Google Chrome and Tomb Raider

It's been a while since I did one of these as such I'd like to go after somethings which don't require too much thought as to describe my opinion as that trilogy of Avatar: The Last Airbender did. That being the case I thought,what better than a video game you've practically beat and the browser you use everyday?

As such I will go for these important but low key parts of my life,starting with the quickest done

Google Chrome

Presentation: 10/20 (Honestly it just didn't impress me one bit,it seemed very complicated and ugly but at least it looked user-friendly)

Features: 20/20 (I praised Opera's speed-dial,well this one is even bigger and better)

Reliability: 20/20 (Firefox used seem like a cheetah,now when I use,I feel like I'm stuck with Netscape on dial-up,that's how fast Chrome is)

Searching: 20/20 (I've said it before,I'll say it again because that's just how to describe searching on this browser "Searching is a breeze")

Final: 18/20 (While intimidating at first,it's become my browser of choice quickly,but it didn't make a great first impression)

Next onto the video game that started a phenomenon,that started a movie,that made Angelina Jolie famous,that made a series,that fell into pit of mediocrity.It started out on the Sega Saturn [I reviewed that system earlier and that's the version I will be reviewing],but took off on the PlayStation to become the killer app of the system.

Tomb Raider (Sega Saturn)

Year: 1996

Developer: Core Designs

Publisher: Eidos

Concept: 20/20 (Basically you control a very hot chick named Lara Croft equipped nothing but pistols initially,exploring the world for treasure in nothing except booty shorts and a tank top. That's a whole new level of bad-ass really. What's more she can do all this crazy stuff and look cool [Mario not so much])

Plot: 20/20 (Lara Croft is a thrill-seeker/treasure hunter who plays just for the heck of it. So naturally when businesswoman Jacqueline Natla hires her to seek an age old artifact in an unfound tomb in Peru,she doesn't even need money to get off the duff and get going.But there's a twist,Natla has sinister intentions once she gets that artifact,and what's more that artifact is a part of a powerful weapon. I don't know about you but that sounds better than even an Indiana Jones film and it makes me wanna keep playing)

Graphics: 18/20 (Marvelously detailed worlds for a system that just wasn't that good at 3D graphics,the big T-Rex looks more frightening than anything now,the guns and rocks look fantastic as do most monsters. The two minor problems are the ground [where you can literally see a grid at times] and the untextured characters like Lara herself who look waaaay too pointy and lack detail and the facial expressions are unreadable)

Music:12/20 (The scores are genuinely spine-tingling and anti-climactic,I could listen to them all day,problem is except for the main theme,most of them aren't very long,get easily interrupted in the action and the game favors the noise of Lara jumping and grabbing ledges over anything else,making for a very queit game. That's fine,but sometimes you'll run into a part begging for some music only to be met with silence)

Challenge: 19/20 (It's got a great learning curve.The first few levels aren't too hard at all [and by that I mean the very firs 2 levels] and then they gradually get harder and harder and harder, until you get to the point you just wanna bang the controller at the screen,pout walk, take over THE WORLD MWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!!!.Seriously though the last few levels become incredibly mind-boggling,but thankfully by that time you're well prepared.The controls are dodgy,but if you switch to the second option,,the levels themselves will be the one problem)

Levels: 20/20 (All them are fascinating from the very first level where you're in a cave with wolf footprints,to the waterfall laden Lost Valley,or the level with 4 rooms [one includes Thor's Hammer].Not only do they look great,but they play out great to with plenty of leaping,shooting and fascinating puzzles that you have to figure out with no help.If that bores you and you've gotten to level 7,just jump into King Midas's hand,die turning into gold,laugh and turn the system off. So even in that aspect the levels are fun)

Final:18/20 (One of the most incredible experiences ever,but Lara looks very dated and the music was too short,reptitive at times and almost never played. Also seeing all the grids from which the levels were designed made it hard to suspend disbelief.Core Designs really nailed the adventure genre)