I grew up with the demo for TR2 and full version of TR3, and I even enjoyed AoD when I played it in 2004. I played and replayed 1-6 a few years ago, still fun. Being able to save whenever you want definitely helps.

I don't take this as a sign but I hope the rest of the TR games show up later this year or next, some time after Epic gave them away.

Not only do I share your opinion it is underrated; I would also say it is the best of the entire series and hasn't been surpassed as an adventure gaming experience since. I know that is quite the hot take, but, it is my genuine belief. I will admit there is some "game-i-ness" (why are we finding medipacks and ammo in ancient tombs...I guess in some cases one could argue from the few human characters getting there too), but it does not detract all that much. There is something about the depth of exploration you mention, which they got right here and I don't think ever quite nailed the same in the sequels which leaned more combat-heavy (starting with Tomb Raider II). Parts of Tomb Raider III did have a nice explorative feel but I would say there is a bit too much action as a whole for me to say it is the same "feel" as Tomb Raider I. That said, don't get me wrong, I think everything up to Legend is awesome and sorely underrated. I also think there are quite some strong games that were inspired by Tomb Raider such as aforementioned Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine; another one I would mention is Die by the Sword.

Finally, a game that is not about armies and stuff...
[i]Lara Amelia Croft
born on Valentine's Day in 1968[/i]
After years... I still love her ^
She could swim like a yoga frog position practitioner, and she still can!
I believe she saved and cemented the existence of this portal.

Started my/her adventure in 96-98 when I was fourteen, and she was... 28, haven't got any photos but remember it clearly. It was at Tomek's place on Wroclaw's Triangle and there were three of us and our comments were straightforward yet kind.
She was running, walking, jumping, swimming, diving, shooting, side jumping, doing impressive acrobatics and being Lara Croft was pure fun, still is.
It's nicely caught in Tomb Raider Anniversary(9/10 for respecting memories and new moves).
The only known pet of her is a horse so she is a rider too, with fair bum and bra, can't deny. However, the game has a good story and inspiring locations, game great enough to be released on... official Royal Mail stamps along with a Queen symbol.
As for male 3d heroes from video games, I would have a few types, yet for 3d heroines, would always be Lara Amelia Croft.

Here are some things we'll remember about the original Tomb Raider trilogy:
- Lara Croft as the first sex symbol of video games
- first fully-fledged third-person 3D action-adventure (as compared to earlier 3D action-adventure games which were basically limited to a flat-floor system, e.g. Fade to Black)
- damn scary back in the day (I started with Tomb Raider II and just wow, what with those "realistic" graphics, the violence felt brutal LOL)
- good, often very good, and sometimes excellent level design - it actually generally improves throughout the trilogy and not just because of graphical improvements
- Croft Manor
- cool cinematics
- Playing with vehicles since Tomb Raider II
- T-Rex FTW
- Wait, is this supposed to be about archeology? OK let's try some word-association - first word: artefact.
- Tricks and Traps (and loads of spikes and fatal drops)
- puzzles and getting stuck
- Backflip and shoot at the same time (perfect aim maintained throughout)
- initially shooting every moving creature on screen, but starting with Tomb Raider II one may find allies (and unkillable neutral creatures)
- Transitioning from antique Inca, Greek and Egyptian underworlds to futuristic Atlantis with Doppelgänger
- Palace of Midas and getting turned into gold, and the problematic use of one-off mechanics
- the introduction of dynamic lighting, sky box technology and a dynamic braid in Tomb Raider II
- The Great Wall and Venice
- Beauty Unfurled (awesome track)
- Temple of Xian for the quintessential Tomb Raider experience
- trilogy comfortably shifting between sci-fi and fantasy (mutants, floating islands and dragons... dinos)
- Crash Site, Highland Fling
- get the trilogy's expansions by any means necessary - especially The Lost Artefact
- She's Cool (awesome track)
- has aged poorly compared to Super Mario 64 which actually came out first

I know when they brought the 2013 game here they hinted at both the extra levels coming and even the ip holders saying they was working on it for the games that don't // And they hinted at the other games GOG had and the ip holders did at different pionts .. thus so long as nothing had put a kink in the dealings I'm pretty sure they will soober or later as both cases was basically saying''look for them coming in the foreseeable future'' sort of hint.. granted if I recall right this all was before the Hitman gave of the year shitshow and thus it could have indeed set such things back as while we never had confirmation both companies hinting at the other games coming here and the ip holders saying they was working on the extra stuff to come to pc that apparently was or maybe still is console exclusive for all pc storefront versions ..I can atleast see the exclusives for sure coming here given what was stated

but the others if they had planned to I can see them going ''nope too much bad press from your one game factor right now for us to have these others show up''

Modern Lara is almost flat-chested, it's a crime against humanity.

I have to say I've had a considerably different experience with these games than others posting so far having never played them when they came out but I got them here several years ago. Tomb Raider 1 would only spin the icons on the main menu. Eventually I figured out that this was due to a gamepad being attached and after removing it I could start the game. However, just trying to get through Laura's Home I managed to glitch the game twice in two tries, one requiring a restart of the level and one requiring force close of the game. I briefly tried 2 and 3 as well but in all of them the controls feel awful to me.

Sure it didn't age as well as effectively eternal games like quests or Planescape: Torment, but anyone who was old enough back then remembers that it was a cult hit on par with Doom, and whatever those insane feminists might say now Lara just being Lara back then brought more girls into gaming than any game or character before or after, and Tomb Raider is the founding pillar and staple of three-dimensional acrobatic action-adventure to this very day. And that's all that matters. The visuals - other, ironically enough, than her crude triangular chest and blatant squareness of some environment, were very good for its time, despite the game being made in the worst age of 3D, heck, put fresher textures and some post-processing touch-up and it all wouldn't look too shabby even now for a classic. Tank controls were awfully unfriendly compared to modern ones, but they also allowed for incredible acrobatic feats once you got them, even compared to modern hand-holding controls. And plot, even though it was given in but a couple of corny, terribly voiced, when they were voiced at all, cutscenes, had more spirit and character than many a game that drowns you in film and blather.
I mean, I wouldn't defend all of those by saying they're better than modern equivalents, but you'd find dozens of fans this very day that would, against all objective logic to the contrary. You wouldn't see those die-hard fans in such numbers if it was underrated.

So, yeah, I concur, even if Tomb Raider games aged very badly and would be hard to get into for those who were born after they came out - though I can attest to that you can introduce young players to it and have them like it, it's still a great game series, even today.
Angel of Darkness' still my favourite though, even though it was published undercooked and challenged the formula, and I'm still somewhat salty Eidos decided to nope out of that direction (don't get me wrong, reboots were also good).

I was a filthy teenager around the time Tomb Raider came out, and neither me nor my buddies really talked about the boobies. That suddenly became a thing after more mainstream audiences caught a glimpse of her assets and made jokes, etc.

We just wanted awesome games and Tomb Raider was an awesome game.

I still remember getting lost countless of times in Tomb raider one because there was no map and the compass was kinda useless.
But the sheer scale on some of the levels was quite impressive considering i played it on Ps1
The gunplay wasnt great and the camra control was sometimes bad especially in narrow corridors
but the exploration experience and the the puzzle elements was pretty good for its time
i shoud probably replay it

Well, at least she won't poke your eyes out with ye olde pointy triangle tits. ;)

Isn't the original Tomb Raider series actually a Tetralogy (with two executive mandated entries afterwards)?

And there is one more. The Times Exclusive Level for Last Revelation, but I believe it was standalone and maybe not exactly official. It was Free. It had something to do with the editor, I guess.

EDIT: Well, anyway it is already available in the GOG version under extras.

Pentalogy actually. The original trilogy features games which are stand-alone adventures (if you want to get all nit-picky, you can say references to past adventures exist via the increasingly sophisticated Croft Manor tutorial level). The last two games of the original Tomb Raider series are connected, which makes sense as the fourth game, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, is actually the first one to feature an arguably genuinely good story.