The wait is over for fans who have been watching this one with a raised eyebrow and a very full backpack. Tomb Raider: Sidescroller Edition is now available to play, according to developer Delca, who shared the news on social media on Friday, May 1, 2026.
The fan-made project has been in the works since at least 2022 and comes from Delca and Trxye, both known for their past work connected to Tomb Raider: Remastered. Their idea is simple to understand but tricky to pull off: take the spirit of Core Design's early Tomb Raider games and rebuild it through a 2.5D side-scrolling view.
That shift gives the familiar tombs, mansions, ruins, and set pieces a different rhythm. Instead of guiding Lara through the usual full 3D spaces, players move through redesigned stages that lean into side-on platforming, timing, and traps made for this changed perspective.
The developers describe the project as a new way to revisit classic Tomb Raider locations through a 2D side-scrolling lens. The playable release includes 10 stages and takes Lara Croft through well-known places such as India, Greece, and Venice.
For Z-retro readers, that is the fun little twist here. Tomb Raider has always been tied to careful jumps, strange switches, hidden danger, and spaces that ask to be read slowly. A side-scrolling version does not erase that identity; it bends it into something that feels closer to an old handheld experiment from an alternate timeline.
The handheld comparison is not far off. The project has been described as similar in feel to some of the series' portable entries, where Tomb Raider's large 3D adventure style had to be translated into a more compact format. Here, though, the goal appears to be a fan celebration of the classic games rather than a straight conversion.
Earlier details around Tomb Raider: Side Scroller Edition said it would send Lara through 11 familiar locations from the original trilogy. The final developer description now points to 10 stages, so the safest read is that the release focuses on 10 playable stage experiences built from those classic-era inspirations.
The project was also planned as a free release through TRCustoms, a site known for hosting levels made with the Tomb Raider Level Editor. That toolset was originally used to create stages for Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, and it has helped keep the classic Tomb Raider building scene alive for years.
Community interest has been strong for some time. One Tomb Raider fan called it a project not to miss, while Craig Derrick, a Lucasfilm Games executive producer who worked on Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, publicly said he liked how it was coming together. He also mentioned that he had once built a similar idea years earlier.
The side-scroller did not appear out of nowhere. Back in October 2023, Delca shared footage of a Tomb Raider 2 project that showed the classic 3D action-adventure reshaped into a 2.5D side view. The clip featured Lara exploring places including her mansion grounds, the Great Wall of China, and the wreck of the Maria Doria.
Delca had already tested the idea before that video, too. Their channel included earlier looks at the Caves and Croft Manor from the original 1996 Tomb Raider, both presented from the same alternative viewpoint. Those clips helped show how naturally some of Lara's classic spaces could be read from the side.
At the time, there was no public download for the side-scrolling remake, which made it feel more like a clever proof of concept than something fans could actually sit down and play. Delca's other projects also included the first chapter of a PS1-style demake of Tomb Raider: Legend, the 2006 Crystal Dynamics game.
The wider Tomb Raider scene is busy as well. Fans are waiting on an Amazon show, while two game projects are also on the horizon: Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, described as a remake of the original, and Tomb Raider: Catalyst, presented as a follow-up to 2008's Tomb Raider: Underworld.
Even with those larger projects in view, Tomb Raider: Sidescroller Edition has its own charm. It is a free fan effort with a clear affection for Lara's earliest adventures, and it turns old routes into something newly readable: less about camera control, more about clean movement, sharp timing, and the pleasure of seeing a familiar ruin from a fresh angle.
