Tomb Raider III Remastered restores boss battle music track

Publisher Aspyr & developer Sabre Interactive, during their updating of Tomb Raider III (1998) for Tomb Raider I-III Remastered (2024), have collaborated with Tomb Raider IV-VI composer Peter Connelly to include an unused composition of "Willard Boss Theme" in the final level. Current franchise developer Crystal Dynamics has shed light on the subject in a recent blog post:

"While testing Tomb Raider III back in 1998, Peter Connelly composed, on a whim, the boss theme for the final Willard encounter. It never made it into the game since it was almost ready for shipment. The boss fight theme for Willard has been reinstated in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. If the theme seems familiar to franchise fans, it's because Peter repurposed the previously unused boss theme for Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation by making slight adjustments to better match the game's tone."

The corresponding track from Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is "Boss 1", supposedly unused in the Meteorite Cavern in Tomb Raider III until Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. Elaborated upon by the composer himself, fans will note:

"This is what I wrote, at the very last minute (too late to shoehorn into the build), for Tomb Raider 3 End Boss Level Fight. I wrote this tune as, when play testing it, it had no music, only Sound Effects and, [in my opinion], this lacked tension... so that's why I wrote it. As said, it was too late in the day to add it to the build so I redid it for Tomb Raider 4."

Notably, original Tomb Raider (1996), Tomb Raider II (1997) & Tomb Raider III (1998) composer Nathan McCree was not involved with Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, an authentically modernised refresh of the first three titles starring Lara Croft, is out now on all gaming platforms.