Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)

he Harry Potter franchise made a fairly passable jump to game consoles last year when EA released games based on the film adaptation of the first novel in the series. The franchise's rich tale of a young boy's adventure as a wizard-in-training has all the gameplay and story elements needed for a video game pretty much built in. While the book that the film was based on has had a far-reaching appeal that's crossed age barriers, the games were definitely skewed toward younger players. Fortunately, the follow-up, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for the PlayStation 2, manages to come far closer to capturing the franchise's appeal. Offering a polished mix of strong graphics and solid gameplay, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a marked improvement over its predecessor.