Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone received "mixed or average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. Frank Provo of GameSpot was very positive about the GBA game's recreation of the novel; saying "The main thing to keep in mind is that Prisoner of Azkaban on the GBA offers a fun way for Harry Potter fans to step into the shoes of their favorite wizard-in-training and experience firsthand everything that happened in the third installment of the series. Dan Amrich of GamePro and Gerald Villoria of GameSpot regarded the game as a run-of-the-mill adventure title, but considered it to be more challenging than expected, which Villoria attributed to the delay in Harry's Flipendo spell and the erratic enemy AI.

Harry joins Hagrid in an investigation of an attack on a unicorn in the adjacent forest and encounters a figure drinking a dead unicorn's blood. Tim Wapshott of The Times gave the game a score of four stars out of five and stated, "The game remains faithful to the spirit of the book, but it is perhaps a little too linear and predictable. Michael Lafferty of GameZone said that the game lived up to his expectations as a fan of the book series and figured that it would be appealing to casual gamers as well, but warned that the initial puzzles would be too simple for veterans and that the enemies' artificial intelligence (AI) was predictable.At E3 2001, Electronic Arts announced its license to publish video game adaptations of the Harry Potter franchise, with titles for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation, and the PC scheduled for November 2001. In this version of the game, Harry gets caught by Professor Snape instead of Filch, and Harry's detention in the forest isn't the same as the book or movie. Too wrong I was: you begin the came by attending your first defence against the dark arts lesson and then once your spell is learnt you do a tricky challenge.

Both were frustrated by the necessity of starting an entire segment over upon falling down a bottomless pit. To be able to purchase content for Wii U or Nintendo 3DS family systems, a Nintendo Network ID is also required and your funds usable through the Nintendo Account must be merged with the funds tied to your Nintendo Network ID. The Game Boy Advance version, along with the Game Boy Color and PlayStation versions, was designed with input from Harry Potter author J. Finding that Black is innocent of all crimes, and looking out for Harry, the team defend Black from a horde of dementors, allowing him to escape. The game may be short and easy, but it's also thoughtfully designed and genuinely entertaining, and KnowWonder deserves credit for that.Miller respected the direction of creating an adventure game as opposed to a platformer as was common practice with handheld film tie-ins.