STELLA'S CLASSIC TOMB RAIDER 1 WALKTHROUGH

Tomb Raider I Remastered Guide here.

Kills: 29  Items: 13, including Silver Key and Gold Idol
Save Crystals: 2 (Saturn and PlayStation only)  Secrets: 3

LEVEL MAP by VGCartography (used with permission)

City of Vilcabamba PS1 Video Walkthrough by Eldincy

OBJECTIVES: In the first part of the level, you explore the area around a pool to find two items: a silver key and gold idol. The silver key opens the door into the second part of the level. Here, you find a building with three doors, only one of which is open. Enter the first to find the switch that opens the second. Enter the second to find the switch that opens the third. Enter the third to find the exit, which you open with the gold idol.

Ready pistols because a pack of 4 wolves waits in the cave beyond the entrance. Two come from the hallway to the left, one from ahead on the left and the fourth from the passage ahead on the right. Keep moving, jump while shooting and roll to face any wolves that try and sneak up behind Lara. Lara targets enemies automatically, so all you have to do is fire, but remember to release the fire button briefly when you want her to change targets.

Ahead is a network of small rooms and caves surrounding a central area with a pool. You can go whichever way you like to start, and you'll cover the whole area eventually. For simplicity's sake, we'll go more or less counterclockwise around the perimeter of the area. Keep those pistols drawn as you explore, since Lara may spot some of the creatures—bats in particular—before you do.

Starting with the level entrance at Lara's back, go forward and into the tunnel along the right wall. Kill the lone wolf in the next open area. Continue forward and then follow the narrow hallway to the left. Three bats drop from the ceiling as you approach. Continue forward. At the next corner, another wolf jumps out. Kill it and, search the greenery to find a small medi pack. Turn the corner to the left and continue forward, encountering 5 more bats as you go.

The passage widens and there's a hallway leading off to the left. Pass that for now and continue forward. You'll also pass a locked door a little farther along on the right. You'll need a key for that, so keep going. When you reach the end of the long passageway, go up two low steps, turn left, go down two low steps, then turn left again. (Going straight here would take you back to the level entrance.) Two more bats drop down from the ceiling. Shoot them and continue to a large open area with a pool of water.

Approach the doorway on the right side of the pool. There's a bear lurking inside this small barn or stable. Enter with pistols drawn. As soon as Lara gets a lock on the bear, backflip out of the room shooting. Alternatively, keep your pistols holstered, run through the doorway, immediately pull up onto the platform above and shoot the bear from there. If you get tired of waiting for it to approach, you can dangle Lara from the edge momentarily to get the bear's attention (i.e., safety drop without letting go). Then, before the bear can bite Lara, pull up and start shooting. Pick up the small medi pack in the corner of the hayloft. Then drop down and return to the pool.

UNDERWATER PASSAGEWAYS: (The following sequence is illustrated in a series of screenshots.) Stand at the edge of the water facing the stable with the two doorways and the wooden trough. Jump into the water and swim forward and down along the tunnel. At the bottom, where it comes to a T, swim to the right. Follow the tunnel as it slopes upward. At the top is a flooded room with numerous square pillars. Swim between the pillars on the right and head for the back right corner. Find the lever on the wall below the carved stone faces. Pull it to open a trapdoor above. (To pull the lever, swim close, turn Lara to face it and press Action.) Swim up to the open trapdoor and climb out of the water. This room contains SECRET #1, a small medi pack. The switch in the corner opens the nearby door, which leads back to the room with the pool, but don't go that way.

Instead return to the open trapdoor and jump back into the water. (This next sequence is also shown in a series of screenshots.) Swim down and forward, away from the trapdoor toward the opposite (far left) corner of the underwater room. There you'll find another lever. Pull this to open a door elsewhere. If Lara's air meter is less than half full, return to the open trapdoor for air. Otherwise, after pulling the lever, swim between the pillars on the left and then down into the long tunnel you came through before. Follow this tunnel forward and down. At the bottom on the left is the tunnel leading up to the pool. If you have only a little air remaining, go that way and surface to breathe. Otherwise continue straight ahead, following the tunnel as it slopes upward and then turns to the left. Here it is lined with blue tiles. Follow it to another pool and climb out on the far side.

In the far right corner is the door you just opened using the lever. Inside is a small rough-hewn room containing small medi pack and some magnum clips, SECRET #2. There's no other way out, so return to the pool and swim down the tunnel, right at the bend and right again at the next perpendicular passage. Follow that tunnel up to the first pool, near where you killed the bear, and climb out of the water.

SKULL ROOM: Now, face away from the stable with the two doors and wooden trough. Ahead on the right is carved stone door with a switch next to it. Use the switch to open the door. Enter and climb the stairs. Take a running jump across the gap to the opening opposite. The room beyond has a floor made of break-away tiles, and the wall beyond has a black-and-white skull motif. Run forward across the tiles and jump to land on the platform on the other side. Here, in an alcove, is a large medi pack.

NOTE: If you miss the jump and fall into the room below, don't worry. Just find the one block in the wall below that looks different from the others. Stand Lara against it and press and hold Action. She'll go into a crouch, showing that she's ready to pull or push the block. Press Back/Down to pull it out and use it to climb to the ledge above.

After retrieving the medi pack, drop down and push the movable block forward several times into the next room. Kill a bat and continue to the far side of the room. Vault onto the low platform and collect a SILVER KEY and GOLD IDOL, from the alcoves on each side.

Return to the movable block and use it to climb onto the platform above. (Console players users will find a save crystal here.) Go to the left side of the L-shaped platform, killing 2 bats on the way. Pick up the large medi pack in the dark corner to the left of the window opening. Then climb into the window and drop down into the hallway below.

LOCKED DOOR: Head back toward the pool. Turn left and go through the passageway lined with greenery and flanked by carved stone statues. Continue straight ahead to the locked door you passed earlier. Use your newly acquired SILVER KEY in the keyhole to the right of the door to open it. Enter and either run/jump past the dart trap or do a dive-and-roll (Walk + Jump + Forward) to avoid it.

RED-ROOFED BUILDING WITH THREE DOORWAYS: The open area beyond contains 5 wolves. Proceed cautiously and they won't all be on you at once. The first two sit on each side of the doorway; the others approach as you go farther into the room—one from the right, one from the left and a third from the stairs.

LEFT DOOR: When they're all dead, go up the stairs to the building with three doorways. Enter through the door on the left (the only one that's open). Follow the passage to a room with a pool and some stairs and ledges. Go to the top of the stairs, turn right, walk to the edge and then jump to grab the ledge beyond. Pull up, and from this ledge take a running jump diagonally across the pool to the next ledge. Go through the doorway and up the stairs. Draw pistols and kill a bat that drops as you emerge on the next ledge. Take a running jump across to the next ledge and continue to the top. Kill another bat, pick up the small medi pack and throw the switch to open the door on the right at the front of the building below.

Exit this room via the other doorway (not the stairs). Safety drop down to the stone ledge below, where you'll find some shotgun shells. Go to the other end of the ledge, where it's a little lower, and safety drop to the red-tiled roof. At the opposite end of the roof there's a small medi pack. Get it and then drop to the ground in front of the building.

RIGHT DOOR: Now enter through the door on the right. Follow the hall to another pool. Go up the stairs on the right. Turn left to face a section of floor made of break-away tiles. Rather than try and run across them, step out onto the first tile and quickly hop back to the ledge as the tile crumbles away. Then take a normal running jump to grab the ledge ahead and pull up. Face the ledge above, step out onto the next break-away tile (in the corner) and quickly hop back. Now walk to the edge of the ledge, jump straight up to grab the ledge (Jump + Action) and pull up. Turn around, walk to the edge, grab the next higher ledge and pull up. Ignore the ledges on the other side of the room. Instead turn right and take a running jump to grab the ledge near the doorway. Pull up, draw weapons and kill the bat.

Follow the stairs up to another room with a switch. Pull it to open the remaining door below. Exit through the doorway to the roof (where there's a save crystal). Do a series of safety drops to reach the ground (i.e., from the ledge outside the door to the gray stone ledge, then to the red roof, and then to the ground). Or, if you prefer, return down the stairs, exit onto the ledge and try a swan dive into the pool below (Walk + Jump + Forward). Climb out and go back to the front of the building.

MIDDLE DOOR: Enter through the middle door and proceed cautiously. Three blades begin to swing back and forth as you approach. Take each one in turn, standing slightly to one side and running through as the blade swings away toward the opposite side. Beyond the blades is a gate. (There's a bear in the room beyond, but unfortunately you can't shoot it through the gate.) Throw the switch and the floor collapses, dropping Lara into a pool.

Swim forward and to the right then upward. If you need air, surface here, but don't climb out of the water yet. That bear is pacing around the pool. Instead, swim through the square underwater opening about halfway up one side of the pool. Follow this passage around to the left and surface in another pool.

Climb the stairs to a room with a switch. Use this to open the gate in front of the exit door (at one end of the pool below). Step out onto the ledge above the first pool and shoot the bear from above if you like. When it's dead, jump down into the pool and climb out on the other side.

Face the gold gate you just opened, but don't go through yet or you'll miss a secret. Instead, head for the stairs in the room to the left of the gate. At the top of the stairs is a switch that stops the swinging blades. You can ignore it, since you won't be going back that way. Opposite the switch to the left of the stairs is a doorway. Enter and drop down twice to find SECRET #3, Uzi clips. (The path from the pool to the secret is shown in these screenshots.) Climb back to the switch room and either go down the stairs or drop down off the balcony. Use the GOLD IDOL at the receptacle to the right of the gate to open the door beyond. Go through to end the level.

†UPDATE HISTORY: 4/14/07 - First update since I began tracking page updates. Added various screenshots, including screens for all secrets. Revised several sections for clarity.
2/5/24 - Added VGCartography's level maps, with permission. Follow them on Twitter/X, YouTube, and DeviantArt for more fantastic game maps.

WAS THIS WALKTHROUGH HELPFUL? If not, I apologize and invite you to contact me with any questions. If you need help right away, I recommend the r/TombRaider subreddit. Other fan-run forums are listed at tombraiders.net/stella/community.html. If this site was useful, please consider supporting it financially or in other ways. For details, visit tombraiders.net/stella/support.html. As always, I welcome your corrections/suggestions. Thank you!

Walkthrough text and diagrams copyright © 1998- - Stellalune (). Special thanks are given to the participants in the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup, without whom some parts of this walkthrough couldn't have been written, and to Ian T. for the locations of the save crystals in the console versions. All TR1 screenshots were made using Glidos and Fraps. Feel free to copy or print this walkthrough for personal use. By all means, share it with friends, but please include this credit line so people can send me their feedback. No part of this walkthrough may be reproduced on another site without permission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Follow this link for details about this site's advertising and privacy policy.

Stella's Tomb Raider Site: tombraiders.net.

Return to Level Menu