"Beware the wand of doom and annoyance..."

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (I'm an Aussie, so what?)... the book was fab, the movie missed a few parts but was great, the game... trash. I'm actually an avid fan of 'arry Pothead (So don't take the insult of his name too seriously), but when it came to this game... I was hanging up me robes and breakin' me wand in 'alf (Okay, I'll stop with the abbreviations... I'm starting to sound like Hagrid).

The game begins simply enough. A few menus, nice background... anyway, I click New Game and prepare for an out-of-this-world gaming experience.
The introduction starts off well. Colourful scenes, colourful words, colourful pictures, colourful (''We get the point.'')- er, yeah. Anyway, the game starts off with you already in the Castle. This means no Sorting Hat, no boat ride, heck, not even the train... they didn't have this in the introduction either! I wasn't as annoyed as I sound, so I decide to head to the Gryffindor room. This was when I realised - hang on, there's going to be lots of running!
Being not the patient type, I groaned and started heading through 4-5 sets of stairs to the houseroom.

I'll just cut the crap and get to the point: Running: a lot. Interaction: not too much. Gathering of items: Damn too much! About 75% of the game revolves around you gathering 5-6 different items. For example, Snape's Potions class consists mainly of gathering the ingredients. This means heading to different sections of the school, solving WAY too many puzzles, and running through MUCH too many mazes. I nearly cried when I got to a Greenhouse, and looked at the maze it consisted of.

Plus, you CANNOT backtrack through the game. Once one section's finished, that's it. All you can do is carry on.

Also, there are more pits in this game than as many feathers on a bird (Okay, slight exaggeration). I cannot respect a game that makes me fall into almost every blooming hole there is. Also, once you fall down a hole (Which wouldn't be long), you have to start all over. This means you'd have to collect every item all over again.
An example comes to mind when you're in Hagrid's garden searching for worms. I collect about 3 worms, and fall down a big pit right in the middle of the garden... which brings me to another thing. There is no Jump button. This means you'll have to walk to each platform. Guess how many times I've fallen to my doom because of that?
Lastly, aren't a wide selection of spells here. Only about 4-5, although a classic (i.e., one of the best spells) is included, ala Lumos.

Oh, the sound's okayish. Music suits the game, but becomes REALLY annoying when you have to repeat a section. Sounds... there isn't much. Harry falls to his doom, and he screams. Harry performs a spell, and he shouts it out. Harry hits an enemy, and it groans. Not much to say.

Graphics, again, are colourful, decent, the characters look good... the best thing about the game, really. Just expect lots of BLACK. That's right, I'm talking about the pits.

Storyline: Well, the main storyline from J. K. Rowling kicked butt. HOWEVER, the game misses about 30%-50% of the storyline, or messes it up altogether. Sad, this... the book said nothing about pits (Sorry, I'll stop now).

Replay Value: Hahahahahahahahahahaha... ha. Sorry, but that was the best laugh I've had in ages. This game HAS no replay value... well, not much. There are only two things you can do: Collect 16 Chocolate Frog Cards, and collect 600 points for Gryffindor. And of course, you can't backtrack. Hahahaha... haaaaa...

A brief recap:

Graphics: Colourful. 'nough said.
Sound: Suits the game, annoys the crap out of me.
Gameplay: ARGH!!!
Storyline: All respect to J. K. Rowling, but this game messed it up.
Replay Value: ZZzzz... h-huh?

Scores:

Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 5/10
Gameplay: 0/10
Storyline: 10/10 / 3/10 [Book / Game]
Replay Value: 0/10

Final score:

Total: 23/50 / Percentage: 46%
Average: 4 / My score: 1

Final verdict: Stay... away... or the pits will get you...

''Alright, that's enough.''
H-Huh?... hey, let go of me! OY!!!

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 11/12/02, Updated 11/12/02