Travel posters don't typically feature crumbling ruins or monsters lurking in doorways, but if the goal is to advertise locations explored by Lara Croft in 1996's Tomb Raider, it's almost inevitable that the aforementioned features, plus a dinosaur's shadow, are going to show up. Such is the case, anyway, with Twitter user ToddR_'s artwork that reimagines classic levels from the first Tomb Raider game as vintage travel posters.
The intrepid explorer's first outing is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and while there's recently been little news from Crystal Dynamics on the Tomb Raider front, fans have not forgotten the important milestone. In fact, creating the unique travel posters was ToddR_'s way of recognizing 25 years of Lara Croft adventures.
Each of the four posters focus on a level from the first Tomb Raider game and contain clever Easter eggs that fans with a keen eye should be able to pick out. For instance, the poster for Greece displays the broken hand of the Midas statue laying on the ground with a person turning to gold in its palm, which is what happens if Lara steps on the statue's hand in the game. While some elements of the first Tomb Raider haven't aged so gracefully, its inventive and imaginative set pieces are not one of them, and these fan made posters capture that element of the game perfectly.
In a separate post ToddR_ claims he isn't much of an artist, but most of Twitter seems to disagree, as the response to his work has been overwhelmingly positive. Even the official Tomb Raider Twitter account got in on the action, replying with "These are so creative!" and retweeting the vibrant artwork. As for the posters' travel angle, they've certainly succeeded in making some gamers want to visit the advertised locations once again. As an in-progress PS2 era remaster of the original Tomb Raider was recently dumped online, with fans working to finish it, now is the perfect time to revisit these exotic locales.
Another fan, known as Nicobass, has been working on remaking and upgrading Tomb Raider 2 in Unreal Engine 4 for the last several years, although it is uncertain when that project will be released. Lara Croft's second adventure may also be getting the poster treatment sometime soon, though.
ToddR_ has stated that he would be open to creating posters for other Tomb Raider games, so the world may yet see beautiful travel destination posters for Tomb Raider 2's Venice or Tomb Raider 3's Area 51. From the posters and remakes of the classic games to the Lara Croft cosplays, fans have been responsible for more Tomb Raider content in recent years than game developer Crystal Dynamics, who hasn't released a new installment in the series since 2018's Shadow of Tomb Raider.