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[Cody_D165]

I was digging through some stuff earlier today and managed to find my old copy of the Game Boy Color version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Sat down and played it for a bit and was reminded how good these games actually were. The ones I specifically can remember playing were Sorcerer's Stone (GBC), Chamber of Secrets (GBC), and Prisoner of Azkaban (GBA).

The Harry Potter universe actually makes for some decent 8- or 16-bit style RPGs. Various spells serve as the combat system, you're paid in sickles, items consist of candy from the games, and there's a bunch of different enemies and bosses based on the monsters from the HP books.

I can imagine how someone who doesn't give two shits about the HP franchise would probably dislike these, but as far as I'm concerned fans of the series would definitely get some enjoyment out of these games even today. It's kind of a shame the games went down more of an action-oriented path rather than traditional RPG after Prisoner of Azkaban.

Anyone on GAF ever played these games?

 

[Seven Force]

Loved the hell out of Sorcerer's Stone and (especially) Chamber of Secrets. Must have went through so many batteries playing through the latter.

Isn't there a GAFer that actually worked on said games?

 

[ascii42]

I've always wanted to play them. If I remember correctly. Chamber of Secrets was the last GBC game.

 

[Persona7]

Didn't these games use a software trick to get more out of the GBC hardware?

 

[Cutebrute]

Yeah I got to dabble in them and I enjoyed them at the time. I don't remember a whole lot about them, as I was very young and spent a few hours on a friend's copy.

God I wish someone would do something great with this franchise.

 

[everyday math]

The Sorcerer's Stone was really really good. And actually pretty hard too.

My friends and I used a game shark on it once. Poor Voldy....one hit kill.

Also on the disscussion of Harry Potter games. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on the Game Cube was amazing. Needs more respect.

 

[Grief.exe]

Didn't these games use a software trick to get more out of the GBC hardware?

If it is, might be extra processing power in the cart.

 

[AlexBasch]

Gears of Potter was better.

Spoiler

Great games, JRPG'd Harry Potter just works on autopilot.

 

[Fey]

I remember renting Prisoner of Azkaban for GBA when it came out and being surprised that it was an RPG.

I don't know if I would still like it, but back then I thought it was pretty damn fun.

 

[ascii42]

Also on the disscussion of Harry Potter games. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on the game cube was amazing. Needs more respect.

I played through that one on the PS2. Might be my favorite of the mainline games.

 

[demidar]

Gears of Potter was better.

Spoiler

Great games, JRPG'd Harry Potter just works on autopilot.

I wouldn't have believed you if I didn't see a video of it.

They turned Harry Potter into a fucking third person shooter.

 

[Cerity]

man, the philosphers stone rpg was one of the few games that I actually grinded in, I didn't finish it though. Never played chamber of secrets either.

More games on the "to finish" list.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

I had the first one on GBC, but encountered some sort of gamebreaking error where I bought the wrong cauldron or something at the start of the game and couldn't progress past a certain point. My friend who also had the game couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work but I think that's what it was. I grinded my way up several levels but could never progress. So annoying.

 

[daydream]

Yeah, I played through the first two countless times on the GBC. Third one was alright, played that on GBA and beat it, but didn't really enjoy it as much as the first two. (Edit: Interestingly enough, my enjoyment of the source material faded kinda concurrently with the third book.)

I also played that Quidditch game on GBA which was.. not that great, and Chamber of Secrets (I think) on the PS1.

 

[ZeroX03]

I had the Chamber of Secrets game on GBA that my cousin liked so much he stole the game and system from me. He lost it a few weeks later while on holiday. He was not a trustworthy kid.

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

I had the first one on GBC, but encountered some sort of gamebreaking error where I bought the wrong cauldron or something at the start of the game and couldn't progress past a certain point. My friend who also had the game couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work but I think that's what it was. I grinded my way up several levels but could never progress. So annoying.

Bloody Muggles.

 

[Currygan]

I had the GBC Stone game and it disappeared from my collection before playing it. Besides those, i only played Chamber of Secrets for the GC and OOTP for the Wii, both were surprisingly decent-good

 

[LuuKyK]

The first three games were really enjoyable. I even managed to enjoy GoF and OotP a bit, but not so much. The rest was trash. Also, the LEGO games are amazing. Full of fanservice.

Yeah, I played through the first two countless times on the GBC. Third one was alright, played that on GBA and beat it, but didn't really enjoy it as much as the first two.

I also played that Quidditch game on GBA which was.. not that great, and Chamber of Secrets (I think) on the PS1.

Are you talking about the Quidditch World Cup game? I remember playing it on the PS2 and thinking it was awesome. I played the hell out of that game. Countless hours. But maybe the GBA version of it was bad... I can't really tell since I never played it myself.

 

[manzoman96]

I used to have the 1st Harry Potter for Game Boy Color. I don't have it anymore I probably sold it at gamestop a log time ago

Spoiler

for probably around 25 cents/SPOILER]

 

[daydream]

Are you talking about the Quidditch World Cup game? I remember playing it on the PS2 and thinking it was awesome. I played the hell out of that game. Countless hours. But maybe the GBA version of it was bad... I can't really tell since I never played it myself.

Well, I YTed some footage of the PS2 version and yeah, I totally played that game. I had a friend who was a big Potter fan. He must have given me his copy at some point. That one looks decent.

The problem with the GBA version, if I recall correctly, was (and still is) kind of typical for a lot of sports games on handhelds. You could basically repeat the same strategy/set of moves and win every game, exploiting the rigid AI.

I guess it could have been a lot worse for a game based on Quidditch of all things, and now I kinda want to refresh my memory on the PS2 version.

 

[Cody_D165]

Well, I YTed some footage of the PS2 version and yeah, I totally played that game. I had a friend who was a big Potter fan. He must have given me his copy at some point. That one looks decent.

I still have the Gamecube version of that. I should pop it in sometime. I remember it being pretty damn fun.

 

[Dreamwriter]

Isn't there a GAFer that actually worked on said games?

Me I gotta tell you, we had a LOT of fun making the two GBC games, best time in my career (followed by the worst time in my career with the GBA Azkaban...) The publisher didn't really pay attention to our games, they were only concerned with the console and GBA versions, so we were able to do almost whatever we wanted without interference. Every once in a while we'd show them progress, they'd say "We didn't think the GBC could do this, keep up the good work". Because of that, the GBC games were closer to the books than any of the other ports, where they weren't allowed to put it in if it wasn't in the movies.

Didn't these games use a software trick to get more out of the GBC hardware?

We used a bunch of tricks in Chamber of Secrets, and maxed out the largest GBC cart size, with only a few bytes to spare. The most-used trick was to do things while the screen is being drawn - load a whole new set of color palettes partway down the screen to get hundreds of colors per screen, scroll the screen at different rates on different scanlines, change the memory address of the backgrounds so we could flicker a ghostly background in front of the normal one (used a lot in card attacks). We also had a lot of background animations done by manipulating the palette, known as "palette cycling".

I had the first one on GBC, but encountered some sort of gamebreaking error where I bought the wrong cauldron or something at the start of the game and couldn't progress past a certain point. My friend who also had the game couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work but I think that's what it was. I grinded my way up several levels but could never progress. So annoying.

Ah yes, the horrible Boomslang Skin game-breaking bug. A couple hours into the game, Professor Snape has you collect some ingredients, and one is the Boomslang Skin. Unfortunately, when you get that task, if you talk to the school nurse before collecting the skin, you cannot collect the skin, and if you save, that'll save the bad state. And of course when you die you appear next to the nurse, so you might talk to her. The Japanese localization testers found that and figured out that talking to the nurse did it, too late for the North American release and the first European release (there was a second run of the game in Europe, that got the bug fixed, I don't remember if the US ever got that second run).

 

[TheGamer]

I only played Sorcerer's Stone for GBC when I was kid. I remember playing it all the time. Looking at your screenshots brings back great memories of these games.

 

[Xelinis]

Wow, blast from the past! Fun times when I was a kid.

I wonder how the Persona team would handle this IP...

 

[buy teh haloz]

I still own the GBC Philosophers Stone, for some reason. I never played it much.

 

[Orayn]

Dreamwriter, my liege, on behalf of everyone who enjoyed these games...

Thank you.

Your vision of Hogwarts was closer to mine than the movies.

 

[kai3345]

i hate harry potter but goddamn if i didn't spend at least a hundred hours playing that quidditch game on gamecube

 

[BronsonLee]

First two games were some of my favorite games ever. Hilarious to see that they got in kind of under the radar thanks to so many versions being made.

Thank you Dreamwriter for your hard work!

 

[Dreamwriter]

Here's a little Easter Egg for ya - in Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, in Diagon Alley buy (I think) 30 pairs of boots. Then when crossing the moat to the castle, pause and unpause the game, and you'll be able to press the button to shoot owls at the bugs flying over the water, turning it into a kind of mini shooter game. Fun trivia, I put that Easter egg in *the day we shipped*, which is a rather large no-no

 

[BinaryPork2737]

I had the first four GBA games. I have fond memories of the Prisoner of Azkaban RPG, really entertaining and nothing like the other Harry Potter games I had played, as I previously thought the GBC games were the same as the GBA puzzle/platformer/adventure games and the console games were all action-adventure games.

I really ought to get the first two games on the GBC. Dreamwriter's post really makes me want to buy them.

 

[Cody_D165]

Me I gotta tell you, we had a LOT of fun making the two GBC games, best time in my career (followed by the worst time in my career with the GBA Azkaban...) The publisher didn't really pay attention to our games, they were only concerned with the console and GBA versions, so we were able to do almost whatever we wanted without interference. Every once in a while we'd show them progress, they'd say "We didn't think the GBC could do this, keep up the good work". Because of that, the GBC games were closer to the books than any of the other ports, where they weren't allowed to put it in if it wasn't in the movies.

Wow, thanks for being a part of some of my favorite childhood games!

Out of curiosity, can I ask why the GBA Azkaban game ended up being the worst time in your career? I enjoyed that game as well. (If too personal of a question just ignore me.)

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

I loved the GBC Sorcerer's Stone when I was young!
I never was able to beat Voldemort at the end and I remember always getting stuck at the fight with the troll and having to grind against slugs I think.

And memorizing all the secret passageways and the minigames in classes.

Looking back it was a damn solid game.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

looking in every corner and bookshelf for collectible cards, so good.

 

[daydream]

Here's a little Easter Egg for ya - in Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, in Diagon Alley buy (I think) 30 pairs of boots. Then when crossing the moat to the castle, pause and unpause the game, and you'll be able to press the button to shoot owls at the bugs flying over the water, turning it into a kind of mini shooter game. Fun trivia, I put that Easter egg in *the day we shipped*, which is a rather large no-no

I gotta try this out sometime. Thanks for sharing!

Crazy that a Gaffer worked on these games I played so much of, but not surprising in light of their quality. Makes sense now why these ended up being proper RPGs. When the cat is away..

 

[clay_ghost]

Wow, thanks for being a part of some of my favorite childhood games!

Out of curiosity, can I ask why the GBA Azkaban game ended up being the worst time in your career? I enjoyed that game as well. (If too personal of a question just ignore me.)

Too much pressure since they became the main team for the portable game plus less freedom to play with ideas the original story and needing to stick with the movie is my guess.

I actually brought the 1st 2 gba games instead of the gbc games.Sorry but i kind of like then too.

 

[PumpkinPie]

I remember enjoying the first two. I think they eventually turned them into shit action games, didn't they?

 

[thesaucetastic]

I played the hell out of the GBC Chamber of Secrets game. I definitely enjoyed it, but barely remember it outside of doing something in the Weasleys' yard, I think it had something to do with gnomes?

And I also had the Quidditch game for the Gamecube. Was fun, but got boring against the AI after a while.

 

[Dreamwriter]

Wow, thanks for being a part of some of my favorite childhood games!

Out of curiosity, can I ask why the GBA Azkaban game ended up being the worst time in your career? I enjoyed that game as well. (If too personal of a question just ignore me.)

We were micromanaged to death by the publisher on that one. They specifically asked for the GBC Potter team to make that game, and we designed our dream game, taking everything we learned from Chamber of Secrets and amping it way up, taking full advantage of the powerful new hardware. To be honest, we over-designed it, to be sure, but still, without interference we could have made a really kick-ass game. But the publisher didn't trust us to make quality GBA art, seeing as we had come from GBC development. To make a long story short, halfway through production they made us throwaway all the existing background art, replacing it with a new style they came up with, and because the background art changed, we had to change our sprite art to match, and now all the scripting had to be redone, since backgrounds and characters were different sizes/shapes from before. With only half the time to now make a full game, we had to cut many, many features, and to release it as a decent game we had to work crunch mode for the rest of the project, including weekends and holidays, while the publisher had reps in our office micromanaging it all. Not fun.

 

[Wii Tank]

I only played the first one on the GBC, but it really was a fantastic game. I must have played it many many times over as a kid. I remember there being a quest to catch or kill a purple rabbit or something and sometimes the quest would be as simple as picking up the rabbit, and sometimes you'd have to fight it. The secrets were all pretty awesome too. Lots of secret passageways and items to find. I even remember being able to go into a TV. Man this game was awesome

 

[Jacqli]

Thank you, Dreamwriter, the Sorcerer's Stone was one of my most beloved games of my childhood (and I still love it)! It was really astonishing that a Harry Potter game could be so good and complete.

 

[Cody_D165]

We were micromanaged to death by the publisher on that one. They specifically asked for the GBC Potter team to make that game, and we designed our dream game, taking everything we learned from Chamber of Secrets and amping it way up, taking full advantage of the powerful new hardware. To be honest, we over-designed it, to be sure, but still, without interference we could have made a really kick-ass game. But the publisher didn't trust us to make quality GBA art, seeing as we had come from GBC development. To make a long story short, halfway through production they made us throwaway all the existing background art, replacing it with a new style they came up with, and because the background art changed, we had to change our sprite art to match, and now all the scripting had to be redone, since backgrounds and characters were different sizes/shapes from before. With only half the time to now make a full game, we had to cut many, many features, and to release it as a decent game we had to work crunch mode for the rest of the project, including weekends and holidays, while the publisher had reps in our office micromanaging it all. Not fun.

Damn that's heartbreaking to hear. Thank you for sharing though, I loved all three of these games dearly.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Ah yes, the horrible Boomslang Skin game-breaking bug. A couple hours into the game, Professor Snape has you collect some ingredients, and one is the Boomslang Skin. Unfortunately, when you get that task, if you talk to the school nurse before collecting the skin, you cannot collect the skin, and if you save, that'll save the bad state. And of course when you die you appear next to the nurse, so you might talk to her. The Japanese localization testers found that and figured out that talking to the nurse did it, too late for the North American release and the first European release (there was a second run of the game in Europe, that got the bug fixed, I don't remember if the US ever got that second run).

Ahh so that's what it was. Yes I do remember the snape quest and that sounds about where it hit a wall. I was so pissed when I found out that it was some sort of bug after cross referencing with a friend, prior to that I naturally assumed that I was just stuck like an idiot. I mean, I did get stuck in tons of games as a kid. OoT was brutal, never finished it.

 

[brickarts295]

Easily the most underrated movie based game imho

 

[Grizzo]

I had the first game on GBA, but it was a short and uninspired adventure game. Basically, the game consisted only of fetch quests, with some puzzles requiring you to use a spell on things that were blocking your way. The GBC game looks so much better.

 

[Grief.exe]

Very good read considering we got someone experienced with the project in the thread.

Thanks Dreamwriter.

 

[BrokenIcarus]

Oh I loved these games, I completely maxed out Harry Ron and Hermione in Chamber of Secrets and Azkaban.
Pretty sure there was a new game+ sorta option which added lots of replay value to me.

 

[Hexa]

I loved Chamber of Secrets. I also know I played the ones after that, but I don't remember them as much. Except for Order of the Phoenix for GBA where I was blown away by the graphics. I don't remember if the actual game was fun though.

 

[Kiraly]

The two GBC games were so fucking enjoyable.

 

[N7Commander95]

Im pretty sure I owned Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets on all platforms as a kid loo. GBC, GBA and PSX and PS2

 

[MichaelFassbender]

Good to be reminded of this! I remember playing it til the batteries died in someone's truck, all those years ago.
Quite a big world to explore, especially for GBC. Wish someone could recreate that magic.