THE GOODTR1Lost Valley - Dinos, cog puzzle, Waterfall being the entrance to the next level.
St. Francis' Folly - All those offshoot rooms, atmosphere in spades and Pierre.
The Cistern - The drainage system being a puzzle, the crocs, Pierre again and the general concept.
Sanctuary of the Scion - Huge level, the Sphinx, the underwater statues, final fight with Larson, best TR1 level IMO
TR2The Great Wall - The traps, the thrill and TWO T-Rexes!
Venice - The boat ride, the atmosphere, the music, the bombs, the timed boat ride.
Bartoli's Hideout - Big level, the atmosphere again, the chandelier room, the big explosion at the end
The Opera House - Brilliant Level Design and a thrilling end section.
Wreck of the Maria Doria - Interesting setting produces an interesting level, the mind boggles at its logic while the creepy atmosphere is convincing.
The Deck - Huge level, epic in scale, spades of atmosphere, plenty of enemies (only the anti-climactic ending brings it down).
Barkhang Monastery - One of the best levels TR has ever seen. The level is huge, the design is genius, the visuals are gorgeous and its Buddha statue room is really quite something.
TR3Temple Ruins - Good level design, atmosphere, Shiva statues, meeting Randy and Rory
Crash Site - Pure thrills on this one. The endless amounts of raptors, the T-Rex, the plane, the explosive ending.
Nevada Desert - Atmosphere, unique level, gorgeous visuals and a pleasurable level allround
High Security Compound - Same as above
Area 51 - Same as above plus ever increasing weirdness as the level goes on - Dolphins? Aliens?
Thames Wharf - Convincing 'city at night' atmosphere, puzzles.
Aldwych - Haunting, unique and intelligent
Lud's Gate - A level of two halves - the museum and the water section, both interesting to play. Has a lot to offer. And I actually LIKE the water propulsion unit!
Lost City of Tinnos - Like a sexed up St. Francis' Folly. It looks great, its a really challenging level and it builds up to the final level perfectly.
TRLRAnything Before City of the Dead, Cairo.
Because as far I'm concerned, Core's true masterpiece lies in TR4's first half. The part on Lara's reason for raiding beats Crystal's explanation hands down, the traditional levels afterwards are a pleasure and then the Alexandria section leading up to Cleopatra's Palaces astound me to this day. The fact Coastal Ruins could provide a core for all those complex offshoot levels is a real achievement. That's the least I can credit their achievement on the first section with.
TRCThe Submarine/Sinking Submarine - good atmosphere, unique concept that works, interesting story
Trajan's Markets/Colliseum - bosses, puzzles, atmosphere, level design but it felt a bit tired
TRAODThe Hall of Seasons and its offshoot levels - Core's last moment of glory. Combining the expansive nature of TR4's Alexandria section with the genius of levels like St. Francis' Folly and Lost City of Tinnos.
TRLNothing in this game that can really be called 'good' when compared to any levels from any other TR game. - need I explain why?
TRASt. Francis' Folly - Same reasons as TR1 + better graphics
TRUMexico/Thailand - Good exploration, looks great
So you've probably noticed that what I see as good peaks at TR3/4 and then falls quite sharply. This is because, IMO Core Design were always at their best when they played to their strengths. The final part of TR4 was so repetitive and unimaginative that it looks as if their hearts weren't in it anymore by the latter stages of development. TR5 had its moments but the game was too easy and felt like a cash in, TRAOD was unsuccessful because Core didn't stick to what they were best at and over-egged the pudding by trying to innovate. Its such as shame that things went that way because now we have shorter less fulfilling games to play from Crystal Dynamics.
So yeah, I think I've praised TR enough for one day.
I'll post the Bad and Ugly another time.
