Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – GBA – Review

Harry is back in his third adventure from EA, Harry Potter
and the Prisoner of Azkaban. This third outing offers a completely different
approach to the franchise on the GBA, with a turn-based RPG-style of play
instead of the action-mode of play in the previous games. The result is a more
leisurely adventure through Hogwarts.

There are other changes to the gameplay, namely the ability to
play as either Hermione and Ron, besides Harry. Choosing a character depends on
which spells and special powerups are needed for a particular task. Toggling
back and forth between characters is made simple by the use of the L/R buttons
on the GBA, which lists special action spells available and the character who
controls each spell. Hermione can cause ice blocks to form across passages with
the Glacius spell; Ron can open locked doors with Alohomora; and Harry can light
up dim passages with Lumos, among other spells.

The turn-based RPG mode of play is implemented quite well, and
in my opinion at least, is a much more successful method to explore Hogwarts on
the GBA, rather than having to worry about platform-action elements and fighting
enemies in real-time. The turns are designed nicely, and there are even little
icons at the top right of the screen that show the order in which the enemies
will attack.

It’s all about making the characters as strong as possible to
defeat Voldemort at the end of the game, and there are many chances to level up.
Fighting every enemy is the key to leveling up quickly, and successful outcomes
will result in increased levels of power, agility, defense and better, stronger
spells. In each battle, the characters can choose to use a special power (Harry
can use card combos for special attacks, Hermione can give instruction to her
friends to make them stronger, and Ron can use stink pellets to damage the
enemies), flee, use the Informus spell to gather information about the enemy’s
vulnerability to certain spells, use a potion to gain back spell or health
points, or pick a certain spell to use. Some of these actions use up points, all
use up a turn.

Of course, Ron’s brothers are again running a thriving magic
store on the black market, and Harry and friends can buy many items to improve
their defense skills, like special boots, cloaks, potions and charms.

The enemies are plentiful, but also easily avoidable. The only
forced battles are with certain bosses at designated points in the game; the
other enemies are clearly seen and can be avoided by just going around them.
However, to level up quickly, most will need to be fought. This game is
extremely forgiving, though, and if the entire team is defeated, they will
simply start over fairly close to the point of death with complete power points
restored. This actually sometimes makes losing the first time around a desired
thing, especially against a strong boss enemy.

This game is mostly a type of dungeon crawl, with lots of quests
that require certain items to be fetched back and forth. There are also
collectibles, namely wizard cards, potions and money, but strangely, no
chocolate frogs or beans. There really should have been beans to collect. The
game is very linear, and requires the tasks to be completed before advancing.

Although there is plenty of fighting, it’s designed to be pretty
forgiving, which really opens up this game for younger fans of Potter. If a
battle is lost, the players will only be moved back a trifle, retain all their
present power, and actually gain back all their lost health and magic points.
Leveling up the team is quite fun, as is purchasing items at the Weasley
brothers shop.

The game looks good enough, but could have been better
graphically. It’s hard to say exactly what could be improved, it’s more a matter
of visual blandness than anything else. There just aren’t many special touches.

Other features include four unlockable mini-games, a three-slot
save game, and a virtual pet Owl game if players have the Gamecube version of
The Prisoner of Azkaban.