"Brilliant Buckbeak = Better Game"

Wow! This game is very different to the first two, but in a very good way. At first when I discovered there was no Quidditch I was disappointed, but I soon discovered the wonders of flying Buckbeak.

Graphics 8/10 - The actual graphics are brilliant, the new spell effects enchanting and the characters life-like. However, I did experience a bit of slowdown in the framerate when running in the snow at winter time. If EA had sorted out the framerate this could have been a 10.

Sound 9/10 - Brilliant voice acting complements the music soundtrack. The comments from your classmates can get annoying after a while though. The soundtrack could have been made more memorable but it does the books justice.

Gameplay 10/10 - This is truly brilliant. The ability to play as Ron and Hermione adds a great amount of depth. There are loads of things to collect - complete the Folio Universitas and the Folio Bruti and there is still Hermione's Statue List to complete. Flying Hedwig in certain situations is also a very magical experience. You'll love flying Buckbeak much more than a broomstick. The puzzles in the spell challenges will have you thinking for ages, before completing them triumphantly and some of the bosses take a great deal of thinking about too.

Replay value 8/10 - There are quite a few mini-games, including Duelling Club where you have a shootout-like battle against other houses. There is also an Owl Racing mini-game which can be a bit confusing, but adds a bit of replay value. The last mini-game I have discovered so far is Buckbeak Flying Challenge but this does not even compare to just flying Buckbeak around the castle in the main game.

Connectivity 9/10 - There are two mini-games which do not even require the Gameboy Advance version of the game to play. This is great! There is Buckbeak gliding which is short-lived, but also a wizard cracker game which is a puzzle game. There is also the Owl Care Kit for those who bought both versions of the game. With this you can care for your owl on the GBA version of the game before uploading it to the GC version for use in the Owl Racing Game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/31/04