is the first game in the titular franchise, and introduced the series' gameplay standards and its protagonist Lara Croft. Developed by British studio Core Design and released in 1996, Tomb Raider was a commercial and critical success. It was followed by four successive games between 1997 and 2000. Their sixth Tomb Raider game Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness was beset by developmental problems and rushed to release, resulting in low sales and largely negative critical reception. The game's failure and Core Design's fatigue with the series prompted franchise publisher Eidos Interactive to move development of Tomb Raider to the American studio Crystal Dynamics, who rebooted the franchise with Tomb Raider: Legend. Legend was released in 2006 to critical and commercial success. Following the success of Legend, Crystal Dynamics were requested by Eidos to develop a remake of the original Tomb Raider. Anniversary was co-developed by Crystal Dynamics and Buzz Monkey Software, the company responsible for Legends PSP port. The game's creative director and lead designer was James Botta, its producer was Lulu LaMer, and its art director was Andrew Wood. The team were eager to develop Anniversary as they could use the development assets of Legend. They were also shocked by the request due to the original game's status amongst both Tomb Raider fans and video game history. Another reason for developing Anniversary over a new game was to help celebrate the series' tenth anniversary and create a "compelling gameplay experience" by remaking the first game rather than creating a new title. With two studios working on the game, the development structure was quite complex; a core team of fifteen was based at Crystal Dynamics, Buzz Monkey Software formed a large part of the game's staff, and Crystal Dynamic's executive Creative Services section oversaw development. When designing Anniversary, the team emphasised creating the game first before making adjustments to keep paper documentation to a minimum in favour of face-to-face conversations. To facilitate a smooth process, the team created a merit-based "democratic" environment where ideas could be put forward by other team members. Story and art design Toby Gard, one of the original game's designers and Lara's credited creator, acted as story designer; the script and dialogue were written by Matt Ragghianti. The original game's story was described by Crystal Dynamics staff as "pretty sparse" and difficult to understand without Gard's explanations. One of the aims with Anniversary was to