Harry Potter and the Sorcerer?s Stone

Forget the apprentice crap?you can be your own sorcerer with the GBA version of Harry Potter.

Harry?s debut on the Game Boy Advance is tougher than you might think, combining puzzles with repetition for a well-executed if standard handheld adventure.

Porta-Potter
Like the other Potter titles, the GBA game loosely follows the book, picking up from when Harry starts school. Fans will enjoy hallmarks like chocolate frogs, wizard cards, and Every Flavor Beans, which play various roles in health and progress.

The character animation is smooth, with many frames?which is good, since watching Harry run around is half the gameplay. Most of your actual tasks involve navigating 2D maze-like levels, collecting items while figuring out switch-and-lever puzzles. There's also a bit of PaRappa button pressing when learning new spells and some broomstick flying, which plays like a top-down racer without radar. However, the GBA's infamous lighting problems do come into play, especially on some of Harry's shadowy, nocturnal missions.

Some of the gameplay mechanics are frustrating?one slip into a pit and it?s back to the start of the segment. You?ll also wish Harry could run faster while traveling long distances, but overall, the controls perform well?any errors you make are more likely to be caused by a missed visual cue than a botched button press. Speech is used sparingly, such as Peeves' laughter and when Harry calls out spells like "Flipendo!" (which, on the handheld, sounds uncannily like "Nintendo!"). The happy storybook music, despite its full arrangement, is sometimes just plain incongruous with the onscreen action. You can (and very likely will) turn it off.

Tough Enough
The game is harder than you might expect?sometimes in challenging ways and sometimes in annoying ways, but hard nonetheless. The sadly limited save points mean you should expect to play for an hour or two each time you pick it up if you want to make real progress. Fans, however, will enjoy spending that time and more for the simple fact that it?s digital Harry. Other players may find themselves less enchanted.

Comments [0]

post a comment

Post a Comment