Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

"I paid good money for this?"

The game starts following the story line of the book. Loosely. It begins with an amazingly short letter and then you begin. You are standing next to Hagrid and you get to wonder around for a little while before you get into the actual game. It seems promising at fist but it quickly gets repetitive and slow.

Sound: 5/10
No too bad but it could have used some better sound effects. The music is ok but it gets boring and repetitive after a few minuets, much like the game itself. It may be a GBC game but the sound could have been improved allot more.

Gameplay: 3/10
Well, when sound scores better than the actual game, you know something is wrong. You wonder around as harry, and fight rats, bats and other monsters. And that’s mainly it, with a few linear side quests to stop you throwing the game in he bin. Things like collecting herbs and other potion ingredients. The only thing that stopped me giving it a one was flying on a broomstick. This is actually quite fun, for a little while and then you can almost predict what will happen next. It is quite easy and doesn't have much of a meaning. Just there to amuse you. You also collect cards. These will give you new magic spells and you can trade them with friends. This it the only thing that keeps it afloat.

Replay 3/10
The cards are the only thing that may interest you, once you have beaten the game once, you know just about everything there is to find. You may uncover a new card here and there but that isn’t that common.
When you start again you also loose all your spells, but you still have all the experience. So learning a few weak spells can take twice as long as the first time you learnt them. So the replay value is quite low and once you have beaten it once you will probably never play it again.

Graphic 4/10
Well, GBC games have never had excellent graphics but I’ve seen better graphics on a NES. The game is dark and, well just dark. You can barley see harry and only his glasses anyway. You will constantly run into statues if you don’t have a good light source. But if you have a GBA you can barely play the game at all. I had to use my little sister GBC to finish the game. If you have a GBA do not get this game under any circumstances.

Conclusion:
Well, the game isn't, worth your money. It barely follows the book, it’s repetitive and it will most likely annoy you. If you have a GBA get the GBA version, it worth the extra cash just to be able to see the game.

Rent or Buy
In my opinion you shouldn’t come near this game, but if you must, rent this rather than buy.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/02, Updated 10/10/02