...it's amazing that 90% of bosses in TR1 were optional and you could just leave them alone. In TRA everything was forced.
Whether you call it forced, contrived, or what it is, an ACTUAL boss fight, meaning you HAVE to deal with it vs run from it, Anniversary was one of few TR games that had a modicum of challenge to it. Between the platforming, timed apparatuses, and boss fights, Anniversary kept you on your toes, and it also had some decent puzzles. The single biggest reason it got so many complaints is many weren't up to it's challenges.
IMO they went overboard in reacting to those complaints, and now we have these overly tame, boring games with little challenge where tomb puzzles are too easy, there's no real boss fights anymore, and they've turned the combat into a casual shooter affair.
Odd you should call Anniversary "retarded", when it's everything SINCE then that's been dumbed down for the casual mainstream audience, and not just the combat. Relics are merely laying out in the open in destructible containers or in boxes in easy to find rooms now.
As you implied yourself, Anniversary addressed gameplay exploits in prior installments. What are supposed to be epic battles are more teasers than boss fights if you can just run away from them. The kind of games they're making now can be easily beat on any difficulty level, it kills replay value.
Lately Lara's persona is more fitting to a shy daddy's girl bimbo than an adventure seeking tomb raider whom has always had an attitude of putting justice first and her own personal feelings second. With the simplistic puzzles and combat and her incessant whining, this makeover has her looking like a Barbie Doll Tomb Shopper.