Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (GBA)

Product Information

Based on the 1997 novel of the same name, the player controls Harry Potter, who must navigate his first year in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and eventually confront the villainous Lord Voldemort. Diversions abound as you solve action-oriented puzzles with Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Albus Dumbledore and a host of unforgettable characters from the now internationally acclaimed J. To Harry's surprise, Professor Quirinus Quirrell stands in the final room trying to extract the Philosopher's Stone from the Mirror of Erised. However, he opined that the game's adherence to the source material's narrative deprived it of energy and a sense of adventure, explaining that the personal nature of the story's conflicts made for little action that could be easily translated into a video game. but the experience is hindered slightly, simply by sloppy implementation of standard gaming elements.

With such a rich and interesting story to be made into game form, it's a surprise that more of the book wasn't used in planning the quests. And as you attain experience points for Harry, you can upgrade spells and improve Harry's strength so he can take on new opponents.The game was released for PC by KnowWonder, whereas home consoles ( PlayStation 2 (PS2), Xbox and GameCube) by Electronic Arts UK (EA), and a handheld version by Griptonite Games for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). Snails and pixies are a little easier and more predictable, but the most annoying aspect of the game is lack of variety in the enemies that can be found. This is followed by a segment in which Harry must use the newly learned spell to collect a number of certain items while fending off creatures and solving puzzles.

Both were frustrated by the necessity of starting an entire segment over upon falling down a bottomless pit. Amrich and Harris lamented the scarce save points, with the former claiming that "you should expect to play for an hour or two each time you pick it up if you want to make real progress".This game follows the plot of 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', so if you've read the book and/or seen the film, you'll find it all quite straightforward - and it's not very difficult anyway. While it shares some similarities with the Game Boy Colour version, like the musical themes, sound effects and spell names, it's a very different experience. Harry and his pals are about to embark upon a magical journey; the bespectacled boy wizard has been chosen as a contestant in the prestigious but punishing Triwizard Tournament.

I've still got to play the PC and Playstation 2 versions of the game, but this is the Game Boy Advance release.The game also differed between platforms; whilst the console release was a traditional 3D over the shoulder perspective, featuring boss fights and detective sections, the PC version featured similar puzzle solving missions as those in earlier versions. Players who've never seen the movies or read the book will find the game to be a boring and confusing experience, and those who are Harry Potter fans will miss their favourite parts of the story, and find the characters to be less than engaging. While it tries to cover all angles of the plot, it does mean that some segments of the game lack a little polish, and aren't always that enjoyable. Boss battles too can be frustratingly difficult, but conversely players seem to be overly rewarded for the simplest of tasks, with 50 house points given simply for attending class and learning a spell.

Assuming that Snape is trying to obtain the Philosopher's Stone for Voldemort, Harry, Ron, and Hermione pass through the trapdoor and traverse obstacles put in place by the school's professors, but ultimately only Harry can proceed. The Gameboy Color versions of Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets are turn based RPG's along with Prisoner of Azkaban on GBA (all three were done by the same studio).Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone received "mixed or average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.