If ever there was a franchise suited for a Lego computer game, it is Harry Potter. With the success of the Lego Star Wars Games as well as the Batman and Indiana Jones Lego Games anticipation was mounting as to where Lego would turn to next for inspiration, after all everyone knew Harry Potter was out of the question.

Lego apparently dropped the Harry Potter licence a few years ago after sales that were less than expected. There has always been a huge amount of love for Harry Potter but somehow the sales of Harry Potter lego never quite lived up to that of Lego's most popular theme, Star Wars. For that reason and with the films becoming darker and less kid-friendly it was widely accepted that the Hogwarts Castle set in 2007 (the only set released for the film Order Of the Phoenix) would be the last.

But then in mid 2009 there came a rumor that grew to a deafening roar before the official teaser for Harry Potter Lego Years 1-4 game was released and along with that, news that Lego would once again revisit the land of Hogwarts in all-new sets for a late 2010 release. The Lego game has finally been released and is undoubtedly the best of all Lego games to date.

Now Lego have released Harry Potter games before, but these are really best forgotten and bear no resemblance to the latest release. Learning from the success of the Lego Star Wars games, the new Harry Potter Lego game is alot of fun rather than the frustration of earlier Harry Potter releases.

In Harry Potter Lego years 1-4 is available for Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii and the PC. It allows players to explore the locations and experience the major events of the first four books, with Hogwarts and surroundings being the center of the game. If you think back

over the first four books there is alot to great source material for an exciting game experience.

Most of the time you control Harry, Ron or Hermione and unlike Star Wars where the major mode of interaction is a gun or lightsaber, this game's focus on casting spells with a wand is a major boon for parents whose kids are interested in the game but concerned about violence in computer games. Each character has a unique possession that can help solve puzzles; Harry has his invisibility cloak while Ron has his pet rat, Scabbers and Hermione has a spellbook.

There is much humor in the game and many inside jokes in the cut scenes for those that know the books and films well. Overall a great game for fans of Lego but doubly so for fans of the books as well.