This is the walkthrough and video walkthrough for Tomb Raider I (1996), the first game. Find all the secrets and puzzle solving below. The video walkthrough was extracted from Youtube, with the permission and collaboration of the user Stella (text) and LaraPL (video).
1. Caves | 2. City of Vilcabamba | 3. Lost Valley | 4. Tomb of Qualopec | 5. St. Francis Folly | 6. Colisseum | 7. Midas Palace | 8. Cistern | 9. Tomb of Tihocan | 10. Temple of Khamoon | 11. Obelisk of Khamoon | 12. Sanctuary of Scion | 13. Natla Mines | 14. Atlantis | 15. The Great Pyramid | Croft Manor (Tutorial)
13. Natla Mines
Swim forward and surface in an UNDERGROUND LAKE. To the left (east) is a ledge with some wooden crates. Ahead on the left (southeast) is a larger ledge with some barrels and crates. There’s also a small boat moored there. To the right (west) is a small waterfall. Swim under and behind the waterfall. Surface and follow the passageway until it widens, but don’t bother climbing into the raised tunnel yet. (It’s a dead end at the moment.) On the near left wall is a switch. Pull it to open a wooden door elsewhere.
Return along the passageway to the LAKE and swim across to the landing with the boat and barrels. Follow the tunnel to a room with a mine car blocking another tunnel on the right. Go to the left side of the rock pile ahead and pull the movable crate out. Climb over it and enter the passage behind. Here you’ll find the door you just opened and, beyond it, another switch. Use it to open another wooden door. Then return to the LAKE the way you came.
Jump into the water and swim behind the waterfall again. Follow the passage past the switch you already used, climb into the opening and continue through the now open door. When you reach the ledge above the lake, take a running jump to the ledge with the red-and-white barricades. Continue along a twisty tunnel to a room with a small building suspended from the ceiling.
Lara will look up as you pass, indicating that this is important. Pick up the large medipak on the ground. Don’t worry; the building won’t come down yet. In the glassed-in room on the left, there are 3 receptacles on the wall. You need to find 3 FUSES to fit them. Also inside this building is a set of magnum clips (and a save crystal in the PlayStation game, which you can use now but might want to save for after you find the fuses).
Continue through the (west) opening opposite where you entered. Here you’ll find 2 boarded-up structures, piles of discarded tires and other debris. The brown wooden crate is movable. Pull it under the opening in the ceiling. Then climb onto the crate and take a running jump to the roof of the building. Drop through the broken tile in the back corner and follow the tunnel to an alcove with a switch. Throw it and the boat back at the LAKE moves toward the other ledge. Continue to the end of the passage and drop down onto the crate you just moved. (NOTE: If you didn’t move the crate under the opening, you can still drop down, but Lara will lose a little health.)
Now follow the tracks on the floor to the wooden door opposite the entrance. It opens automatically and the tracks continue into the tunnel beyond. Striped barricades block the track and warn of boulder traps ahead. You can choose the easy or hard way through this area. (1) The hard way: Walk forward to the first barricade to trigger a boulder that rolls across the tracks ahead without harming Lara. Then back up and take a series of 3 running jumps over the barricades. On the last jump, veer to the right to land on the ledge and dash into the passageway to safety. (2) The easy-as-pie way: Go forward to the first barricade to trip the boulder that rolls in from the side. Turn right and grab the ledge that runs along above the track. Don’t pull up yet. Instead traverse to the left above the shallow pit. Now pull up. As long as you don’t go toward the boulder on the right, it will not roll. Turn left and follow the ledge, jump the gap, and continue to the end. Avoid the lava pit on the left and enter the tunnel on the right, where you’ll find FUSE #1 lying on the ground (along with another save crystal).
(NOTE: If you accidentally trigger the boulder trap and manage to jump out of the way in time, you can still continue. Two different ways of doing this are described in the TRACKS WITH BARRICADES & BOULDER TRAPS – ALTERNATE METHOD note at the end of this walkthrough.)
After picking up the FUSE, continue along the passage as it slopes upward. Where it opens out and slopes up to the left, step forward cautiously and then quickly hop back to avoid a rolling boulder. Turn left and stand under the angled ceiling with the boulder behind and to the right. Side flip to the right to trip the second boulder, then side flip back to the left to safety. Go up the slope and continue to the opening in the floor. Drop down. You’re now where the first (side-to-side) boulder originated. Walk forward to where the two tracks cross, then to the right. This will trip the first boulder above. You can then climb up onto the ledge and follow it to where that boulder originated (above and to the left of the wooden door). Enter the tunnel on the left and follow the passage to an opening where you can drop back down into the CAVE WITH BOARDED-UP BUILDINGS.
In this cave there’s another tunnel beyond the pile of tires (on the south wall). This leads to a CONVEYOR BELT where you’ll find another FUSE. You can’t get at it yet, though.
Return to the LAKE by following the wide tunnel boot the east, beyond the tracks. Continue through the CAVE WITH THE DANGLING BUILDING and out the other side. When you reach the ledge with the red-and-white barricades, drop into the water below. Swim across and climb onto the small boat, which you moved earlier. Take a running jump to land on the ledge with the wooden boxes. Climb over the one on the left.
Here you’ll find a small room packed with “Natla Technologies” crates. Pick up the magnum clips in the alcove. Find the movable crate (it’s slightly darker than the others) and pull it once. Go around to the right and push it into the alcove where the clips were. There’s another movable box behind the first. Pull it twice. Go around it to the right and pull it again to open up the passageway behind. Enter and use the switch to move the mine car.
Return to the LAKE, swim to the left and climb out on the ledge with the barrels. Follow the passage to the mine car, which you just moved so it’s no longer blocking the tunnel. Go into the tunnel beyond it. Push the Natla box twice. Go around it and enter the tunnel beyond. Where the passage widens, walk forward carefully and pick up FUSE #2, which is lying on the ground. Don’t go any farther or you’ll attract the attention of the cowboy in the room beyond. Turn around and go back to the Natla box. Climb onto the box and pull up into the tunnel above. Pick up the Uzi clips and throw the switch to open the door near the CONVEYOR BELT.
To get back there, drop back down onto the Natla box, go through the room with the mine car and out through the tunnel on the left (north) side, which leads back to the LAKE. Swim across and behind the waterfall. Follow the passage back past the DANGLING BUILDING to the CAVE WITH BOARDED-UP BUILDINGS, TIRES, ETC. Go through the opening on the left (south) wall beyond the stack of tires.
Follow the dark, twisty passage. When you reach the conveyor belt itself, go around its left side and through the door you just opened. Here you’ll find some Uzi clips on the ground and a switch. Throw the switch to activate the conveyor belt, dumping FUSE #3 on the ground in front of it. Take it and return through the tunnel to the CAVE WITH BOARDED-UP BUILDINGS. Exit on the right (east) side.
Place the FUSES in their proper spots in the glassed-in room, and the winch will activate, lowering the small building. Inside you’ll find the PISTOLS.
(NOTE: The first time you use the pistols again, you’ll need to select them from inventory. After that the draw-weapons key will work again.)
After getting the guns, climb onto the roof of the building. Take a running jump to grab the edge of the opening ahead and pull up. Start up the slope and then climb into the raised opening on the right. Continue to a wooden door, which opens as Lara approaches and then closes behind her. Ahead is a lava pit with sloping sides and a collapsing trapdoor. The cave with the secret is above the trapdoor on the left. Turn around to face the wooden door. Slide down the slope and grab the edge as the trapdoor opens beneath Lara. Pull up and the trapdoor will close again so Lara can stand on it. Climb into the opening and drop down into the room beyond. This is SECRET #1—a large medipak and Uzi clips.
Pull the switch to open the wooden door out in the passageway. Drop down onto the trapdoor, then take a standing jump up the slope. Go forward and hop down into the lower passage. Turn right and follow the tunnel to a ledge above the LAKE. (PS1 players get a save crystal here.) Drop down, swim across the lake and once again climb out on the landing with the barrels.
Follow the tunnel to the room with the mine car. Enter the passage on the right and go past the Natla box to the area where you got FUSE #2. Now that you’re armed, you can take on that cowboy. As you enter the cave he starts talking. Then he emerges from behind the pillars on the right with magnums drawn. Get a lock on him and keep shooting as you advance and withdraw into the doorway. If you rush into the room with the pillars be careful not to jump around too much or you may fall into one of the lava pits. When the cowboy is dead, take back your MAGNUMS.
Go to the far right (southwest) corner of the cave to a drop-off overlooking a lava river. Down below is a small square ledge jutting out from the wall. Safety drop down to it. (In the PlayStation game, there’s a save crystal here.) Still facing the wall with the lava river behind Lara, drop and hang from this ledge. Let go and quickly press Action again to grab the ledge below. Pull up and pick up a small medipak.
Grab the crevice in the rock wall and traverse to the right as far as you can. Drop to the block below. Go around the corner to the right and grab the next crevice. Again, traverse to the right to the end and drop onto the block. Turn right and examine the wall beyond. A horizontal crevice runs along below an angled ledge. Take a running jump to grab the angled ledge. Let go and grab the crevice below. Traverse to the right until you can drop onto a flat spot.
Follow the passage uphill and continue to a steep downward slope. Slide down, turn right and emerge near the lava river. Walk to the left side of the ledge and take a standing jump to the rectangular block in the middle of the lava falls. Move to the end of this block and take a running jump to the square pillar on the right. Take another running jump to the next block. Turn right and take a final running jump into the opening in the cave wall.
Lara can stand just inside the opening without triggering the boulder that rolls in from the left. But as soon as she steps toward the wooden crate, the boulder starts to roll. So run forward and immediately push the block into the room beyond. If you move the box quickly enough, Lara will be in safe space where it had been by the time the boulder reaches the end of the tunnel.
(NOTE: If instead of pushing the crate you trigger the boulder and then hop back so Lara doesn’t get crushed, you can still get into the secret room. See the ALTERNATE METHOD FOR SECRET #2 at the end of this walkthrough.)
Go around the crate to enter a small room. This is SECRET #2. Pull the crate once to the side to reveal an opening in the ceiling. Climb up through it to find a large medipak and Uzi clips in the room above. Jump over the opening in the floor and follow the passage. Drop down and walk along the tracks toward the boulder. On the way you’ll find more Uzi clips, a SHOTGUN and another large medipak.
Follow the tracks to the end and squeeze Lara between the boulder and the left wall. (The low ceiling prevents you from getting past the boulder on the right side.) To do this, stand facing and touching the left wall with the boulder on Lara’s right. Then side flip to the right repeatedly until Lara squeezes through into the room with the crate. Then either repeat the process to get past the boulder to the exit or climb up into the secret room and drop down through the opening on the other side of the boulder. Or, if you can’t get past the boulder this way, just return along the tracks to the raised opening, climb up and follow the passage back to the room above the crate. Jump the gap in the floor and drop down through the opening on the far side of the boulder.
Take a running jump from the doorway to the nearest tall, square pillar in the lava river. Turn right and take a running jump to the next pillar (the one on the right). From here, take another running jump to the next pillar, and a third to the last pillar on the left. Hop down and go through the doorway. Slide down the slope and land on a small ledge above a pool of lava. Take a standing jump to grab the opposite edge. Pull up and continue to the next room, where you’ll find a number of boxes marked “TNT”.
The darker box in the far right corner moves. Pull it away from the others. Then maneuver it through the doorway into the next room, position it near the opening high on the left wall and use it to climb up into that opening. Go to the top of the slope (nabbing a save crystal on the way) and climb up the rocks.
Carefully approach the lava pit with the four sloping sides. Don’t try and jump all the way across. The opposite slope is too steep to stand on. Instead take a running jump to either angled side ledge. Wait there for a boulder to roll down the slope into the pit. Then take another running jump to land on the other side of the pit.
Follow the passage and you’ll soon emerge on a ledge above the lava river opposite where you killed the cowboy earlier. Turn right and follow the ledge up and around to the top. Pick up the magnum clips on the ground and throw the switch. This will detonate the explosives you saw earlier.
Return along the ledge and through the passage to the lava pit with sloping sides. Cross it the same way you did before: by jumping to one of the side ledges then to the far side. Continue down the slope, which is now caved in. Back at the TNT room, you’ll see broken boxes and a pile of rubble on the left where there had been a wall. Climb up and over this rubble.
Ready weapons. There’s a skateboarder waiting in the big room ahead and he’s armed with your Uzis! If you prefer not to go head-to-head, you can use the same basic tactics I suggested for the cowboy: Advance into the room, get a lock on your target, and hop/flip back firing. When he skates past, advance again. Again, there are lava pits on either side of the entrance so watch where you’re jumping. Alternately, you can run ahead to the SECRET AREA (description below) and shoot the skate punk from the opening above. When he is dead, reclaim your UZIS.
There is a secret in this area. To find it, starting from the entrance, go to the left and follow the wall, taking a running jump across the lava pit. Pick up the Uzi clips lying on the ground in the (northeast) corner. Turn right and continue on. About halfway up the left side of the room you’ll find one pit filled with water instead of lava. Jump in and swim down and forward, through the wooden door, which opens automatically. Pick up small and large medipaks plus some Uzi clips from the bottom. This is SECRET #3.
Leave the way you entered, but instead of swimming all the way out, go through the wooden door and immediately swim upward to a small room where you can surface. Climb out onto the ledge and then follow the tunnel to an opening above the big room with the ramps. (Shoot the skateboarder from this opening if you didn’t already.) Drop down and get the Uzi clips lying on the ground just below the opening. There’s also one more Uzi clip pick-up about two-thirds of the way up the west side of the room near one of the square columns. The exit is opposite the entrance, at the top of the ramps. (PlayStation users get another save crystal in the passage beyond.)
Exit the skate park area, follow the passage to a T and turn left. At the top of the slope ahead are 3 boulders waiting to roll. Walk up the center and, as the first boulder comes rolling down, side flip to the right. The second boulder will then start to roll, so side flip to the left. This will set off the last boulder. Side flip back to the right to avoid it. Walk as you approach the top of the slope to let a fourth boulder roll past in front of you. At the top, go to the left, through the opening from which the boulder came.
At the top of the ramp turn left and pull up. Now you’re in a small but high-ceiling ed room with a number of blocks and ledges. One is low enough to climb on. From the top of this block, it’s a series of four standing-jump-and-grab combinations to reach the block below the opening above. Climb up through the opening into a small room with sandy-colored walls.
This next area involves pulling and pushing several movable blocks in order to access switches and open doors. To make it a little easier, I’ve included a diagram (below). The diagram follows the sequence of actions more or less clockwise from upper left.
The opening leading down into the room with the ledges is (A). To one side of this opening is a movable block (1). Push this block twice into the next room (to position 2a). To the right is an opening in the ceiling (B). Climb up through it into the room above. Here you’ll find another movable block (2). Pull it once, then go around to the left and push it once so it ends up next to the hole in the floor (at position 2a). Go through the opening where the block was. Here is another small room with an opening in the floor (C) and a gold door (D). Drop through the opening in the floor into a small room with yet another movable block (3). Pull this block once (to position 2a). This will make space for you to move the first block back in the room where you entered. Return there by climbing up through the opening in the ceiling (C), then going into the next room and dropping down through the opening in the floor (B).
Now push that first block once more (to position 5b). This will open up an alcove on the left with a switch and a gold door (E) beyond. (PS1 users can save their game with the save crystal near the gold door.) Pull the switch to open the gold door (D) in the room above. To get back to it, climb through the opening in the ceiling (B), and go through the doorway into the next room. The door is on the left.
Go through the gold door (D) and turn right. At the end of the passage, take a left and go down the steps to another movable block (4). Push this block once (to position 2a). This will give you access to a hallway with alcoves on one side and a gold door (F) at the end. This door opens when you step on a certain spot in the floor but quickly closes. Ignore it. Instead, go to the alcove near that door and use the switch there to open the gold door (E) near the first switch. Return there by going back up the steps, along the hallway and through the gold door (D). Ignore the hole in the floor just ahead (C). Instead go through the doorway on the left into the next room and drop down through the other hole in the floor (B). Across from this opening, beyond the switch, is the door you just opened.
Draw weapons and proceed through the door. The big bald guy is waiting outside with a shotgun. You can climb on the roof of either of the small buildings and try and shoot him from there, but this takes a while. I’ve found it easier to just run past him into the open area near the pyramid and shoot at him while jumping from side to side. He’s not extremely hard to kill, but that broomstick packs a punch so watch out, and don’t hesitate to use a medipak in the middle of the fight if necessary. When he falls, take his SHOTGUN. (If you already have a shotgun, you’ll get shells instead.)
Go down to the pyramid and climb onto the ledge above the door. Now take a series of standing jumps up the flat spots on the left side to the top. Jump to the left and slide down the side of the pyramid and land in front of the opening in the cave wall. Go in and use the switch to open two gold doors back in the area where you fought the bald guy.
Slide down the pyramid to the ground and return to the small buildings. The gold door on the left (F on the map) leads back into the movable block rooms. You don’t need anything there now. Go through the gold door on the right and pick up some Uzi clips and a large medipak in the doorway. Go a little farther in and you’ll find the PYRAMID KEY. Take it and return to the pyramid door. Unlock it and enter to finish the level.