Lara Croft: Relic Run Coming Soon to Android, iOS and Windows Mobile

This past week, Lara Croft: Relic Run, a new mobile adventure-runner, launched on the Google Play Store in The Netherlands, with worldwide release for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone platforms planned for later this year. Tomb Raider's developer and publisher Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix are working with mobile game developer Simutronics on this new free-to-play title.

At first glance, the game certainly looks like a Temple Run clone, but in a recent blog post the devs assured fans, "it's much more than that. Relic Run offers a massive amount of diversity in play, allowing for seamless transitions between acrobatic-inspired running, combat, vehicles, and epic boss fights, including but not limited to the return of the infamous T-Rex."

Players in The Netherlands can download the game right now from the Google Play Store. The rest of us will have to settle for vicarious thrills via The Archaeology of Tomb Raider's "Lara Croft: Relic Run – First Impressions and Screenshots" and the teaser video below.

Having had my hopes raised then dashed when Lara Croft Reflections was announced then soon cancelled, I'm hoping Relic Run sees a wider launch very soon. I'm really looking forward to trying it. Guess it's finally time to upgrade my crappy, 5-year-old smartphone.

Video courtesy of The Archaeology of Tomb Raider's YouTube Channel

Katie's Site Celebrates 15 Years with an Exclusive Tomb Raider Track from Composer Nathan McCree

Congratulations to my dear friend Katie Fleming on the 15th anniversary of Katie's Tomb Raider Site! As most of you probably know, Katie and I have shared a domain since 2002, when she outgrew her old site and I invited her to join me on tombraiders.net. At the time, I saw a lot of promise in a teenage writer and webmaster, and knew if she had a chance she could achieve big things. I'm certainly feeling like a proud Tomb Raider mama today as I look back on how much she's accomplished over the past decade and a half.

In addition to her many contributions to the Tomb Raider fandom, she's managed to acqure not one but several academic degrees and break into the game industry as community manager for Warhammer 40K Eternal Crusade. I hope you'll join me in wishing her all the best in her future endeavors!

To help celebrate this milestone, Nathan McCree, the composer for the first three Tomb Raider games, has given Katie and the rest of the fans a very special gift: a previously unreleased musical track, entitled "In The Dark." Check it out in Katie's video below.

Tomb Raider 1 Now Available for Android on Google Play

Mobile gamers rejoice! The original Tomb Raider has at last been ported to Android. According to the official TR blog, "Tomb Raider I, the title that introduced Lara Croft to the world in 1996, delivers epic exploration and acrobatic gunplay while combating lethal predators to recover pieces of an ancient artifact. Offering newly updated and optimized controls, Tomb Raider I also delivers new and original cutscenes, voiceovers, and enhanced original music effects, giving the perfect opportunity for newcomers and diehards alike to jump back into the series' single-player action."

The game also includes the four Unfinished Business bonus levels and supports English, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese.

Download it from Google Play for only $0.99/£0.99/€0.99, or get the newly updated iOS version from iTunes.

As always, you can find my TR1 walkthrough and Unfinished Business walkthrough in the usual place.