Hello Copter Review

Ah…now this is refreshing. Sarcastic Hedgehog’s debut game Hello Copter (out now, $0.99) is a simplistic endless side-scroller that’s perfectly happy to be a simplistic endless side-scroller; no more and no less. The game might not go out of its way to introduce any revolutionary new concepts to the genre or boast a ton of bells and whistles, but what do you know, it’s still a whole lot of honest-to-goodness fun.

Here’s the dealio: you’re tasked with piloting a cheerful whirlybird through a kooky, pastel-hued world and rescuing as many stranded birds as possible as you go in order to boost your score. The idea is, of course, to travel as far as you can without crashing and, naturally, there are also droves of outlandish baddies to be avoided and power-ups to be collected.

Hello Copter‘s high score-centric, side-scrolling gameplay is more than a tad reminiscent of Tiny Wings and its ilk but it’s none the worse for that, and accessible and intuitive, one-finger controls, beautiful visuals, and bonkers character-design amount to a title that’s bound to raise a smile from iGamers of all ages. Less impressive is the fact that, at present, Hello Copter only comes packing a solitary endless level, which seriously stymies its longevity. Sure, the main game is pretty gosh-darn addictive and I appreciate the no-frills approach, but Sarcastic Hedgehog could really do with adding a secondary level-based mode or perhaps unlockable upgrades for your chopper.

Beyond the by-now obligatory Game Center achievements and leaderboard, Hello Copter’s sole concession to gimmickry is a rather novel twist on Twitter integration, whereby opting to sign into the game using your Twitter credentials replaces the standard stranded birds with a selection of your followers instead. Neat, eh? Completists can also unlock a bonus character by following @SarcyHedgehog.

iFanzine Verdict: If you don’t mind your iOS games a little light on content, don’t let this sumptuously presented and absurdly addictive endless side-scroller fly under your radar!