I enjoyed TR2 and 3, but I agree, the first episode was the best of all.
Lara, lost in a brutal world, was truly great to play, the atmosphere of doom, helping that poor and lovely girl to survive was a great challenge very wel made.
I remember the conceptors saying that they wanted to make the player to feel like a protector, to create the empathy to make us care about young Lara. That was well made! I knew that Lara would survive this, as it was a reboot/prequel, but I had hard times to finish it, I didn't want her to die!
One of my favorite games of the last 10 years, one of my biggest "emotional shocks" in all my gamer career, alongside Final Fantasy VII (No, Aerith, you can't die!), and Mass Effect Trilogy (No, Mordin, you can't die!).