Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration Switch 2 Review
Greetings Gamers! Greg here from Gaming Cypher to take a look back at the second entry into the Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogy, Rise of the Tomb Raider. Specifically, the Switch 2 version, Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration which was released in June of this year.
I’ve been playing Tomb Raider games for 20 years now, and the Survivor reboot was a huge update at the time. Taking the IP in this direction was a smart move after the extreme success of Uncharted. It was time for Lara Croft, the original video game explorer, to give Nathan Drake a run for his treasure.
After 2013’s Tomb Raider, Lara was ready to continue the Rise of the Tomb Raider in the second installment of the series in November of 2015. We will pick up this review 11 years later in 2026, Where Lara’s story continues on the Switch 2. Replaying this as a handheld adventure while on my own adventures felt right. Yes, I could have played it on the TV again, but what’s the fun in that when I can take a little pocket-sized tomb with me to raid on my own schedule outside the house, after my own adventures. That being said, I wouldn’t recommend playing some of this game outside as much of the game takes place inside tombs, tunnels, or at night. The game looks extremely good, especially in these darker situations, but being able to see what’s on the screen can be compromised in bright environments. The character models, distant backgrounds, and enemies looked really clean with only minor lower-quality compromises in close-up environmental textures. Rise of the Tomb Raider still looks cinematic and polished despite its age.
As far as performance on the Switch 2, Rise of the Tomb Raider plays pretty close to what I remember the original experience to be. I always find it a little hard to make precise movements on the Switch. But when I play games on the Switch, I generally don’t play on hard difficulties or competitively, as I usually play in fun short bursts and not sweaty, long, grueling sessions. Regardless, in the Rise of the Tomb Raider I prefer to stick to the shadows, tree branches, or just generally hidden to perform stealth or bow kills as often as possible. I have a deep-seated need to preserve my big weapons for big battles, and if a big enough battle never comes, then at least I didn’t waste my hard-to-find, limited resources on a single henchman. Anyway, rant over now, the stealth in Rise of the Tomb Raider feels natural, just like a luscious hidden village at the top of a snowy mountain feels right for the world, or a single woman taking out an army one henchman at a time.
Overall, Rise of the Tomb Raider was a fun ride. It reminded me that it belongs to one of my favorite genres of games, the big-budget action-adventure game. This narratively-focused adventure ride is like pushing through a high-adrenaline action film, asking players to balance their skill with puzzles, with their ability to assess threats in rapidly evolving situations, or with almost oner-style quick-time-event action scenes where, if successful, Lara narrowly escapes danger. Moral of the story Rise of the Tomb Raider is feels big even on a small screen, so it earns an 8/10 for its balance of story, action, and adventure.
You can find Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration at the Nintendo eShop.
Related: Reviews by Greg Vander Velde
I've been a life long nerd and video game junkie known to associate with the likes of Link, Nathan Drake, Batman, and Master Chief. I'm a filmmaker by profession, but spend lots of time behind a controller escaping the real world. @GregVelde on Instagram/Twitter/YouTube
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