Anki Drive Starter Kit Smart Robot Car Racing Game (Electronic Games)

I first found out about Anki Drive from the keynote speech at the Apple event last year. I thought it looked pretty good, and decided to take a punt on it as a Christmas present for my ten-year-old son. I wasn't necessarily expecting it to be the "main event" as he was also lucky enough to get a large Lego set, but it was the star present, by far!The set comes with two cars, chargers for the cars, the starter track, and the box doubles as a case for when the set is not in use. It is very neat: everything is well packaged, well made, and feels "high end". The app (we were using iPhones and iPads to control the cars) is free to download, and is equally clever, well presented, and easy to get to grips with.The game itself is a cross between Scalextric and a computer driving game. The cars (all of which are different) whiz around the track - you steer on the track, but the cars are smart enough to not crash off the track. You also control the throttle. What makes the game special, though, is the link to the app and the virtual upgrades you can buy when you have enough points - points are earned by playing and winning. You can choose your character, choose which AI characters to race against (the AI will control any spare cars with a unique personality). You can buy engine upgrades (your car will go faster), weaponry (such as tractor beams to slow your opponent, or virtual guns to blast them). You can buy shields for defence, and a multitude of other items too. I can't stress how much interactivity and competition this adds to the game - we also bought an extra car, so we took it turns all through Christmas to race each other, blast each others' cars, and we generally and a fantastic time! It became very noisy, very competitive, and just huge fun.Others cars are available too, all of which have something unique about them. Other tracks are starting to become available too. With potential app upgrades, I can really see how this game can have a future long beyond Christmas.This is one of the very best new toys I have seen come onto the market. It's a very clever combination of computer game and physical game, and a great opportunity for family interaction. Needless to say, we loved it and I am sure we will invest more into new cars and tracks. I can't recommend highly enough!

This is an amazing gadget - I loved it from the start. All worked fine as promised. My son (9) and I had lots of hours of fun with this from the start. Got for some extra cars, though, because it`s not that much fun when you`ve to wait to load the buggers after 15 or so minutes.Given the cars` orientation is based on a structure on the surface of the track, handle it like you`d handle screen for projector. Don`t walk on it, only clean it with smooth tissue. My track got a rubber scratch from a rubber shoe sole, and it took some time to get this off. When a car hit that scratch, it started circling like hell. I don`t see that as a flaw, though. The four starts result from me only giving five if I had an actual issue that was then handled, properly.

Purchased this as a Christmas present for my son (and me), and it has not failed to impress anyone who has played it (even the notoriously sceptical wife which surprised even me!).Got it to replace an ageing scalextric system as I thought it would be more interactive (it is) and require less setting up (it possibly needs a little more - see below).PROs=====Really interactive, plays like a computer game as it allows you to 'upgrade' the cars using points you earn racingAllows you to race up to 4 cars (either human or computer based)Wide range of modes including team, solo, race and battleReally clever technology - each car has a downward facing camera that 'reads' the track to know where it isCan be used by a very young audience (my son is 3 and a half)Can set up track quicklyCONS=====Expensive (not for what it is, just in general). £99 would be a fairer price. Cars and additional track also too expensiveTrack and cars need a lot of maintenance to ensure they remain clear of dust particles - not trick, just time consumingBatteries only last about 25 minutes (but only take 8 minutes to charge and multi charger is included so not all bad)Only one track layout included and cannot change it as per scalextric - additional layouts can be purchased howeverRequires an iDevice for each human racerGeneral comments===============While this is more interactive (IMHO) than a standard scalextric, it works differently. First off the cars actually (rather amazingly) drive themselves around the track. The 'driver' is in charge of speed, position on track and weaponry. While it is easy to pick up and play, it does take time to master which is good. No two races are the same and the speed is impressive.My son is too young to understand all aspects of the game, however he can play it himself at the basic level which is amazing when you think about it - this is testament to the technology employed in both the hardware and software side of things.My only bug bear is that as a lot of the technology is in the track itself it does need to be treated very very carefully to keep it free from dust, dirt and damage. I have found you need to clean before and after playing to get best results - and if you do this you can have hours of fun.Recommended as a more technologically advanced version of slot racing. I am sure purists would disagree, but personally I prefer this approach to scalextric.

The Game is fantastic but Anki support is shocking. We have a problem setting up the much needed Anki account to save our data but this no longer works and you taken to the new Anki overdrive site to show you what you should have bought. This is something they have been unable to resolve so don't expect to use this to its full potential if you buy one.