I'm going to get it out of the way immediately, the cliché that so often appears in a review of a Harry Potter game. However, I'm going to have to use it in the negative on this occasion, because Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on DS is not magic.

Whereas a lot of reviews I've read of the book have said it's one of the worst, I have to say it's my second favourite of the series so far, with a dictatorial teacher you love to hate and enough teenage angst to fill up many naff teenage magazines. Sadly, my enjoyment of the book does not spread to the DS game. Where the book has taken inspiration from real life, with its inept politicians and ministers, the game has taken its cue from earlier movie spin-offs in its quality. I can't help feeling this is just a cash-in to squeeze as much out of consumers - i.e. parents who are obliged to buy it for their children - before the magic wears off.

As Harry Potter begins his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, he's facing more persecution than ever. Since he related to his Headmaster and mentor, Professor Dumbledore, the events that occurred earlier in the year, when he witnessed Lord Voldemort - He Who Must Not Be Named - return to power, killing fellow student Cedric Diggory in the process, things have gone from bad to worse. The insecure Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, refuses to believe that You Know Who could have returned and he's been leaning on the Daily Prophet newspaper to print endless articles about how Harry is an unstable, attention-seeking liar. And now he's forced Dumbledore to appoint the vicious Dolores Umbridge as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. As well as torturing Harry with horrible punishments in detention, she soon declares herself the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts and brings forth endless decrees that slowly rob Harry of everything he loves about being at school. Harry's only joy now comes from the secret classes he runs, to train a handful of his peers in practical Defence Against the Dark Arts, while Voldemort's plans continue to unfold unchallenged, despite the best efforts of the recently re-established Order of the Phoenix, the covert group of wizards and witches who fought Voldemort during his previous reign of terror. Unfortunately, there's not enough time to explain all this in the game, so if you haven't read the book the accompanying cut scenes won't mean a lot to you.

The signs aren't good as the game bursts into life with the familiar Harry Potter film score. Sure, it sets the scene and gets you in the mood, but the game deserves something more than a heavily synthesized piece of MIDI. I don't expect full orchestral quality on the DS, but there's been better music in other games and there's no excuse for something so grating to the ears. I found - as the game commenced - my fingers constantly itching for the volume slider. After a smattering of stills introducing the game, you're delivered to a sparse menu that gives you the choice of single or multiplayer. The next thing you learn is that it's mind-numbingly easy. Yes, it's obviously targeted at the kids, but there's no excuse for giving them a dumbed-down version of the old movie tie-in staple of collect-them-all, except in this case it's run-around. Honestly, if real school kids did as much running about in real life as the characters do in this game then obesity would be no problem whatsoever. The game constantly acts like a nanny, holding your hand as you play; the tasks are confirmed on the top screen and for most of the time a hand points you in the direction you need to go, even if it does occasionally suffer from spasms.

Hogwarts itself is massive and well detailed; the developers have done a really good job of matching the look and size of Hogwarts, down to its paintings, moving staircases and characters. Sadly, when the direction you need to go in is constantly pointed at, it's not rewarding to wander from the set path. And, boy, is it a set path. The formula consists of receiving a task, then run to the other end of Hogwarts, complete the task and are then given another one, invariably back to the opposite side of the school.

The tasks themselves aren't too bad, but they do get repetitive after a while. There is a mixture of casting spells, duelling, mini-games and Quidditch. These will crop up at various times but, and this is a nice but not that original touch, you can play them at any point via the Gryffindor common room. Completing them rewards you with screenshots from the movie, which are actually very high resolution for a DS screen, although they're not exactly riveting stuff. You can also get unlockables by collecting chocolate frogs and other things dotted around the castle, which are usually on the paths you are travelling anyway.

The first of these games, casting spells, consists of drawing shapes on the touch screen and then pressing certain sections of the screen, tying in with the exams that Harry sits in the book by giving you a pass mark. There's also a good Cooking Mama style addition of Potions classes, where you have to drag ingredients into a cauldron as you stir it and blow into the microphone to heat it up. It's not amazing, but it's a good addition that breaks up the game. These spells occur in lessons, exams and during other tasks.

Duelling is sadly not as exciting as it sounds. As you enter a duel, the DS screens shift so you have to look at it in its book form. You have to click on an opponent, click on a character and choose a spell, which you have to draw on the touch screen and takes longer depending on your character's skills, which can be improved through meetings in the Room of Requirement (where Harry's secret classes take place) where more similar practicing occurs. Once you've carried out an attack, you then repeat it. And repeat it. It's good fun initially, but gets boring quite quickly.

This sums up the game quite aptly. There are strokes of genius in the mini-games, but they are overused. Clicking on plant pots when they flash to make them grow isn't exactly taxing, but it's fun. Then you have to do it seven times. Twice, yes. Three times, possibly. But seven times - it's called milking it. There are nice tasks that break up the usual running around, such as climbing a building, though it's just window dressing for a task that's once more just clicking on certain buttons. At least it's a blessing that the touch controls work well.

Quidditch also makes an appearance and there's a reasonable take on it. Think football simulator but on broomsticks, with a circle showing which character you're playing. You can pass the quaffle, dodge tackles and call on other players to fire bludgers at the opposition, as well as scoring goals. After a certain length of time the golden Snitch is caught and the team with the most points wins, which makes me scratch my head, as in the book either team can catch it and win. I know it's only a mini-game, but it just seems a silly absence. Overall, the Quidditch game is well implemented but it's often difficult to see on the small screen and confusing on how to score goals.

Which brings me back around to the graphics of the game. Firstly, I am amazed by how much of Hogwarts has been crammed onto the game cartridge, as it's huge and relatively detailed, with a frame rate that manages to stay at a good speed. The likenesses of the real actors both as playable characters and as stills when speaking is really well done, even though it's only the mouths of the stills characters that move when they're speaking (for speaking, read annoyingly slow one-liners of text), making it look like the Monty Python animator has invaded Hogwarts. However, the AI in the game can be frustrating. Duels aren't exactly difficult and Ron and Hermione, who often follow you around, sometimes get stuck in the scenery or get in your way when you're trying to move, which can be frustrating. Sometimes pressing one direction on the D-pad will make you continue to go forward; sometimes you will get trapped between rooms as you keep flicking between them as the viewing angle - and most importantly walking direction - changes. Combine that with being trapped behind Ron Weasley and with a directional hand waving about like a lunatic, and you can probably see how frustrating the game can be.

Sometimes the graphics don't help. Often it's tricky to see a character or staircase on screen, though the extra brightness of the DS Lite is of benefit to those who own it. One way I found to make navigating the game easier is to hold the stylus in my right hand and move the characters using the D-pad with my left. Using the touch screen is much easier than trying to get into exactly the right position to speak with someone or interact with an object. The game seems very fussy about where you stand.

Whilst reviewing this game and letting out groans of annoyance at some points and gritting my teeth at the irritating synthesized music, I was reminded by my parents that it's game for younger children and I should put myself into the shoes of a seven-year-old. Avoiding the argument that after ten years since the first book, Harry Potter has a market bigger with teenagers, I decided that, yes, I shall pretend to be much younger.

That's when I realised that it would be even worse. I don't mind playing a game where you have to follow a linear path and constantly walk from one side of the castle to another and complete repetitive tasks. Well, when I say don't mind, I mean I can tolerate it. But a seven-year-old, with less patience, surely will not enjoy it. Like myself, they will find much to enjoy with the mini-games and small snippets of screenshots, but the simplicity of the tasks, the amount of moving about between tasks and the general lack of imagination in the core gameplay will probably put them off. I feel the only appeal the game will offer to them is the fact that it's to do with Harry Potter.

Plot-wise, the game regurgitates just the bare bones of the Order of the Phoenix story so, though I think the storyline can just about be followed, it's likely that someone unfamiliar with the book - if there is anyone left - will struggle to understand it. When a whole chapter of the book is compressed to walking five metres in-game and looking at five screenshots, with stilted speech, it's easy to get confused about what's going on.

As for the multiplayer, it's basically two-player versions of games such as Exploding Snap and Gobstones. They're not as addictive or interesting as the mini-games in New Super Mario Bros or 42 All-Time Classics, but they will keep Harry Potter fans interested for a while, even if they are just branded pastiches of lawn bowls and find the hidden card. Once you've completed the game, there are a few things to collect to make sure you have all the screenshots, so unless you're a big fan or like games to be 100% complete, the lifespan is not promising.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix could have been so much better - the graphics are pretty good, the sound is passable but grates quickly and the mini-games are fun for a short while. However, the gameplay is tedious, the AI is glitchy and the plotline and speech are compressed. If the designers had put as much thought into the main game as they did the mini-games then it could have been fantastic. By all means get this if you're a Harry Potter fan or someone who loves movie tie-ins, but if there's an option I think you'll be better off with one of the other versions. Let's just hope the next game, like the titular Phoenix, rises from the ashes of the Order and realises its full potential.

Reviewed by Philip Lickley for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).