Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4



Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 is a video game based on the first four installments of the Harry Potter series in a LEGO form. The game was released on June 29 2010 in the US. It was released in the UK on June 25, 2010, and was developed by Traveller's Tales, the company that is responsible for most of the recent LEGO games.

The UK PSP was delayed to July 30, 2010.

Revealed to the Public
The game was proven to be in the works by Traveler's Tales in 2009, when a Trailer was released at Nintendo's E3 conference. This trailer was one of the only sources of information about the game until another trailer was released, which actually involved gameplay and more characters including old characters like Professor McGonagall and Professor Quirrell "revived" with flesh skin. This was called a Year 1 vignette and more vignettes may come out as time goes by. Right now there are four vignettes, which are for Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, and Year 4.

Before the Year 3 vignette, the first 2 minutes of cutscenes which involved Harry arriving at number 4 Privet Drive and him gettting his letters to Hogwarts was released.

Tie in with the Sets
This game will obviously feature the minifigures from the Harry Potter sets. Before the game, sets of Harry Potter were released for the first four movies and one set came out to accompany the fifth movie. Since this game will feature the first four movies, all the sets already created could be implemented into the game, although if a game with all the movies implemented would not have source material for the the Deathly Hallows, as it hasn't even been released yet.

Revival of the Franchise
No sets were released for the theme since 2007, and only one set was released for the Order of the Phoenix. No sets have been created for the most recent movie, the Half-Blood Prince. This caused many people to believe the LEGO Harry Potter franchise was over. This video game is considered a revival of the Harry Potter franchise and more new sets will be released later in 2010.

Development and Distribution
The game is being developed by the well-known LEGO game developers, Traveller's Tales and TT Fusion for the handheld versions. Traveler's Tales was responsible for the development of all four LEGO Star Wars games, two LEGO Indiana Jones games, and the LEGO Batman game. If Traveler's Tales will use their usual format for the game, which is a free roaming hub, and a combination of beat-em up and puzzle gameplay, will appear is unknown, but very likely.

The game is being published and distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which now owns Traveler's Tales, will be partly responsible for the distribution and publishing. They have already published many LEGO games, including LEGO Batman: The Video Game, LEGO Battles, and LEGO Rock Band.

Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to LEGO Indiana Jones. In the first level, The Leaky Cauldron, Harry can't use magic yet because he doesn't have a wand but Rubeus Hagrid can since he is an experienced wizard. All Harry is able to do is smash objects by rolling into them until he learns his first spell at Hogwarts.

The game uses the new split-screen introduced in Lego Indiana Jones II: The Adventure Continues and is a co-op game, similar to all other Traveller's Tales Lego video games. The new split-screen is a moving division on the screen in relation to where the characters are in the level. This makes finding your partner much easier than a stationary horizontal or vertical dividing line.

The Hogwarts castle from the game is notably the biggest Lego video game environment ever created. There are many areas to explore, including the Great Hall, the covered bridge, Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms, the courtyard, the quidditch field, Hagrid's hut, and more. Players can go to classes to learn new spells to advance to new areas in Hogwarts. An example would be if an area is covered by Mandrakes, the player might not be able to get to that place in Year 1, but after you have covered that Herbology lesson, you can get through there because you have learned how to get past them.

Potion-making is another vital gameplay feature. If there is a cauldron nearby you must collect the right ingredients to put in it. If you collect the right ones, you get a reward or advance in the level. If you get it wrong you could likely to be turned into a frog.

As with all schools, there are other students at Hogwarts who you can practice your defensive spells on. For instance, in the Gryffindor common room you might find a student sleeping on a couch. Zap the couch and the child is eaten up and then belched out. But you can't do this with just anyone. Zap Professor Snape and you might be turned into a frog again.

The moving pictures on the walls can usually be zapped to help you, and many other things in Hogwarts can be enlisted to help you as well, usually quite comically.

(Please note: There are 2 hubs instead of 1. They are: Hogwarts and Diagon Alley)

Console versions
Naturally, the console versions of the game have sold quite well due to the number of Lego and Harry Potter fans, so the number of copies are very high and popular.

Windows version
Not as popular as the console versions, the PC port of the game is sometimes reported to have a few bugs reducing the speed and graphics, or even crash. The player might even be unable to run the program. Mainly due to this, the PC port of Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 was abandoned by players as problematic, and as a result, the number of copies for Windows is very low.

Portable versions
The portable versions of the game are not as good as the console versions, due to Lego games on the DS having poor graphics and a few bugs, like the Windows version.

List of Characters
If a * is next to the name of the character, that character is playable.

The trio

 * Harry Potter* (Muggle Clothes, Hogwarts, Quidditch, Triwizard, Yule Ball Tuxedo (Only on Consoles and Windows versions), Pajamas (Only on Consoles and Windows versions), Girl Disguise (Only on Consoles and Windows versions), and Slytherin Disguise (polyjuice potion and only on Consoles and Windows versions)


 * Hermione Granger* (Muggle Clothes, Hogwarts, Yule Ball Dress (Only on Consoles and Windows versions), and as a Cat polyjuice potion and only on Consoles and Windows version)


 * Ron Weasley* (Muggle Clothes, Hogwarts, Pajamas(Only on Consoles and Windows version), Yule Ball Tuxedo (Only on Consoles and Windows verisons), Girl Disguise (Only on Consoles and Windows versions), and Slytherin Disguise (polyjuice potion and only on Consoles and Windows versions)

Hogwarts Staff

 * Professor Dumbledore* (Red/Grey Robes)
 * Professor McGonagall* (Cat Animagus)
 * Professor Snape*
 * Professor Flitwick*
 * Professor Sprout*
 * Rubeus Hagrid*
 * Madam Hooch*
 * Professor Quirrell* (Voldemort)
 * Professor Lockhart* (Green Robes)
 * Professor Lupin* (Can transform into a Werewolf)
 * Professor Moody*
 * Professor Vector*
 * Professor Sinistra*
 * Professor Trelawney*
 * Professor Binns*
 * Unidentified Female Professor

Other staff

 * Argus Filch* (can control Mrs. Norris)
 * Madam Pince*
 * Madam Pomfrey*
 * Sorting Hat

Students

 * Gryffindor house


 * Neville Longbottom* (Available with Hogwarts uniform or pajamas)
 * Seamus Finnigan*
 * Dean Thomas*
 * Parvati Patil* (Available with Hogwarts uniform and Yule Ball dress)
 * Percy Weasley* (Available with muggle or prefect clothes)
 * Ginny Weasley* (Available with muggle or Hogwarts uniform)
 * Fred Weasley* (Available with muggle clothes, Hogwarts uniform and Quidditch uniform)
 * George Weasley* (Available with muggle clothes, Hogwarts uniform and Quidditch uniform)
 * Oliver Wood*
 * Katie Bell*
 * Angelina Johnson*
 * Alicia Spinnet*
 * Lee Jordan*
 * Colin Creevey*
 * Gryffindor Boy*
 * Gryffindor Girl*
 * Gryffindor Prefect*


 * Slytherin house


 * Draco Malfoy* (Available with muggle clothes, Quidditch uniform and Hogwarts uniform)
 * Vincent Crabbe* (Available with muggle clothes and Hogwarts uniform)
 * Gregory Goyle* (Available with muggle clothes and Hogwarts uniform)
 * Millicent Bulstrode*
 * Marcus Flint*
 * Slytherin boy*
 * Slytherin girl*
 * Slytherin prefect*


 * Ravenclaw house


 * Padma Patil* (Available in Hogwarts uniform and Yule Ball dress)
 * Cho Chang*
 * Penelope Clearwater*
 * Ravenclaw boy*
 * Ravenclaw girl*
 * Ravenclaw prefect*


 * Hufflepuff house


 * Cedric Diggory* (Available in muggle clothes, Hogwarts uniform, First Task uniform, Second Task uniform and Third Task uniform)
 * Justin Finch-Fletchley*
 * Susan Bones*
 * Ernie Macmillan*
 * Hannah Abbott*
 * Hufflepuff boy*
 * Hufflepuff girl*
 * Hufflepuff prefect*

Order of the Phoenix

 * Sirius Black* (can transform into his animagus dog form)
 * Arthur Weasley*
 * Molly Weasley*

Lord Voldemort, his Death Eaters and followers

 * Lord Voldemort* (Available in Quirrell version and final form)
 * Tom Riddle* (16 year old Hogwarts student)
 * Lucius Malfoy*
 * Peter Pettigrew* (can transform into his animagus rat form, Scabbers)
 * Walden Macnair*
 * Barty Crouch Jr.*
 * Death Eater*

Ministry of Magic

 * Cornelius Fudge*
 * Barty Crouch Sr.*
 * Amos Diggory*

Diagon Alley and Leaky Cauldron

 * Ollivander*
 * Tom*
 * Doris Crockford*
 * Madam Malkin*

Hogsmeade

 * Madam Rosmerta*
 * Shrunken Heads

Knight Bus

 * Ernie Prang*
 * Stan Shunpike*

Hogwarts Express

 * Trolley Witch*

Other

 * Rita Skeeter*
 * Dragon keeper*
 * Witch* (Available in white and grey)
 * Wizard* (Available in red and green)
 * Shifty wizard*
 * Boy*
 * Girl*

Beauxbatons

 * Fleur Delacour* (Available in Beauxbatons uniform, First Task uniform, Second Task uniform and Third Task uniform)
 * Gabrielle Delacour*
 * Madam Maxime
 * Beauxbatons student

Durmstrang

 * Viktor Krum* (Available in Durmstrang uniform, First Task uniform, Shark form and Third Task uniform)
 * Professor Karkaroff*
 * Durmstrang Student*

Ghosts

 * Moaning Myrtle* (Available in Hogwarts uniform and swimsuit)
 * Nearly Headless Nick*
 * The Grey Lady*
 * Fat Friar*
 * Bloody Baron*
 * Peeves* (Only playable in DS versions)
 * James Potter*
 * Lily Evans*
 * Professor Binns*

Muggles

 * Vernon Dursley*
 * Petunia Dursley*
 * Dudley Dursley*
 * Marjorie Dursley
 * Mr. Mason*
 * Mrs. Mason*
 * Milkman*
 * Station guard*
 * Guitarist*
 * Drummer*
 * Bassist*
 * Vocalist*

Creatures

 * Fang*
 * Dobby*
 * Griphook*
 * Hedwig
 * Mrs. Norris*
 * Fawkes
 * Firenze
 * Mountain Troll
 * Security troll
 * Boggart
 * Whomping Willow
 * Dementor
 * Hungarian Horntail
 * Swedish Short-Snout
 * Chinese Fireball
 * Common Welsh Green
 * Basilisk
 * Acromantula
 * Crookshanks*
 * Norbert
 * Buckbeak*
 * Cornish Pixie
 * Bowtruckle
 * Mandrake
 * Trevor*
 * Giant Squid
 * Scabbers*
 * Aragog
 * Werewolf*
 * Devil's Snare (As an enemy)
 * Gargoyle
 * Goblin
 * Gnome
 * Sphinx
 * Grindylow
 * Mermaid

The Sorcerer's Stone
The Magic Begins

Out of the Dungeon

A Jinxed Broom

The Restricted Section

The Forbidden Forest

The Face of the Enemy

The Chamber of Secrets
Floo Powder

Dobby's Plan

Crabbe and Goyle

Tom Riddle's Diary

Follow the Spiders

The Basilisk

Prisoner of Azkaban
News from Azkaban

Hogsmeade

Mischief Managed

The Shrieking Shack

Dementor's Kiss

The Dark Tower

The Goblet of Fire
The Quidditch World Cup

Dragons

The First Task

The Secret of the Egg

The Black Lake

The Dark Lord Returns

Bonus Levels
Harry's Destiny

Classrooms

 * Charms Classroom. There are two classrooms: one for the Wingardium Leviosa spell lesson and another for the Lumos spell lesson.
 * Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom. There are two classrooms: one for the Immobulus and Riddikulus spells, and another for the Patronus and Reducto spell lessons.
 * Transfiguration Classroom which also contains a practice room.
 * Potions Classroom
 * Hogwarts greenhouses/Herbology Classroom
 * Divination Classroom
 * Care of Magical Creatures
 * Flying Courtyard

Common rooms

 * Ravenclaw Tower
 * Slytherin Dungeon
 * Hufflepuff Basement
 * Gryffindor Tower

Other places

 * Great Hall
 * Headmaster's office
 * Library and Restricted Section
 * Mirror of Erised room / Storage Room
 * Clock Tower and Clock Tower Courtyard
 * Owlery
 * Hospital wing
 * One-Eyed Witch Passage
 * Third Floor Corridor
 * Grand Staircase
 * Second-floor girls' lavatory
 * Chamber of Secrets
 * Middle Courtyard
 * Prefects' Bathroom
 * Muggle Studies Classroom

Hogwarts Grounds

 * Hogwarts Lake
 * Hagrid's hut
 * Quidditch pitch
 * Stone circle
 * Greenhouses
 * Covered Bridge

Hogsmeade

 * Honeydukes
 * Shrieking Shack
 * The Three Broomsticks
 * Hogsmeade Station

Other magical places

 * Diagon Alley
 * Ollivander's Wand Shop
 * Gringotts
 * Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions
 * Flourish and Blotts
 * Eeylops Owl Emporium
 * Leaky Cauldron
 * Knockturn Alley
 * King's Cross Station/Platform 9 and 3/4
 * The Burrow
 * Mr. Roberts's campsite

Muggle places

 * Little Whinging
 * Privet Drive
 * Hing's Cross Station
 * Hut-on-the-Rock
 * London
 * Godric's Hallow (The Potter House)

Vehicles

 * Flying Ford Anglia
 * Light-blue flying scooter
 * Broomsticks
 * Firebolt
 * Knight Bus
 * The Dursley Car

Taught spells

 * Reducto
 * Lumos
 * Lumos Solem
 * Wingardium Leviosa (can be upgraded by purchasing Accio)
 * Incendio (DS version only)
 * Immobulus
 * Reparo (DS version only)
 * Aresto Momentum (DS version only)
 * Expecto Patronum
 * Expelliarmus
 * Riddikulus
 * Transfiguration spell

Spells bought in Diagon Alley

 * Flipendo
 * Rictusempra
 * Stupefy
 * Locomotor Mortis
 * Glacius
 * Slugulus Eructo
 * Multicorfors
 * Entomorphis
 * Tarantallegra
 * Redactum Skullus
 * Colovaria
 * Calvorio
 * Anteoculatia
 * Herbifors
 * Incarcerous
 * Trip Jinx
 * Engorgio Skullus
 * Accio

Dark spells

 * Avada Kedavra
 * Crucio