Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Screenshots The Final Say! Gameplay 9.0 Graphics 8.0 Sound 7.0 Value 9.0 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Gameboy Color) - reviewed by Melissa F Review Date: 04 March 2002 Review Score: 8.5/10 Score not based on an average. Distributed by: Electronic Arts

Fans of Harry Potter will love this role-playing game with the plot loosely following the book of the same title by JK Rowling. Harry is a young boy in the Muggle World (Muggles being normal people who can't do magic) who has been invited to attend Hogwarts, a school for young Wizards and Witches.  The game is quite complex and gives Harry missions to complete such as going to Diagon Alley and buying his first wand, going to the bank, finding ingredients to potions and levitating a feather, all the while having to battle all varieties of monsters. Each mission is varied enough to maintain interest in the game (this reviewer played it constantly for about a week in any second of free time!). The battle system is simple yet elegant, almost harkening back to the battle system of Final Fantasy VII. Harry can cast spells or use a card combination from his famous Wizards and Witches card deck to attack his enemies. He can choose who he attacks or even try to flee the battle altogether (though normally it's worth toughing it out as you get all manner of goodies for finishing the fight. All major characters are featured in the game from the book which is great for fans of the series but won't mean a thing to newcomers as there is unfortunately no back story to the game. I guess they figure almost everyone has read the books or seen the movie and with this title, they would almost be right!

Character progression features heavily in the game with stamina points and magical points. In the menu system there are also various other statistic available on Harry's current state of well-being and the level he is currently at. Items featured on the menu are:

Level, Experience, Next Level, Sickles (money), Stamina, Magic, Strength, Defence, Agility, Magic Strength, Magic Defence

Quite comprehensive indeed. There are really only two slight drawbacks to this game and they are: No background on characters and without a light source the game is dark indeed.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a must buy for all fans of the series and anyone who enjoys a good RPG.

- Melissa F