As someone who remembers the first Tomb Raider, it was a weird time in gaming^. I'd sum it up as everything was either 'the epitome of 2D gaming' or the first steps into 'a 3D version of {insert game concept here}'.
Laura Croft was a 3D version of James Bond and Indiana Jones' love child. The hook was that it was one of the first 3D games were things looked kind-of, sort-of, maybe-if-you-squinted-at-them realistic. And also the first 3D game that I saw with realistic translations between animation states.
It's probably a lost cause trying to explain it to people who have grown up with high fidelity graphics, but there's a certain magic to "Wow, that hedge looks like a hedge!"
PS: So much hate for TR2's canal level https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA0r_Wp-EtU&t=8m30s
^For reference, 1996 was Duke Nukem 3D, Civ 2, Time Crisis, Super Mario RPG, Resident Evil, Metal Slug, Pokemon, Quake, Super Mario 64, NiGHTS, TES II: Daggerfall, Pilotwings 64, Wipeout 2097/XL, Marathon Infinity, MoO2, C&C:RA, DoA, and Diablo ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_in_video_gaming )
Laura Croft was a 3D version of James Bond and Indiana Jones' love child. The hook was that it was one of the first 3D games were things looked kind-of, sort-of, maybe-if-you-squinted-at-them realistic. And also the first 3D game that I saw with realistic translations between animation states.
It's probably a lost cause trying to explain it to people who have grown up with high fidelity graphics, but there's a certain magic to "Wow, that hedge looks like a hedge!"
PS: So much hate for TR2's canal level https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA0r_Wp-EtU&t=8m30s
^For reference, 1996 was Duke Nukem 3D, Civ 2, Time Crisis, Super Mario RPG, Resident Evil, Metal Slug, Pokemon, Quake, Super Mario 64, NiGHTS, TES II: Daggerfall, Pilotwings 64, Wipeout 2097/XL, Marathon Infinity, MoO2, C&C:RA, DoA, and Diablo ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_in_video_gaming )