Quidditch, the broomstick and ball “sport” of the Harry Potter world comes to life in this simulation. For those unfamiliar with the game, two seven-player teams of flying wizards attempt to score goals with one ball while dodging more flying balls and each other. For those who are familiar with the game, you will be happy to know that the players, positions, and “strategies” of Quidditch are faithfully recreated.

The game starts with a player selecting which of the four Hogwarts school teams he or she wishes to play for. Following some tutorial events, they are launched into the competition for the Hogwarts Cup against the other three teams. As the player wins games and completes specific challenges (such as “score 120 points in one game”) they collect Quidditch cards which unlock special combo moves. Once a player has won the school championship, they can go on to play as one of nine international teams competing for the Quidditch World Cup each with its own style and special combo moves. After winning the cup once, there are still more cards to be collected by playing and winning as different teams.

People familiar with actual sports know that the rules of Quidditch (as described in Rowlings' books) are fundamentally flawed and that the only meaningful part of the game is the 1 on 1 competition between the two seekers trying to catch the golden snitch. Quidditch World Cup alleviates this problem with the “golden snitch bar”. As the game progresses, completing action combos and performing special moves adds to a team progress bar. Eventually, when the snitch appears, the team with better positioning on the bar will start with an advantage in the chase. Ironically, this system rewards things other than actual scoring so in-game goals still remain mostly meaningless (except on lower difficulty levels where it is very easy to build a 160+ point lead and make the snitch inconsequential).

Because it is designed for younger audiences, Quidditch World Cup lacks most of the advanced features you would expect in an EA sports game (league play, team management, etc…). It also lacks any multiplayer options other than two-player (same machine) exhibition matches

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Screenshots

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup Windows Accomplishing specific tasks earns Quidditch cards.

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup Windows Team USA congratulates themselves after scoring on the Austrailian's field.

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup Windows The title page and a view of the Hogwarts field.

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup Windows Despite being outscored by 330 points, the red team has a much better chance of catching the snitch because it pulled off more combo moves.

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Promo Images

Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup Screenshot

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Trailer

Alternate Titles

"哈利·波特：魁地奇世界杯" -- Simplified Chinese spelling
"הארי פוטר: קווידיץ' - הגביע העולמי" -- Hebrew spelling
"Harry Potter World Cup" -- Japanese title
"Harry Potter: WK Zwerkbal" -- Dutch title
"Harry Potter: Världsmästerskapen i Quidditch" -- Swedish title
"Harry Potter: Rumpeldunk Verdensmesterskap" -- Norwegian title
"Harry Potter: Quidditch Weltmeisterschaft" -- German title
"Harry Potter: Quidditch copa del mundo" -- Spanish title
"Harry Potter: Mistrzostwa świata w quidditchu" -- Polish title
"Harry Potter: Kviddics Világkupa " -- Hungarian title
"Harry Potter: Coupe du monde de quidditch" -- French title
"Harry Potter: Copa Mundial de Quadribol" -- Brazilian title
"해리포터 퀴디치 월드 컵" -- Korean spelling

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Part of the Following Groups

User Reviews

Somebody deserves a raise	GameCube	Asinine (1006)

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Critic Reviews

GamerDad	GameCube	Dec 10, 2003		80
IGN	PlayStation 2	Oct 27, 2003	7.2 out of 10	72
IGN	Xbox	Oct 27, 2003	7.2 out of 10	72
Netjak	PlayStation 2	Dec 08, 2003	7.1 out of 10	71
Boomtown	Windows	Dec 25, 2003	7 out of 10	70
contactmusic.com	Xbox	Nov 25, 2003	7 out of 10	70
PC Jeux	Windows	Jan, 2004	65 out of 100	65
GameSpot	PlayStation 2	Nov 12, 2003	6.5 out of 10	65
Joypad	PlayStation 2	Dec, 2003	6 out of 10	60
Jeuxvideo.com	Windows	Nov 12, 2003	12 out of 20	60