Harry Potter And the Terrible Game (Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (GBA))

Name: low_rider

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Product:	Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (GBA)
Date:	07/03/02 (411 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good graphics

Disadvantages: childish, lack of choices, doesn't stay true to the book

I received Harry Potter and a Game Boy Advance on Christmas. I must admit I am an addict to the books, but when I went to see the film, I found myself a little disappointed. It didnt stay true to the story and skipped many scenes. However, I was sure that the game would more than redeem itself. Having read the instructions, I felt it would be quite a good game, as you have to play in quidditch matches, learn spells and go on quests around the school.
Anyway, I turned it on and my first impressions were, "hmmm, a little sloppy". You meat Ron on the first floor, he tells you a sloppy dialogue about how Hermione is a boff and you need to go to a lesson on the third floor. You are provided with a rudimentory map, but it only shows the basic floor plans, no classrooms. Anyway, you go to the first lesson, and you are taught your first spell, the 'Flipendo' jinx. This is your major (indeed, only) attacking spell, and can kill some things and knock back the rest. After performing a miniquest, I moved on. I was interested to see you could earn house Points for learning the spell, but could lose them if you launched it at a teacher.
Well, I could go on for ever about the game. This is one of the major problems in the game, you have no choice in what you do. It is obvious that they have tried to create a Zelda/Baldurs Gate type of game, with one or two major objectives and lots of little quests. However, They have failed miserably. The reason that Zelda is such an impressive game is because you have a choice in what quests you can do, and, to some extent,when you do them. But, in Harry Potter, the second you have completed one quest, you have another to do straight after, with no breathing time. This really ruins the game as I would love to be able to explore the castle, but you can't, unless you aare on a specific quest. Also, the majority of the quests are exactly the same, as indeed is most of the game, which is another major failing.
The
spells, I thought, would be fun, but you are given a puny arsenal. You get the flipendo, jinx, a spell to open doors, a light casting spell, a spell to make certain objects fly, and a spell which changes certain objects into birds so they fly away. Not really very impressive.
The main goal of the game is to defeat Voldemort, but even this is terrible. You run around in a cellar while Voldemort knocks the place down, and then you fall into another cellar, and cower behind a mirror so all the spells he launches at you bounce of and hit him. The ending isn't even particularly worthwhile.
The most major failing is that you don't get one of the basic items of the game: the invisibility cloak. You spend a large amount of the game out of bed sneaking around the school, and if you are caught then you lose house Points. With the invisibilty cloak it would make things easier, but no.
Flying is also a huge let down. The controls are difficult to master, and you invariably bang into things the whole time.
Harry, I expect something much better next time!

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