Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup brings the fictional sport of Quidditch from the pages of JK Rowling's books and onto your Game Boy Advance. No longer will matches involving Snitches, Seekers, Bludgers and Beaters be restricted to your imagination. Now you can actually play a part in a Quidditch competition and take the house of Hogwarts to victory. For those who haven't the foggiest about Quidditch, then read on. Imagine football crossed with basketball, played on flying broomsticks. Each game is played on a pitch, with three hoop-shaped goals at each end. Players called Chasers can score by taking possession of the ball (or Quaffle) and throwing it into one of the goals. But there's much more to Quidditch than simply goal scoring. Two other balls, called Bludgers, are constantly on the move and will chase the player nearest to them. Thankfully, each team has Beaters, armed with bats, to keep the Bludgers at bay. Last, and definitely not least, is the Golden Snitch. If this walnut-sized winged ball is caught by a team's Seeker, it means an instant 150 points and brings the game to an end. But often, the extra points may not be enough to secure victory, so the Seeker must bide his time well. Quidditch may seem incredibly complex, but the game has been designed to be as easy to play as possible. Most of the time you'll play the part of the Chaser, tackling opponents for the Quaffle and trying to score goals. You can also play the part of the Beaters with a simple press of the R button. When the Golden Snitch is spotted, the screen switches to a Mode 7-style race against the opponent's Seeker. You must follow the Golden Snitch's trail, picking up speed boosts along the way, to grab the elusive winged ball and - hopefully - claim victory for your team. Plus, you can also play as the Seeker and Beater on the Nintendo GameCube version of Quidditch World Cup, using some clever connectivity with Game Boy Advance. You'll need both copies of the game, and a Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance cable to connect the two systems. While a friend plays on the Nintendo GameCube, you can provide some much-needed back-up as the Beater. And when a Snitch Race is activated on the GCN, it's up to you to catch the Golden Snitch, while your friend continues the game in an effort to rack up even more points. Successful Snitch-catching also rewards you with collectible Quidditch Cards, which will earn you more powerful broomsticks like the Nimbus 2001 and the almighty Firebolt. Plus, if a friend has a copy of the Game Boy Advance version, you can link your systems together and trade cards. Plus, you can also go head-to-head against a friend in the two player match mode. It goes without saying that Harry Potter fans will lap up the attention to detail in Quidditch World Cup. But it also gives those who've never read the books a chance to finally find out what Quidditch is all about.