The first article about the game “HP and the Philosopher’s Stone” for Game Boy Color

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We all know a certain Joan Kathleen Rowling – the author of seven books about the adventures of Harry Potter – the very boy who survived. Based on these books, the studio “Warner Bros.” periodically releases films, and video games are created based on films and excerpts from books, allowing anyone to plunge into the world of magic and adventures in the Harry Potter Universe. How the creators of these very games manage to do this, we will consider in this and the following articles.

So, seven books have been published, eight films are expected. It would seem that there should be seven or eight games, but this is not so: there are many so-called platforms on which you can play games: slot machines, TV consoles, independent gaming devices (Sony PSP), and, of course, personal computers. They are all arranged differently: the same action can be performed in different ways, released at different times – newer ones can create a better picture on the screen, implement more complex effects, and older ones lag behind them in this.

Therefore, in order not to offend anyone, video game developers create versions of the same game for different platforms, taking into account their features. Everything seems to be fine, but no: the games are different! In the version for one platform, the graphics and sound are better, in the other – on the contrary, worse. But the main problem is that completely different games are obtained: each has its own scenario, graphic design, sound effects, its own set of locations: places where the action of the game takes place.

This series of articles is devoted to the consideration of the features of most versions of games. And here we go!

HP and the Philosopher’s Stone for Game Boy Color

Harry and Hagrid in Diagon Alley

So, here is one of the games on the theme of the first book about the adventures of Harry Potter. What does it represent? The author of this review did not go through the whole game, as he is not a fan of games of this genre (RPG): after the release of Harry and the Gringotts bank and a shopping trip, saving and exiting the game was performed. But you can go through it completely 🙂

And about the game itself

The plot. In many ways repeats that of the book: replicas of characters, inscriptions. Diagon Alley is well implemented: there you can find Madame Malkin’s store, Owlet House, Ollivander’s, Florish and Blotts, and others. The wand selection scene is well implemented. But there are also a lot of digressions in the game that are characteristic of games of this genre: in almost every location, Harry has to fight with spells (at the beginning of the game, Harry should not know them yet!), collectible cards, potions. The rivals are rats, bats and so-called “bosses”, for example, in Gringotts, which is a fairly large maze, Harry has to repeatedly fight with these animals. If the boy’s strength runs out before overcoming the next fragment of the maze, he has to return to Diagon Alley – after falling to the ground, he finds himself in a pharmacy and after taking the medicine, he needs to go through the stage again. During the passage, attention will not be superfluous: when buying any things, you need to take into account their value, and he has nowhere to take extra money.

Graphics. High-quality two-dimensional graphics (taking into account the platform). Not a bad animation.

Fighting rats

In the shop

Characters. Taking into account the platform, the characters are made superbly: Harry can be identified in a matter of seconds, Hagrid is recognized immediately. Some of the characters can be identified only during a conversation: at the same time, an enlarged portrait of the speaker is located in the lower left corner of the screen, but Ollivander faintly resembles one from the movie – the developers seem to have focused more on the book (or the game script).

At the entrance to Gringotts

At the entrance to the safe

Safe deposit box at Gringotts

Exit from the safe

Musical arrangement. The music is somewhat reminiscent of that from the movie, but with a very characteristic sound – a feature of the platform. Many events are accompanied by sound effects in the style of music :-).

What you can play on . The game can be launched both using the GameBoy Color game console and a personal computer – you need an emulator of the console. The system requirements are usually quite modest, but are completely determined by the emulator used.

Video clip of the passing game

The result. A pretty good game for fans of the genre and J. K. Rowling’s creativity, probably. Fans of an undistorted plot and unhurried games are better off bypassing it. Better play something else 😉