Tomb Raiderhas been with us for decades now, with plenty of games in the series. Since 1996, Lara Croft has delved into countless tombs,claimed legendary treasures, and made herself a staple in the game industry.
Throughout the years, there have been numerous entries into the mainline set of Tomb Raider games. However, much like any series, there have been ups and downs when it comes to the games that have been launched. Not every adventure is as good as the last; some have proven to be better than others. Here’s every Tomb Raider adventure ranked.
This is a ranking of the main Tomb Raider games, meaning the handheld and mobile ones aren’t included. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris don’t count either, as they aren’t technically Tomb Raider titles, even though they’re part of the same universe.
Updated June 01, 2025, By Ben Jessey:The recently released remasters of the early Tomb Raider games have inspired us to return to our ranking of all of the series' main instalments to see if we’ve changed our minds.
Some games make a series, and others break them. Unfortunately, Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness falls into the latter.The game went through development helland, unfortunately, ended up a glitchy and controversial mess, which nearly ended the Tomb Raider series as a whole.
The game is also the first to feature no tombs, instead seeing Lara explore cities from Paris to Prague as she is on the run for the murder of her mentor. As you’re able to tell, this game doesn’t sound like Tomb Raider, and for that, it has the lowest ranking.
Tomb Raider: Chronicles was the fifth entry into the Tomb Raider series, and the fatigue from the developers shows. Its previous game, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, was supposed to be the final one. But Core Design was forced to bring Lara back for another game, this time playing as the heroine through flashbacks of previous adventures.
Though it’s not a bad concept, the flashbacks are incredibly disjointed, sometimes featuring Lara in latex on a mission out of a James Bond film, other times playing as a teenage Croft with no weapons.
From bad to good, Tomb Raider 3: Adventures of Lara Croft was a welcome entry to the series. Although the game was also rushed, it had a brand-new game engine with better graphics and controls. It also featured a globe-trotting adventure where the player could choose where to go next, taking Lara from India to Nevada.
Unfortunately, its difficulty, odd attempt at stealth mechanics, and lack of any major changes mean that it hasn’t aged as well as its previous games, leaving it as one of the more mediocre entries compared to others.
There must be something about Lara Croft and the end of trilogies as Tomb Raider: Underworld was the conclusion to the Legend Trilogy (Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld). In it, Lara finishes the quest to find out what really happened to her mother.
When the game was released, it suffered from tons of glitches and game crashes, which still affect the game today. But if one overlooks that, there is a good game here that manages to wrap up a decent story and shows Lara as fierce and powerful as ever.
Another end of a trilogy, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, is the end of the reboot trilogy and is the first Tomb Raider game to actually criticize Lara Croft for how she handles artifacts. The game sees Lara accidentally begin a Mayan apocalypse in her quest to take down Trinity.
The game also has the best difficulty system, features more tombs, and smooth stealth gameplay. Unfortunately, its story suffers, especially during the middle act, but it does manage to wrap up the reboot trilogy nicely.
Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a remake of the original Tomb Raider and a love letter to the classic that started it all back in 1996. It’s a faithful remake that improves upon the bare-bones story with a more humanized depiction of Lara Croft, nice graphics, and modernized puzzles and areas from the original game.
Although it has odd quick-time events and some glitches, the game features a great combat system andexcellent performances from its cast, especially Grey DeLisle as Natla.
Tomb Raider 2 is the sequel to Tomb Raider and helped prove that Lara Croft is here to stay. Though the improvements to gameplay are small, it introduced vehicles and also had a much more involved story compared to the first game.
Lara is on a mission to hunt the Dagger of Xian, racing against a mafia to do so. The backstory to the artifact is fascinating, and Lara is back, sassier, and more badass than ever in this hit sequel, which cemented her stardom.
Out of all the classics, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is the best and the darkest. The game was originally going to be Lara’s final act. The story is the best out of all the classical games, seeing Lara go against both her former mentor and the Egyptian god Set.
The level designs are haunting, the music is thrilling, and the gameplay mechanics are polished to be their best. It may have aged a bit these days, but it’s a good product of its time.
If there is a game that saved the series, then that would be Tomb Raider: Legend. The first title from Crystal Dynamics, the game was a modern reboot of the series with a new backstory, new gameplay, and much better graphics.
The game still holds up today and is the first to see Lara explore her backstory as she goes on a hunt to piece together Excalibur while finding out what happened to her mother, who disappeared years ago.
Rise of the Tomb Raider was the much-anticipated sequel to the Tomb Raider reboot of 2013. With the most impressive graphics of the series, more challenging puzzles, and an action-packed story, this is Tomb Raider at some of its best.
The only thing that stops Rise of the Tomb Raider from being the better game is just because the other entries in the series are just so good that they manage to outshine it, if even barely.
