On which platform did the first Tomb Raider game debut?

The first Tomb Raider game debuted on the Sega Saturn.

Core Design’s original Tomb Raider was released first for Sega’s Saturn console in October 1996. PlayStation and MS-DOS versions followed, helping the game reach a much wider audience and establish Lara Croft as a major video-game character.

The Saturn debut is an important detail because many players associate Tomb Raider most strongly with the original PlayStation. The PlayStation version became especially influential, but it was not the first release. The game’s 3D environments and large polygonal characters were showcased on both platforms.

Tomb Raider’s early success contributed to a long relationship between the series and Sony hardware, including major PlayStation releases in the following years. The original game was also later ported to additional systems, but those later versions do not change its initial Saturn debut.