Adolescent Fantasies Never Die

I really don't get it. I understand that she's made up of polygons and pixels, and I'm definitely getting more action than I was when she first made her appearance. So why do I and many other gamers find the adventures of Miss Croft so interesting?

Lara Croft has been a central focus of the media when looking at heroines in video gaming since 1996, and since then has appeared in 8 video games over a whopping 16 different pieces of hardware, two films courtesy of her portrayal by Angelina Jolie and has even had a comic produced around her, as well as countless amounts of fan fiction.

She has been looked upon as everything from a gaming icon, to a standard for feminism, to an adolescents pin up. I can't be totally absent from the young crowd of boys who at one time wanted to see more of Lara's polygons, but I do respect the often disputed role she fills in being a well recognised female lead, in a top selling video game franchise. It can't be underestimated how important it is that Lara is a woman who can readily look after herself (both financially and physically), achieves her own goals and still lives the a great life, especially when you consider that the standard for what is expected of woman is at such a low watermark in other well known video games. That's right Mario, I'm looking at you!

But anyway, Lara has been around for quite some time now, and yet, with the release of Tomb Raider: Underworld we still keep buying into the Tomb Raider franchise, despite the fact that other games can now do what Lara has been doing, but do it better than she can, and make it look prettier too. Uncharted on the PS3 is a prime example. Uncharted took the classic Tomb Raider template and gave it a much more engagin story, next generation visuals and a combat system that actually worked well. And yet, even thoguh this game did well, the Tomb Raider games continue to be an easy seller.

Could it be that Lara still represents what gaming is all about. Has she become the Mickey Mouse to the gaming industry. In that case, not matter what the future holds, will she remain as recognisable as Mario and Luigi. Only time will tell. In the meantime I'm saving my pennies for Tomb Raider: Underworld. Sex symbol, feminist heroine or simply video game icon, Lara Croft seems to be of interest to us all.