The first "Harry Potter" game that I have been impressed by; too bad it doesn't last longer. :idea:
User Rating: 9 | Harry Potter to Kenja no Ishi GBA
When it comes to making video games based on a popular book and/or movie franchise, it's very important to do justice to the source material by making the video game as good as it can possibly be! :!: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" does a very good job of this, especially when considering the fact that this video game was released in the very first launch year of Game Boy Advance games! :idea: As such, the graphics are extremely excellent for its time, the control is very constant, the adaptation is very faithful as it actually adds in things like Peeves the Poltergeist...present in the books but absent in the movies, the sound and music are superb...even containing quite a bit of vocal samples! 8) The best part of the game is getting to learn actual spells from the famed series: Flippendo, Alohomora, Avafors, Lumos, and Wingardium Leviosa. And no "Harry Potter" game would be complete without getting to fly on a broomstick in order to catch the flying Golden Snitch! :D With all of these good points going for it, the one major drawback of this game is the short length and the varying range of challenge. Actually learning the spells through exact movement repetition is something I could've lived without, the hit and movement detection that happens to both the main player and the enemies can get iffy at certain points in the game, and the game plays more like a puzzle than an action/platform game...which doesn't make the game not worth playing, there's just a great over-abundance of scenarios that involve sneaking around, and not enough combat action to balance the over-abundance out. Of course, I'm very good at playing video games, so I probably finished the game (perfectly, I might add) a lot faster than the average player, but this game is better enjoyed as a quick rental game than something that can be played for a long period of time; but worth it for people who enjoy the world of "Harry Potter." :) Enough said, true believers! ;)
