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There can't be many people out there who haven't heard of Lara Croft. She's easily as famous as veteran videogame stars like Mario and Sonic - she should be, she's had four games on the PlayStation alone! Lara has even appeared on chat shows and now she's set to star in her own movie, through some incredibly curvy real-life models! All this pales into insignificance, however, when compared to her latest, greatest adventure as she sets out to conquer the Game Boy Color.

Let's look at the graphics first. Actually, you'd have to look at them really, wouldn't you, in order to play the game! Lara is a whopping 48 pixels tall, which is very big by Game Boy Color standards and means that the designers have been able to squeeze oodles of detail into her voluptuous shorts-and-vest-clad figure. Her movement comprises an almost unbelievable 2,000 frames of animation - almost unbelievable because when you see her move, you'll wonder whether 2,000 frames is really enough to create such amazing activity!

Our heroine is every bit as versatile as her 32-bit PlayStation alter-ego too. She walks, runs, jumps, climbs, hands from things, shoots, swims, somersaults, rolls, performs hand-stands... to say that this girl is multi-talented would be the understatement of the year!

Tomb Raider II on the PlayStation received a bit of stick for the plot line, specifically because Lara wasn't so much raiding tombs as driving speedboats and shooting large, heavily-muscled gentlemen while wandering around on huge oil rigs. Thankfully for the Game Boy version our heroine has gone back to what she does best... exploring huge, ancient, atmospheric tombs and temples packed with all sorts of supernatural horrors.

The game encompasses five different levels. Now, before you all start shouting "Five? That's not many, I've got more fingers than that!", take into account the fact that each of these levels consists of between five and a massive fifteen maps! When we tell you that each of those maps ranges in size from between four to a mammoth eight hundred screens... well, it's obvious that we're talking about a very, very big game indeed!

Every level is packed with beautifully-drawn backgrounds, helpful items, tricky hazards and brain-teasing puzzles. Lara must contend with collapsing walls and floors, hidden levers and switches, weight-activated pressure pads, monkey bars, vines, ancient lakes and rivers, and that's without even mentioning the hordes of nasties who dog her every step.

Birds, bats, golems, crocodiles, monkeys, skeletons and mummies are just a few of the unfriendly individuals that challenge Lara's adventuring skills. Fortunately, though, she's got her trusty pistols to get her out of most tight spots. Other objects in the game include sticks of dynamite for removing pesky walls or slabs of stone, a variety of different keys, all sorts of ancient amulets, loads of puzzle items and of course those all-important medi-packs that no gorgeous adventurer would dream of leaving her spacious country mansion without!

As in the other Tomb Raider games, all the items are accessible from an inventory screen including the guns, although these can also be pulled out just by tapping the Start button for situations that require swift action.

With so much going on in this game and so much effort put into making it look so great - oh... did we mention the sound? That's great too! Core has even managed to include a very decent rendition of Lara's trademark - and extremely sexy - exhalation of pleasure when she finds an important item or uses a medi-pack.

With all this, it would have been easy for something like the controls to come in slightly under par, but they haven't. The controls layout and button combinations have been well thought out and, with a little practice, you'll soon have Lara leaping about. Most important, though, is the button responsiveness and in Tomb Raider, this is second-to-none. You tap the button or move the D-pad and Lara instantly responds, turning what might otherwise be incredibly frustrating jumps and grabs into what can only be described as a joyous experience.

This game is complete Game Boy Color perfection - all self-respecting players should get themselves a copy right away!

In the past, there have been good games for the Game Boy Color. There have even been great titles from time to time.

Tomb Raider, however, is a game that you absolutely must own. To say that it's reason alone for buying a Game Boy Color would not be doing it justice. It's not so much a game to sell your mother for as one to mortgage your entire family for, complete with the dog, and then throw in a kidney for good measure.

If you never buy another game ever again in your life, make sure you buy Tomb Raider for the Game Boy Color.

Graphics 100%
Lara's looking great!

Sound 100%
You even get the sexy "aah!"

Playability 100%
She runs, she jumps... perfection!

Lastability 100%
It'll keep you going for aeons!

Overall 99%
As close as you'll get to perfection!