Robert's PS1 Memories | Push Square

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One of my most prominent PS1 memories is playing through the original Tomb Raider trilogy — except I didn't. I was just a kid at the time — I couldn't have been much older than eight or nine — and simply put, I was too scared to play the series myself.

Not that Tomb Raider was aimed at children, of course — but that made the games all the more appealing to young minds. My friends at school were always going on about how cool Lara Croft's globetrotting adventures were, asking each other for help on how to solve certain puzzles and where to find the best guns.

But I couldn't handle those dark caves and foreboding ruins. Throw some wild animals into the equation and the panic was real; I'll just stick to Crash Bandicoot, thank you very much.

There was a solution, though. Whether it was through pity or her own interest — or probably a mix of both — my mother decided to take up the controller and play the first Tomb Raider herself. I would just sit back and watch, gripped by the intensity of it all without having to worry about actually playing it.

My mam wasn't really into games, but my passion for the PS1 had clearly sparked something. She enjoyed button mashing in Tekken, and she would often help me get unstuck in Crash Bandicoot's hardest levels. With Tomb Raider, though, it was like she found her groove.

We blasted through most of the first game (with the help of some guides in PlayStation magazines), but the Egyptian levels were a real sticking point. Those zombie-like enemies scared the sh*t out of me to the point where I couldn't watch — and that big boss with no legs? Bloody terrifying.

Still, my mam was in too deep to quit, and in the end, I think she might have just pushed through the Egypt saga herself in a bid to shield me from trauma. I don't quite remember the details, but I do recall sitting down to watch the last boss and celebrating when the credits rolled.

Fortunately, Tomb Raider 2 was nowhere near as horrifying thanks to its focus on human enemies.