Here we are at the series mid-point. So far, the titles I’ve selected have been fairly popular upon their release. No real surprises in the bunch. While I’m tempted to raid the vaults and come up with some obscure indie release to properly display my street cred, I find that in selecting my top five favorites, I have to be true to my heart. I discovered these games upon their initial release and fell hard for each one. While they all went on to enjoy varying degrees of success, their popularity doesn’t diminish their appeal. They got popular for a reason.

Today’s selection spotlights the first in a series that experienced the peaks and valleys of too much exposure. Here’s a title that blasted out of nowhere, gave gaming a new cover girl and eventually slid in disrepair. While we’re beginning to see a renaissance for this property, nothing can diminish the real pleasures provided by that initial title. Sure, it hasn’t aged well, but if we do the time warp back to 1996, this was as good as it got.

Without further adieu, I present number three:

Tomb Raider

The original Tomb Raider is another example of a Thanksgiving game. The game was released for the PS1 the day before Thanksgiving 1996. I picked it up that Wednesday evening on my way to meet some co-workers for a pre-holiday toast at our local watering hole. When I got back to my apartment later that evening, I decided to boot up the game and play for just a few moments.

Then comes the dawn.

I played that damn game all night. I slept a few hours that morning (to recharge for the family dinner) then played some more before departing to the family homestead for the traditional Thanksgiving gathering. When I returned home that evening, I booted it up again and set forth putting Lara through her paces.

Games like these — games that reach in and grasp every second of your free time, that haunt your waking life as you mentally play through a rough patch and figure out the solution miles away from your TV — these games are few and far between.

The original Tomb Raider was that game. Sure, the game rose in popularity buoyed by Lara’s assets, but good looks can only carry a girl so far. It’s what’s underneath that matters, and this girl showed she had a solid foundation to hold up that impressive rack. Being a fan of adventure games and movies, Tomb Raider tickled that desire to explore. This was the Indiana Jones game we never got. There was just such a sense of awe in exploring these caverns, turning a corner and spying a 600 foot drop off. “How the hell do I get down there?” I thought. That was the fun of Tomb Raider. Puzzling out the path from Point A to B.

Tomb Raider also made excellent use of sound design. Although the caverns were constructed with some pretty blocky textures, the ambient noises (booming echoes, earth shifting, water dripping) went a long way toward selling the illusion. Music was introduced in measured bursts — aimed at punctuating a major discovery — that like the triumphant Zelda theme, served as a little reward for all your hard work.

There were also some amazing set pieces. I’ll never forget wading through one particularly tight crevice that opened on a lush subterranean valley (adorned with foliage and rivers). As I was walking around, just taking in all of the cool little details the designers dropped in (such as a frayed suspension bridge hanging 100 feet above my head — “Hmmm… How I get up there?”), all of a sudden a rampaging T-Rex comes charging at me. (“Hmmm… How the hell did THAT get in here?”)

While the sequels provided a gradual sequence of diminishing returns, the last original installment, Tomb Raider Legend, seems to have brought our girl back. Later this year, a true next-gen Tomb Raider title arrives in Underworld.

The old girl has got some kick in her yet.