nothing new here and the textures are stretched." - Torry

"An earlier remake of this particular level (by different builders) exists, but is marred by its - Mummies in the Arctic' approach. By the time this one came around, it was possible to extract wads from all the classic TR games, so here we get to see the wolves in their original form, along with the doors, pickups and other objects from TR1, including the sorely missed underwater levers, breakable tiles, and the pushblock. Still no bears, though. (I think it was the right decision to not replace the bearâ€"a complex object of which no properly converted version was available at the timeâ€"with some other random enemy, as the earlier remake did. But its absence makes itself felt.) There are a few odd glitches (the breakable tiles repeat their animation whenever you step on the trigger, the pushable block sinks into the ground) and a few missing or wrong sounds (gravel footsteps on stone tiles), but the secrets are back, and this time even come with camera views.
At the end, the level crashes to desktop; presumably because the script calls for "Tomb of Qualopec", since this level is part of a concerted effort to replicate TR1 in its entirety for the TR4 engine. It never made it past Peru, but would have reached an impasse sooner or later anyway. I considered it pointless back then, as at the time you still could run TR1 on modern machines without taking recourse to workarounds like DOS Box, and I consider it pointless now, as today you can still play the original by taking recourse to workarounds like DOS Box. A point could be made, I guess, for better graphics, but that is a double-edged sword: the - faithful' approach which the project brandishes as its badge of honour includes using the same old 16-bit textures, simple objects, and (apparently) no lighting, rendering the sole advantage it might have over the original irrelevant, and making the project's entire concept appear fundamentally flawed." - Mulf

"A faithful remake of the original Vilcabamba level, with seemingly nothing new added to set it apart from other remakes. It might have seemed a nice idea to bring these old levels to life back in 2001, but unfortunately we've seen it all before. It took me exactly 19 minutes." - Ryan

"Basically a fairly faithful remake of the original TR1 level. Perhaps when it was first made it represented a good idea to render the old TR1 textures into a TR4 format, but now it all feels really rather pointless." - Jay

"If you've played the original TR1 level it's not worth to play this one, 'cause it's almost the same except some more bats and dogs. Really boring." - Jose

"Much like the builder's previous releases, this 'remake' of the City of Vilcabamba level from TR1 feels more like a repackaging than anything else. Outside of some missing objects/enemies, rather bright lighting and lack of any actual TR1 music, this level looks and plays exactly the same as it's original TR1 counterpart. So, if you happen to already own TR1, this release is rather redundant to play, as there is nothing shown off here that comes across as truly unique enough to justify the download." - Ceamonks890

"The next level of this remake series. I found this level to be the best in terms of design, but lighting also was quite flat. Enemies were well build but a bit wrongly placed (the triggers for them were too near them, so they appear just in front, which is not very realistic. I always liked the Vilcabama gameplay most of the three different levels provided here, and this is no difference. After 15 minutes I finished this level." - manarch2

"Another faithful recreation of a classic level;but for 'faithful',you can (once again) read 'unoriginal'- although I invested it with two gameplay points owing to the frequency of the enemy attacks and a slight twist on the collapsible platform gauntlet. Secrets are all present and correct;textures have been applied immaculately,and cameras (unnecessary as they may be)have been placed considerately.Something is amiss with the lighting,though;as there seems little evidence that any work has been invested into this aspect and thus the atmosphere suffers a little as a consequence. Not a bad little 20 minute blast for those suffering from rampant nostalgia;but little else to recommend." - Orbit Dream

"Same old same old only very brightly lit. I never could get into the room above the underwater room but I did have the two keys so I did finish it, with a crash to my desktop." - Gerty

"This is a remake of the second level of the first and original TR game. Not much can be said about this level other than it is THE perfect reincarnation of this level and it's very remeniscent of the entire set of TR1 levels released a while back and I can't for the life of me remember the author. Is it this guy? Anyway, it was a very enjoyable nostalgic trip down memory lane as I always welcome a wander back into the original game." - Necro

"Another great remake by KingSpyder! 99% is correct. Only a few missing pickups, wrong pickups etc. Also the bear is missing *sob* I'll rate this level as a remake of a tr1 level and not as a tr4 level. The author must have taken a long time to make this level and texture it as he has done. I have played tr1 many times and I think it is close to perfect as it comes to the textures and map layout. I miss the good old tr1 sound though :) I hope there will be more for KingSpyder! 2005-05-28" - QRS

"Hello once again. This is a remake of one of the original levels from Tombraider. It's pretty much the same as the original except Lara is full bodied and the levels look a bit nicer. Don't expect anything new, expect a little bit less in fact. We are missing a bear right at the start and a couple of small medipacks, nothing too serious. If you've played the first Tombraider, you might want to skip this, or just play it for a quick look. Newcomers should play it cause it's a bit better than what the first was like. However, there's nothing new so it was a bit on the boring side. Nice job however to create the look from the original. If I were to give this level a grade, I would give it a C-, a low pass mark." - The Aussie Adventurer

"Taken very much from the original game, so if you've played TR1 this is all very familiar stuff. You'll know you'll be attacked by lots of dogs at certain points and bats. Still it was interesting to see how a custom builder treated the theme. The architecture and texturing is perfect and better to look at than the original, perhaps that has to do with the overall improvement of Lara, textures etc, in the Editor, i.e. the water, lighting, etc. Much simpler gameplay, but it would be really too ridiculous if Artimus copied 'everything'. If you haven't played TR1 then it's a nice level to play, if you have then it's a nice little trip down memory lane. I miss the bears though, sigh!" - CC

"I haven't seen the previous two versions of this but I imagine they are somewhat the same. Just empty big rooms with a few dogs, bats and some levers. There is no gameplay apart from a moving block which has natla written on it and looks out of place, some collapsing tiles and swinging blades with no real purpose. I understand that this is just a remake and I have to admit the rooms are well built but it's a pity to waste all that and not add puzzles and enemies. I hope the next project will have some action." - Kristina

"(v2.0) Another master remake of the great and unforgettable TR1. This time, level 2 is converted and perfectly put into TRLE world. Artimus does a great job, because he made the whole project from scratch, without using extracting programs to do that for him, a lot of work indeed, and even the stretched textures, which everyone knows is ugly, were kept. That is, if you never played TR1, you can play the levels from this series (Original TR Conversion Project) so you can see EXACTLY how it was. However, this level is in its earliest stages and no lighting was added at all. Whenever the next version comes out, I will revise this review, but until then, you can be sure this level is worth seeing for everyone: both TR1 fans and those who never played it." - Treeble

"Vilcabamba sounds a bit like Villa Riba, doesn't it?! I was convinced that I had played this before but now I'm not so sure anymore. I can't remember being attacked by 5 dogs all at once. But it's hard to tell with quite a few remakes of Vilcabamba around. This captures the atmosphere of the original nicely but gameplaywise it's a bit simple as you're through it in ten minutes and I had the feeling that you don't even need to see all of it to reach the finishing trigger. A bit of swimming and jumping over breakaway tiles, three swishing blades and some wall levers to push. That's it basically." - Dimpfelmoser

"This isn't going to be the final version of this remake of the City of Vilcabamba by KingSpyder and he states that there are things missing to be added in later versions. Some of those missing objects are shrubbery, bears (although I don't know if this ever will be possible), and instead of the key to open up the second half a wall lever is used, but this is a necessary thing because when you go in search of where the key would be you find yourself impossibly stuck as the movable block in the original used to climb upon is not climbable now as we all know the problem with movable blocks, and unfortunately there were no climbing walls placed in lieu of so you could get to the only exit. Apart from that though this is very faithful to the original and will appeal to reminiscers of the good old days and those without TR1." - Sash

"KingSpyder continues with his TR1 rebuild project and again this is a brilliant replica with its dog pack attacks (some appear out of thin air though), bats, darts, collapsing floor tiles, swinging blades and movable block (why that strange texture?). It is actually easy to miss a few of the beautiful parts of this level as you do not have to go there to finish it, so take your time exploring. Still, I got through this in 20 minutes and it's only worth a look if you want to reminisce the good old days and or admire KingSpyder's great work." - Michael

"Considering what he had to work with, I think KingSpyder has done a great job of recreating 'The City of Vilcabamba' from TR I. I'm not sure how he does it, but he manages to get almost every detail exactly right, including shapes and textures. It's not quite as fun as playing the original, but the graphics are better. As stated in the read-me file included in the download, this is only a beta version. The next version will have all the objects placed and the triggers and lighting should be completed. I had to use the DOZY cheat at one point as I couldn't stand on a movable block and the locations of the secrets were there, but the actual secrets were not. This didn't affect level playing at all for me, we've all played this level before and it was just nice to see what a great job he's doing recreating the levels from the classic game." - RaiderGirl

"KingSpyder has done a commendable job of recreating 'The City of Vilcabamba' 2nd level from the original Tomb Raider. But if he's serious about completing the project then he must contact Core and get some original TR1 Wav files. It's just not right with tr4 sounds." - Dick

"Ok, I love Tr1, as well as Tr3.... But believe me, restoring a Tr1 game ad make it playable into a Tr4 game takes a lot of time. People think it might be easy, just texture..... wrong. Sometimes some things must be fixed, and the lighting is missing also, objects, sounds, camera, no bear =( ok... newest version will contain a bear, I am sure =) Believe it or not I am afraid of that bear. When I played TR1 I tried to lure that bear out of the room in order to kill it. All in All super job converting the level." - Yasin

"This is version 2 of this level. And it has improved very much! Almost all errors from the previous Version have been corrected: The movable block is now climbable The missing keys and levers are finally there. All the secrets rooms now have their contents. The wolves now are wolves. Now for the rest of this level: I must admit that the author shows a great love for details. All of the textures are original or at least look like them. There are no fly-bys, nor any camera positioning which in fact are not really necessary because everyone knows this level already. Only the bears are still missing completely. All items are found in the original spots (except one small medkit!). In summary I wish that the author would continue his good work!" - LaraFan

"I have played version 2. The block was climbable and the underwater levers were there and worked. For the ones that have played TR1 this is a nice reminiscence. There are some changes e.g. colours, walls and furniture. There are no bears around, but plenty of bats and wolves. For the ones that have not (yet) played TR1 it gives an idea what this part of the TR1 is like. It is not very difficult. It just is for fun." - Monika

"I have played this game and I thought back to the time, I began to play Tomb Raider. This game I know, but a lot of textures are new. I was walking slowly to kill the bear. But there was no bear, there was a ninja - cool. Some doors were open and the light was a little bit dark. I like this game. The old time with Tomb Raider 1 was a good time." - Andi Croft