The original GBA was a fine little console in its heyday, but it of course had limits — nobody would expect it to run a game in 3D very well, if at all. Yet in a seismic showcase of porting chops, the console has now been shown to run the original Tomb Raider, 3D graphics and all:
This effort is part of a larger project known as OpenLara, an attempt to reverse-engineer the original Tomb Raider for other platforms. While originally focused on efforts to upscale the game, the effort’s taken other forms as it’s gone along. Developer XProgger almost remade the entire engine himself in an effort to recapture the exact essence of the original TR, and it’s paid off. While obviously running at a lower frame rate and crispness than it does on other consoles, the product is still perfectly playable in its own right — insane considering the GBA has 1/8th of the PlayStation 1’s RAM.
Hopefully we can speak of even more incredible gaming ports in the future. You can check out the OpenLara GBA project for yourself to learn more.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
