WILL this lady's star ever fade? Will I ever stop lusting over Ferraris?

Well at the moment the answer is not likely. The lady in question, of course, is dishy cyber-babe Lara Croft (nearly as shapely as a Ferrari) who is back in Tomb Raider 111, the game series which has proved wildly, amazingly, hugely successful around the world.

And my friends in the business tell me that TB111 has been selling like crazy since it hit the shelves. By all accounts, it's well on course to become the biggest selling PlayStation game yet again.

Action girl Lara has become an icon of the present day, usually attracting more publicity than the game itself. It's all very weird. Suffice to say she looks as good as ever, especially in her new outfits.

TB111 has a lot to live up to but early outings on the game indicate that there is enough new stuff here to keep most gamers more than happy even if the hype has pushed expectations sky-high.

There is a faster game engine and plenty of new features, while Lara has greater agility from her new moves and a range of snazzy vehicles to help her get around the various locations, ranging from the deserts of Nevada to the islands of the Pacific. This time Lara can try a locked door, rummage/search around while swimming as well as duck and crawl and use a rope swing and zip slide. She also carries new weapons and can get her hands on a rocket launcher for when the going gets really tough.

And talking about nasties, the Jungle level features killer monkeys which you must, of course, blast while the rivers are full of toothy piranhas just waiting to have you for lunch.

Also watch out for a snake in the grass! Actually it's a King Cobra lurking in the long grass which you definitely don't want to come across, although you most definitely will.

New environmental effects include leaves blowing around, water currents, birdlife and fog and darkness etc which, combined with technical improvements, give the game a great look and feel. Bags of funJE

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.