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[jack_package_200]

I had a friend recommend this game to me awhile back because he "thought it would surprise me." I wasn't really sure what to expect.

I ended up really liking Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on the GBC. It has charm and it aged pretty well for a Gameboy Color game.

There are three parts of the game, walking around and interacting with NPCs and the Environment, minigames, and turn based RPG combat. Yes Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is an RPG. The overworld and areas you explore should be familiar if you read the book or watched the movie. Its the best you could get from a GBC game anyway.

The minigames range from throwing gnomes out of the Weasly's garden and tracking the Hogwarts Express from a flying car. There is a really bizarre bowling minigame that comes out of nowhere. The worst part is the Quidditch minigame which can be gameboy-throwingly frustrating since it controls very poorly

And lastly we have the turn based combat. It works pretty well. Selecting attacks, spells, and items are satisfying. It does not have much depth but its functional. What it does have that is very unique is that you can collect Chocolate Frog cards which not only have info on monsters and enemies, some can be used as attacks or as buffs in battle. The party mainly consists of just Harry with Hermonie, Ron, and Fawkes the Phoenix. Each of them has a unique gimmick such as Ron using Scabbers the rat to attack.

Visually, its a Gameboy Color game. Some of the sprite work is pretty good or basic depending on how much animation it has. The environments do a good job of distinguishing themselves. The actually animation is simplistic but conveys whats going on as well as it needs to.

Music is a mixed bag. The battle and boss music is actually pretty good but some of the music from different environments can either range from okay to grating.

I give it a tentative recommendation.

 

[Dr. Benton Quest]

I've never heard anything but praise about this game. I read a very interesting post mortem on it a while back. If I find it I'll post it.

 

[kiguel182]

I loved, LOVED, this game when I was a kid. I must have played it from start to finish 3 or 4 times. Amazing game and also a really faithful adaptation of the book. The only problem I had with it was the spike in difficulty on the Aragog fight. Apart from that is really good.

Also one of the devs posts here.

EDIT: Also the game had tons of content and you could even collect and trade chocolate frog cards. The attention of detail in this is great. I have so many cool memories from it.

 

[Secks4Food]

I got stuck on the big spider boss, that thing would one shot everyone in my party.

It was a really fun game until that point.

 

[jack_package_200]

I loved, LOVED, this game when I was a kid. I must have played it from start to finish 3 or 4 times. Amazing game and also a really faithful adaptation of the book. The only problem I had with it was the spike in difficulty on the Aragog fight. Apart from that is really good.

Also one of the devs posts here.

Sick I hope he reads this,

And the Aragog boss was really tough.

 

[Cody_D165]

I made a thread about these games awhile ago, love them

Shoutouts to Dreamwriter, a fellow GAFfer who helped bring these games into existence

 

[The Llama]

Pretty sure I own this, tucked away in a drawer somewhere.

Pretty sure I need to actually play it sometime.

 

[kiguel182]

Sick I hope he reads this,

And the Aragog boss was really tough.

I remember having to grind a lot to beat him and then the rest of the game being a breeze since I was really OP.

 

[CthulhuSushi]

I would pick this up if I still had my GBC, I remember a lot of the PSX Harry Potter games being pretty fun to play. I think I'm thinking of The Sorcerer's Stone.

 

[Seven Force]

One of the most underrated licensed games of all time. Absolutely adored this game.

 

[jack_package_200]

Pretty sure I own this, tucked away in a drawer somewhere.

Pretty sure I need to actually play it sometime.

Do it.

Its better than a Gameboy Color RPG has any right to be

I would pick this up if I still had my GBC, I remember a lot of the PSX Harry Potter games being pretty fun to play. I think I'm thinking of The Sorcerer's Stone.

I am not sure how much the Chamber of Secrets cart costs

 

[Foxhound286]

How shitty are the shitty minigames?

 

[jack_package_200]

How shitty are the shitty minigames?

Most of them are pretty bad.

The problem is that the controls for the games for quidditch and gnome throwing are kind of unintuitive. Failing them feels really frustrating.

They aren't impossible and not all are bad.

The chasing the Hogwarts express minigame is pretty fun.

 

[hie]

Oh! One of the very first games I worked on. I did SFX (not music). Cool to see people still enjoy it!

 

[CthulhuSushi]

Do it.

Its better than a Gameboy Color RPG has any right to be



I am not sure how much the Chamber of Secrets cart costs

It goes for $30 on Amazon, I'm sure if you went to some Mom and Pop game shop and they had it you might be able to get it cheaper.


Is that so?

 

[Dryk]

I never played this but I had the GBC Philosopher's Stone and played it along. In retrospect the battle system was pretty unashamedly Final Fantasy in parts but yeah, better than it had any right to be.

 

[jack_package_200]

Oh! One of the very first games I worked on. I did SFX (not music). Cool to see people still enjoy it!

Having a senpai noticed me moment

Game was pretty fun.

I have a few questions.

1. Got any fun insights on the game?

2. How well acquainted were you with the other developers of the game? Judging from the game, I get the feeling you guys really enjoyed working on it.

3. What do you do now?

 

[ohlawd]

I liked the first game a tad bit better but both are some of the best games around. high praise, coming from me

 

[jack_package_200]

I played the game somewhere around the game's release back when I was a little kid and I actually never expected to love it as much as I did. I don't remember much of it, but I do remember being fond of it.

It did have one boss that beat my ass pretty hard and was challenging to beat, I just don't remember which.

Aragog the Spider.

Everyone probably had their ass kicked by that blind bastard.

 

[Dragonslayer_023]

It's weird that there were like 3 or 4 different Chamber of Secrets games across different generations. The one on GC/PS2/Xbox was really good too. Eurocom and EA really did right by the franchise in the early days.

 

[jack_package_200]

It's weird that there were like 3 or 4 different Chamber of Secrets games across different generations. The one on GC/PS2/Xbox was really good too. Eurocom and EA really did right by the franchise in the early days.

It was an era where movie tie was not a bad thing

 

[SmackAttack]

I haven't played this game in years but I remember enjoying it greatly. Really well done licensed game.

Oh! One of the very first games I worked on. I did SFX (not music). Cool to see people still enjoy it!

Have any development stories to share?

 

[hie]

Having a senpai noticed me moment

Game was pretty fun.

I have a few questions.

1. Got any fun insights on the game?

2. How well acquainted were you with the other developers of the game? Judging from the game, I get the feeling you guys really enjoyed working on it.

3. What do you do now?

1. This was long ago! Can't recall any "fun" insights, but grappling with the GBC audio "features" was always great entertainment.

2. The studio at the time wasn't very large. I was part of a 3-man sound team and we usually worked on multiple games at once. That being said..I was pretty new at the time, but I think I knew most everyone at least by name. Including some future Volgar peeps

3. I'm back doing what I initially loved: recording bands and doing live sound. I had a lot of fun in the industry, but after 20+ titles...it was time to get off the rollercoaster.

Thanks for the interest! Glad you enjoy the game. Many talented people that went on to "bigger" things poured much time into it!

 

[Tanoooki]

I had this game and it was so damn hard, I think I got stuck in the dungeon under hogwarts or maybe it was under the bank, I can't remember.

 

[croten]

It was an era where movie tie was not a bad thing

Movie tie in's were always a bad thing.

I don't think I ever had the chance to play the Gameboy version of it but I did, and still do, have the Philosophers Stone and I played that a lot as a kid.

 

[LuuKyK]

The Harry potter games were good until Goblet of Fire I think, but yeah, Chamber of Secrets was easily the best one.

 

[Stone Ocean]

I never played this but I had the GBC Philosopher's Stone and played it along. In retrospect the battle system was pretty unashamedly Final Fantasy in parts but yeah, better than it had any right to be.

Pretty much the same here. Always wanted to try Chamber of Secrets out since you could actually play with Ron and Hermione in a party.

Philosopher's Stone was super fun though. Took me quite a while before I managed to beat it, but then you had the infinite NG+ that just let you turn into a god and breeze through the game.

 

[Circle Jerk]

It was an era where movie tie was not a bad thing

Are you on drugs? That was the era where movie ties in were probably at their worst. Now they just dont exist.

 

[FlutterPuffs]

It was an era where movie tie was not a bad thing

hahaha

hahahaha

 

[MagnoSauce]

It was an era where movie tie was not a bad thing

That was the generation where every single movie, show and franchise got a shitty licensed game and the whole shovelware issue actually came into focus. The reason why good licensed games like this one are notable is because there are so few. Seventh and eighth gen were actually relieved of this problem since games got too expensive to make for shovelware to proliferate. It's kind of interesting since you have examples like the early Harry Potter games that were actually decent, so we probably lost some good licensed titles due to that trend.

 

[jack_package_200]

Guess I only played the good movie tie in games.

*shrugs shoulders*

 

[toddhunter]

That was the generation where every single movie, show and franchise got a shitty licensed game and the whole shovelware issue actually came into focus. The reason why good licensed games like this one are notable is because there are so few. Seventh and eighth gen were actually relieved of this problem since games got too expensive to make for shovelware to proliferate. It's kind of interesting since you have examples like the early Harry Potter games that were actually decent, so we probably lost some good licensed titles due to that trend.

It has always felt like we were one or two Harry Potter games short. For such a big franchise you would think we would still be getting the odd shadow of mordor type effort.

 

[thesaucetastic]

Ah man, I remember this game. Pretty much agree. Also what was the context for that bizarre bowling thing again? I can't remember. I really liked the devil's snare and wizard chess and broomstick flying for that key part. They did a brilliant job.

 

[jack_package_200]

Ah man, I remember this game. Pretty much agree. Also what was the context for that bizarre bowling thing again? I can't remember. I really liked the devil's snare and wizard chess and broomstick flying for that key part. They did a brilliant job.

Dude that is Sorcerer's Stone

 

[Regiruler]

I remember playing the Xbox version of the game (probably a different dev team entirely if two-version tie ins were made then like they are now), and disliking the stealth sections (mostly because having a problem you can't kill annoyed my 8 year old self).

I do think I beat it because I do remember the Basilisk fight.

 

[jack_package_200]

I remember playing the Xbox version of the game, and disliking the stealth sections (mostly because having a problem you can't kill annoyed my 8 year old self).

I do think I beat it because I do remember the Basilisk fight.

I hate stealth sections in none-stealth games.

I would be so angry.

 

[CSX]

Loved this game as a kid.

 

[Shizuka]

One of the best GBC games I've ever played.

 

[fredrancour]

I remember loving this thing as a kid. I wonder if I can find it lying around....

 

[Corgi]

yeah the Harry Potter handheld rpgs were all pretty decent. Wish all licensed movie games had jrpg style games.

prisoner of azkaban even had a mode7ish dynamic camera in battle that reminds me of golden sun. Really nifty.

 

[jack_package_200]

yeah the Harry Potter handheld rpgs were all pretty decent. Wish all licensed movie games had jrpg style games.

prisoner of azkaban even had a mode7ish dynamic camera in battle that reminds me of golden sun. Really nifty.

Well shit.

Got to play that at some point.

 

[Labrys]

Sorcerer's Stone/Chamber of Secrets for PS1 was also pretty fun, I enjoyed it. A lot of licenced games were good back then.

 

[Shivvy_NTL]

I had this on ps2, this was amazing man, used to play alot as a kid. I remember allocating the broom stick on triangle and.flying around the school.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Was it this or one of the others that had a game breaking cauldron glitch? Because it affected me as a child and I never got past it coz I thought I was just an idiot who couldn't work out how to do something basic.

 

[Currygan]

One of the most underrated licensed games of all time. Absolutely adored this game.

yup

a lot of the Harry Potter games are indeed surprisingly fantastic

 

[DoktorEvil]

A Harry Potter RPG?

What haven't I heard about this much sooner?

 

[Numb]

I try to stay away from movie tie in games.
I played that Wolverine game alot but it might be the exception.

 

[ohlawd]

Was it this or one of the others that had a game breaking cauldron glitch? Because it affected me as a child and I never got past it coz I thought I was just an idiot who couldn't work out how to do something basic.

oh yeah nasty shit. one of the objectives in the first game was to gather some boomslang skin. iirc, if you get the other ingredients first, the skin will disappear and you have no choice but to start a new game

 

[jack_package_200]

A Harry Potter RPG?

What haven't I heard about this much sooner?

Play it Dok.

 

[RayearthRob]

This game
Dragon Ball Z: The Legend of The Super Saiyan (snes)
Sailor Moon Another Story (snes)
Magic Knight Rayearth (snes)

Everyone should play these games!