As I send another Bludger hurtling into a teenager's skull with a satisfying 'crack', I have to admit one thing. Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions might be shallow, kitschy, and more than a little bit repetitive once you settle on your positions-of-choice, but it is a lot of fun. It's the kind of fluffy time-filler I can see myself playing for precisely one week before putting it down again once I get sick of fake Lee Jordan and fake Rita Skeeter's commentatorship – which, trust me, I will.
For all its gimmicks and cyclicality, Harry Potter Quidditch Champions is a perfectly fine competitive multiplayer game. It's by far the best representation of the wizarding sport yet seen in video game form, broadening the scope of 2003's Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup to present its more tactical side. That said, the spit-shined magical veneer can't hide the fact that Quidditch Champions is neither the best Harry Potter game nor the best sports game of its generation – it's simply an approachable blend of the two, and it seems quite happy to occupy that space.
