Helicopter Taxi Review

Helicopter Taxi is a very cool app for iPhone where looking at the iphone screen enables one to see a helicopter hovering about. Walk with the iPhone and your motion, seen through the camera, will create the effect of the helicopter flying right in front of you, and the effect is incredible! Move the iPhone to different angles and watch the screen to see the co-pilots and passenger, as well as the helicopter including looking down and seeing the rotating blades, even seeing through the far window of the taxi. This all creates a wonderful 3D effect that is very eye-catching and like nothing I have seen before.

This helicopter taxi will pick up various passengers, talking them to their destination. Lay the phone on a flat surface to pick up and drop passengers. The player will be clued as to when to put the phone down, but one can also choose to drop off the passengers at will. This effect is very interesting as one looks down at the helicopter, watching the passenger enter or exit the helicopter into a specific landscape, and it is nice that different locations are included, such as beach or hospital.

it is interesting that one of the co-pilots speaks Spanish, something that I think may be confusing for younger non-Spanish speaking children; others may really want to understand what is being said. More English and less Spanish has been included in a recent update, but subtitles or the choice of English or bilingual choices can be offended as well in the future for those still confused by what they are hearing. I also wish one could understand what the passenger is saying, but I can not and I don't think this is intended. I do like, however, the inclusion of Spanish at the end of this app as one pilot says good job and see you tomorrow, this being also translated into Spanish as well by the other pilot, as these last lines can be understand in this context and the player is more focuses and not splitting their attention on walking and watching the helicopter fly.

I love the way this app looks, and it will surely delight children who are into helicopters or airplanes, or any kid for that matter. My only concern is letting my sometimes wild and often clumsy three year old son walk around with my iPhone, while paying more attention to the screen than to where he is walking. This issue aside, this app created a very unique experience that kids will really enjoy, as did my husband who has walked around our house playing with this app, getting his seal of approval as well.

Although this is a taxi, I do think some kids may just want to go on a prolonged joy-ride without any passenger pick-ups or drop-offs - something to think about for the future update.

I am going to keep an eye out for these developers at Toca Boca. They make really fun apps that don’t include keeping score but are simply fun, based on classic toys brought to life in a new way through technology. I can’t wait to see what they do next.