For more on LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, check out our full LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 review. Or, for more of the best Nintendo Wii games for an 8 year old, why not try our Family Game Finder
What is Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4?
An adorable Lego-isation of the first four Harry Potter films, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4 is a magical adventure that takes in lessons, wizarding fun and of course, sinister face-offs with You Know Who, as happened in Harry, Ron and Hermione's first four years at Hogwarts. Whether you're begrudgingly suffering through potions with Snape, singing Fluffy a lullaby or flying through the skies on your Nimbus 2000, Lego Harry Potter is full of magical fun for all ages, fans and muggles alike.
How do you play Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4?
As with previous entries in the Lego series, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4 sees you enemy bashing, furniture smashing and puzzle solving your way through levels based on the key moments from the first four books/films. Generally involving locating a switch to open a locked door, rebuilding Lego bricks into something useful or clever use of a particular potion, puzzles are pretty straightforward. Whether playing with a friend in same-console co-op, or with a computer controlled partner, different characters have different sets of abilities, and only by combining them will you be able to solve the puzzles to proceed - perhaps using Hermione's book smarts to crack a code on a locked cupboard, chatting with a snake as Harry or employing Hagrid's super strength to lift and move heavy objects.
How easy is Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4 to pick up and play?
With little in the way of reading - all scenes are told through a mixture of pointing, shrugs and slapstick humour - Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 - 4 is a pretty safe bet, even for those who can't read yet. About the only real difficulties stems from making sure you're using the right character with the right abilities in the right situations, something which the game is all too quick to prompt you with - use the wrong guy or guyette, and you'll hear a 'bonk' noise, accompanied by a flashing mugshot of the correct one, so you know who to change to.
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 is rated as a 7+ for violence and fear. Violence in LEGO games is pretty much non-existent - you can punch/cast spells at enemies (which involves shooting sparks in their general direction), but when they die, they just explode into a pile of bricks, which then just fade away - so nothing that bad there. It's on a par with Tom and Jerry and other cartoons your children will have undoubtedly seen. Fear might be a bit more of a concern, however, particularly if you have an easily scared child, although there doesn't seem anything too scary - nothing any worse than the other LEGO games - and that's coming from someone who used to have nightmares from the Goosebumps TV series. All the enemies don't look phenomenally threatening, and look - well - like LEGO.
Of course, you CAN play LEGO Harry Potter in single player, but that's no fun. LEGO games are MADE for co-op - a second player can drop into the game with the drop of a Sorting Hat, just by picking up a second controller and pressing and pressing the +/start button. You'll need to work together to progress through the levels, as each character has unique abilities.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Nintendo Wii
