Young teens Harry Potter and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their third year of study. In the darkest Harry Potter tale yet, they are plunged into the mystery surrounding Sirius Black, who has recently escaped from the infamous wizard prison Azkaban. Features Play as Harry, Ron and Hermione - Change among characters at almost any time as you work with your friends to unlock the secrets of Hogwarts Face the Dementors, the dreaded Azkaban guards Connectivity - Connect to the Game Boy Advance to look after and race your own owl with the Owl Care Kit Fly Buckbeak the Hippogriff around the towers of Hogwarts and use his immense strength Unlock the Marauder's Map to help you explore more of Hogwarts than ever before Unlock three minigames: Dueling Club, Owl Racing and Hippogriff Flight Challenge All New Spells - Freeze fire-breathing enemies with Hermione's Glacius and conjure a Patronus At the heart of the story is the enigmatic -- and fearsome -- Sirius Black. A convicted killer, Sirius has escaped from Azkaban prison and is headed straight for Hogwarts -- and Harry. However, the Dementors who guard Azkaban prison are pursuing Sirius. These wraithlike creatures have an overwhelming effect on Harry. Whenever a Dementor is near, Harry loses consciousness. In addition to dealing with the Dementors and Sirius Black, Harry, Ron and Hermione have their own fires to put out at Hogwarts. Whether it's looking out for Malfoy or making it to class on time, the trio never lack for adventure. All for One and One for All The most welcome innovation this time around is three-companion gameplay, which nicely captures the sense of camaraderie that's so integral to the series. Most of the time you can freely switch control among Harry, Ron, and Hermione, utilizing each character's unique attributes and spells to solve team-based puzzles and progress through the game. The friends must stand on levers to make platforms rise or stairways appear. Sometimes, two will have to heft a big crate onto a lever. Longtime gamers may be reminded of the Super NES game The Lost Vikings in which you must manipulate three characters to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. However, the assignment of individual skills in Azkaban feels arbitrary. Harry carries the map and can jump farther than the others, while Ron can find hidden passages and items and Hermione can master spells better than the boys. But on the third day, for no reason that's obvious, the developers decided to usher Hermione offstage and give Ron the Lumos Duo spell. The game is divided into days. Starting in the Gryffindor dormitory, Harry, Hermione and Ron venture out to explore Hogwarts, attend classes, learn new skills and more. Of course, he's typically sidetracked by adventures. In the game's very first scene -- aboard the Hogwarts Express, Professor Lupin comes to the friends' rescue when they're attacked by Dementors -- you'll receive the Folio Bruti, which displays info on magical creatures. Throughout the game, you'll have to collect the folio's missing pages. You also collect Collector's Cards, which are organized into sets. You'll earn a special reward for each complete set. Early on, for example, one set boosts Hermoine's health. Collect Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans to spend at Fred and George's Shop on the sixth floor. A Handsomer Harry Potter Graphically the game continues the progress from the two earlier Harry Potter console games, with more detailed models in the many cut-scenes and more spectacular particle effects. Hair -- always a big challenge -- is particularly convincing. Battling opponents also received an upgrade over previous Harry Potter games. Graphically, there's much more going on and more color is involved. When Harry casts Flipendo, for example, he can target on an opponent, then the blue streak of Flipendo sails across the room and explodes like fireworks on his opponent. Each character can cast two spells assigned to the X and Y buttons. To cast a third spell, you would need to unequip one spell and equip a new one. Most of the time, however, you won't need more than two spells. The tutorial is integrated nicely into the gameplay, but be warned that the difficulty level ramps up sharply on the third day, when Harry and Ron must save Neville from a ghoul. Because the map lacks detail, you'll do a lot of repetitive exploring in the first few days. Purchase the Owl Care Kit from Fred and George's shop for 50 beans, then link to your Prisoner of Azkaban Game Pak to unlock your very own owl. Feed, groom, exercise, pet and teach your owl, then upload it to the GCN game to participate in owl races. Bottom Line The three-character gameplay is a terrific enhancement -- and just in time. With Sirius on the loose and headed to Hogwarts, Harry needs all the help he can get!