i have vivid memories of watching lowres lets plays of this game on youtube circa 2006-7 at my local library on the weekends because we were too poor to have internet at home lol
When the first Harry Potter movie was in the theaters, EA decided to realese a lot of games about that story. Almost every plataform in the market had a Harry Potter game that was unique. They did the same thing when the Chamber of Secrets came out in 2002.
This review is about the Gameboy Advance version. It's probably not the best one but it has a special place in my heart.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a classic isometric action game for GBA. Like almost all games from this console, the visuals are incredible for its time.
When I was a child, I played this game several of times but never finished (i couldn't beat the final boss). When I started the game again a few weeks ago, I understood why I loved this game so much: it makes me fell like a student of Hogwarts.
The action segments are ok. Nothing special. You attack the enemies from distance with your spells.
There's also stealth parts and to be honest, they are pretty bad.
The story is the same of the book. Probably it wasn't the best way this story was told but that's not a problem here.
It's a short game and takes just two hours to finish. Again, it's not a problem. It's a game that could make you fell bored with more time of gameplay.
This game was made for Harry Potter fans, so if you don't have any connection with the franchise, you probably won't see anything to make you like this game.
If you lived the GBA era and like Harry Potter, you'll probably like. It's not a fantastic game but this world is so special for who grow up with the books and movies.
If you have to play this version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets? I can say that you have to give it a chance only if you like this world and GBA isometric action games.
This review is about the Gameboy Advance version. It's probably not the best one but it has a special place in my heart.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a classic isometric action game for GBA. Like almost all games from this console, the visuals are incredible for its time.
When I was a child, I played this game several of times but never finished (i couldn't beat the final boss). When I started the game again a few weeks ago, I understood why I loved this game so much: it makes me fell like a student of Hogwarts.
The action segments are ok. Nothing special. You attack the enemies from distance with your spells.
There's also stealth parts and to be honest, they are pretty bad.
The story is the same of the book. Probably it wasn't the best way this story was told but that's not a problem here.
It's a short game and takes just two hours to finish. Again, it's not a problem. It's a game that could make you fell bored with more time of gameplay.
This game was made for Harry Potter fans, so if you don't have any connection with the franchise, you probably won't see anything to make you like this game.
If you lived the GBA era and like Harry Potter, you'll probably like. It's not a fantastic game but this world is so special for who grow up with the books and movies.
If you have to play this version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets? I can say that you have to give it a chance only if you like this world and GBA isometric action games.
This was a pretty solid isometric puzzle platformer for the GBA. There was too much going into the inventory to equip a different spell, but the overall experience was a fun one with lots of secrets to uncover including very sprawling optional dungeons. It's also a strong retelling of the movie with plenty of dialogue on the way. I'm sure the puzzles would get incredibly monotonous for adults but this game really got the job done for me as an early Elementary schooler.
A surprising jump in quality from the previous GBA title, Chamber of Secrets primarily improves, and drastically so, in the graphics department. The spritework is good, Aragog looking particularly great even though you don't get to have a boss fight against him, but it's the environments that really caught me by surprise. The isometric view lends itself to a slightly closer look at all the textures, and there is indeed a lot more attention to detail—puffs of smoke, water drops, bouncing coins and beans.
The game is still clearly following the design documents the teams were given for the first video game, but they fit the story of the second book within it. You use Flipendo, Incendio, Wingardium Leviosa, Avifors and one unique spell which has a dual functionality of... removing goo and also removing ghosts from statues. The spells find much better uses in here though, while the exploration in the first GBA title was an afterthough, it plays center stage here, you switch between the jinxes often—sadly it has to be done through the menu, which always takes a little while. There's a total number of beans to collect throughout all of the castle, there's also chocolate frogs which improve your health, there's painting shortcuts to unlock and the wizard cards of course, and I do think they're often hidden pretty tightly, given the fact that I sadly couldn't find the set required to unlock an additional Alohomora spell and to explore the castle in full.
Also genuinely impressed with the flying minigame in this one. It has its quirks, just like any other iteration, but it looks great and has surprisingly tight controls. Adding a boost adds just enough of that risk vs reward factor to some of the tougher challenges, and the strafe comes in clutch when you really need it.
I'd put it higher if it wasn't for a few specific missteps. As I mentioned earlier, you don't get to fight Aragog, and it's a huge shame because it's the best-looking model in the entire game, but it's only used for a short, textbox dialogue. Additionally, some of the backgrounds are just nonsensical. There are rooms with a black hole, the starry sky or even the pits of hell. Nothing, however, comes close to the final bonus bean room which has a night's sky as the background, but it ROTATES. I could feel the motion sickness and nausea creeping up as I platformed through it. The animations on Harry are also incredibly stiff, comically so, almost Lego-like in a sense. Gotta mention the slightly forced and somewhat tedious stealth sections, although them becoming a staple of the first three generations of these games leads me to believe it was a decision made in the design document rather than on any individual level.
I did manage to enjoy this game overall, however. Snappy pacing, simple and effective mechanics, a proper sense of exploration in Hogwarts and a consistent, pretty artstyle made for a nice little handheld adventure. Really wish I could have completed this one, but I know even if I went back to try, there is a certain card which can only be found by connecting with the Gamecube and, uh, yeah, that's not happening.
The game is still clearly following the design documents the teams were given for the first video game, but they fit the story of the second book within it. You use Flipendo, Incendio, Wingardium Leviosa, Avifors and one unique spell which has a dual functionality of... removing goo and also removing ghosts from statues. The spells find much better uses in here though, while the exploration in the first GBA title was an afterthough, it plays center stage here, you switch between the jinxes often—sadly it has to be done through the menu, which always takes a little while. There's a total number of beans to collect throughout all of the castle, there's also chocolate frogs which improve your health, there's painting shortcuts to unlock and the wizard cards of course, and I do think they're often hidden pretty tightly, given the fact that I sadly couldn't find the set required to unlock an additional Alohomora spell and to explore the castle in full.
Also genuinely impressed with the flying minigame in this one. It has its quirks, just like any other iteration, but it looks great and has surprisingly tight controls. Adding a boost adds just enough of that risk vs reward factor to some of the tougher challenges, and the strafe comes in clutch when you really need it.
I'd put it higher if it wasn't for a few specific missteps. As I mentioned earlier, you don't get to fight Aragog, and it's a huge shame because it's the best-looking model in the entire game, but it's only used for a short, textbox dialogue. Additionally, some of the backgrounds are just nonsensical. There are rooms with a black hole, the starry sky or even the pits of hell. Nothing, however, comes close to the final bonus bean room which has a night's sky as the background, but it ROTATES. I could feel the motion sickness and nausea creeping up as I platformed through it. The animations on Harry are also incredibly stiff, comically so, almost Lego-like in a sense. Gotta mention the slightly forced and somewhat tedious stealth sections, although them becoming a staple of the first three generations of these games leads me to believe it was a decision made in the design document rather than on any individual level.
I did manage to enjoy this game overall, however. Snappy pacing, simple and effective mechanics, a proper sense of exploration in Hogwarts and a consistent, pretty artstyle made for a nice little handheld adventure. Really wish I could have completed this one, but I know even if I went back to try, there is a certain card which can only be found by connecting with the Gamecube and, uh, yeah, that's not happening.
hand cramps in the clinton years.
L'ambiance globale est très cool, le gameplay un peu moins.
I've had this since Christmas 2002 but only beat it now because I finally had the patience for all those obnoxious stealth missions
But bonus points for skipping any sort of boss battle with Aragog. My arachnophobia thanks you
But bonus points for skipping any sort of boss battle with Aragog. My arachnophobia thanks you
Chamber of Secrets is a good looking isometric platformer that's occasionally entertaining, but offers little to separate itself from other mediocre movie licensed games of its type.
While the game is less punishing and janky compared to the previous GBA game, this is still an unremarkable action game. The music is a lazy slightly enhanced reuse of GBC's soundtrack, unless it was first made for this version, then ported to that version. Either way, it's a weak showing of GBA's sound hardware. The graphics are decent, but otherwise there's not much.