Review: Harry Potter on the Wii Makes for Hogwarts' Heaven

July 3, 2007 — -- Calling all muggle-born Harry Potter fans. Grab your wands -- I mean your Wii remote controllers -- because you are about to enter Hogwarts' heaven.

The Nintendo Wii version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix puts the magic of Harry Potter into your hands as you cast your way through this magnificent video game.

By holding the Wii remote controller in your hand as a wand, you move your arm in different ways to cast spells, and watch as the Harry you see on the screen mimics your motions. With this Wii version, you truly feel a part of the game. You become Harry Potter.

While this video game is also available on Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, the PC and Microsoft's Xbox 360, it is best played on the Nintendo Wii system because casting spells is so much a part of the gameplay. This Wii gaming experience is so compelling that if you have been thinking about getting a Wii but haven't yet, buy it now.

While each of the past four Harry Potter games has been great, this one far exceeds those built-up expectations. It closely follows the story of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book and is based on the movie version, which is due out on July 11.

Most of the time, you play as Harry Potter; but you also get to play as the Weasley twins as they fly out of the school on their brooms, Sirius Black as he fights the Death Eater Bellatrix, and even Headmaster Dumbledore in his duel with Voldemort.

The game cleverly incorporates a series of missions (tasks) into the storyline, which is moved forward at various times by video sequences. But this is not a linear game. You are free to explore the massive castle and grounds of Hogwarts and pick up or change tasks at will.

This is the Hogwarts the previous games made us long for.

The castle is built from the blueprints of the movie set, and it looks like the world presented in the movie. The portraits on the walls all talk and move about, the staircases rotate, and there are magical surprises sprinkled throughout.

Best for kids ages 10 and up

From Electronic Arts, www.HarryPotter.EA.com, $49.99, Nintendo Wii.

Jinny Gudmundsen is the kid-tech columnist for the Gannett News Service and USA Today.com, and is also the editor of Computing with Kids Ezine.