Difference between revisions of "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends"

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Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

System(s): Sega Mega Drive

Publisher: T-HQ Software

Developer: Malibu Interactive

Licensor: The Britt Allcroft Company

Sound driver: GEMS

Genre: Action

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
US	1993-11^[1]		T-100036
US ▼ (Sega Channel)	1994-06-01^[2]	SUBsub

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends is a 1993 US-only Sega Mega Drive game starring the characters from the children's television show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends.

The game, aimed towards the preschool demographic, has players controlling several different characters from the show's universe, including Thomas, James, Percy, Toby and Duck. Edward, Henry and Gordon also appear in the game mode with Thomas and James. The original Thomas title music is played at the title screen. This game features music from the first three seasons, and all text is spoken by Craig Ewert.

Gameplay

The game has four components that make up gameplay: Game, Race, Explore and a coloring book section. At the start of the game, players are encouraged to enter their names as there engine drivers; there is a list of common names that are also selectable (Steve, Amy, Andy, et al.) for children who may not be able to write their name. From there, the player's engine is picked—choosing any of the outlined characters brings up a coloring book with pictures of each character, while selecting the colored-in Thomas skips this portion. The coloring book portion simply lets players fill in the image with various colors as opposed to any drawing.

Players can select three difficulties: easy, medium and hard, which determine the difficulty of the Game and Race modes in the main game.

Game

The main Game mode has players fulfilling requests from Sir Topham Hatt to bring various trucks scattered throughout the course to stations—depending on the difficulty set by the player, this could involve one, two or three cars and multiple stations. Players use the control arrows to navigate an engine on the tracks and to switch tracks when the path branches. Bumping into cars couples them to an engine, no matter if it's at the front or back of you. There are various candies and chocolates on the track which may be picked up for points, although points do not affect gameplay. Pressing will uncouple the trucks from an engine, starting with the outermost car. The button activates a steam engine's whistle; though it serves no purpose in-game, it creates a noise and shows a graphic of a steam engine's whistle blowing. Players who have forgot the request or need help can press to see the current objective. Hitting START allows players to either start that level over or quit.

Cars include Troublesome Trucks (mine and gravel), flat wagons (empty, logs and shape in different colors), Annie and Clarabel (who both look exactly the same).

Stations include Knapford, Dryaw, Maron, Elsbridge, Brendam, Cronk, Crewe, Barrow and Shiloh.

Once the correct cars have been brought to the station, they will be uncoupled and the mission will end and Sir Topham Hatt will praise the player's memory and/or speed, and the next request will be given. This process repeats in loop, regardless of how many missions there are.

Race

The Race game pits the player's engine against four others in a race to get to the end of the track. Two engines are set on separate tracks and will not meet each other, but players must control their engine as it races the track. Dirt patches on the track will slow an engine down and must be steered around causing an engine to give the player a sad face. Floating balloons above the track change the speed of the train; balloons with a down arrow slow an engine down and cause an engine to give the player a sad face, while balloons with the up arrow increase speed and cause an engine to give the player a happy face. Solid-colored balloons are also on the track, but seem to serve no purpose aside from making popping noises. However, they do cause an engine to give the player a happy face. There are candies and chocolates on the track that may be picked up for extra points, but these additional points do not effect gameplay. However, sometimes there might be other engines trying to ruin your race by standing in the middle of the track; running into them will cause the player's engine to give the player a surprised face, regardless of which engine they've selected at the beginning of the game (in fact, in the hard skill level, the engine they are racing against will be faster and they could easily get ahead if it happens), and they will have to wait until another engine clears the track, so they'll be lucky if you make it to the finish line first without running into anything, except balloons with up arrows. In the event the player does not win against the computer, the course may be repeated indefinitely. The first race is against Toby, the second race is against Percy, the third race is against Duck, the fourth race is against James, and the fifth race is against Thomas. (The characters often switch around depending on the engine the player chooses at the start) Winning against three engines gives the player a silver medal and winning against all five gives the player a gold medal, ending the game.

Explore

The Explore game is an open-ended world based on that of Game and Race modes. There is no stated objective; rather, players are free to roam around, picking up trucks, passing through stations and looking around the map.

Production credits

Programmed by: Randy Platt
Artists: Terry Lloyd, Jayne Shrigley
Software Produced by: Bernard Whang
Design: Randy Platt, Bernard Whang, Terry Lloyd
Additional Design: Jayne Shrigley
Software Music / SFX: Brian Howarth
Voice Talent: Craig Ewert
Additional Art: John McLaughlin, Bernard Whang, Randy Platt
Software Produced For THQ by: Howard Phillips, George Sinfield

Magazine articles

Main article: Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends/Magazine articles.

Screenshots

Selecting a train
Coloring book
Gold medal in Race
Player praise
Naming an engineer
Sir Topham Hatt's request
Selecting skill level
Edward's message
Congratulations!
Options screen

Physical scans

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

Main article: Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends/Technical information.

References

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
	Main page \| Magazine articles \| Reception \| Region coding \| Technical information No results

Thomas & Friends games for Sega systems
	Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (1993)
	Kikansha Thomas ni Notte (1995) \| Issho ni Hashirou Kikansha Thomas (1995) \| Unten Thomas Deluxe Set (2000)
	Game ga Ippai Kikansha Thomas (2005)

[:File:GamePro_US_045.pdf_p113-1] GamePro, "April 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 113

[Sega_Channel_schedule_.28US.3B_1994-06-01.29-2] Sega Channel schedule (US; 1994-06-01)

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Bob
 | bobscreen=Thomas_title.png
-| screenwidth=
+| publisher=[[T-HQ Software]]
-| title=
+| licensor=The Britt Allcroft Company
-| publisher=[[THQ]]
 | developer=[[Malibu Interactive]]
 | system=[[Sega Mega Drive]]
-| romsize=1MB
 | sounddriver=[[GEMS]]
+| peripherals=
 | players=1
 | genre=Action
-| usa=August 2, 1993
+| releases={{releasesMD
-| rrp_us=
+| md_date_us=1993-11{{magref|gamepro|45|113}}
+| md_code_us=T-100036
+| md_date_us_sc=1994-06-01{{intref|Sega Channel schedule (US; 1994-06-01)}}
+| md_rrp_us_sc=sub
+| md_rating_us_sc=
 }}
+}}
+'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is a 1993 US-only [[Sega Mega Drive]] game starring the characters from the children's television show ''[[wikipedia:Thomas and Friends|Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends]]''.
-'''''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends''''' is a 1993 US-only [[Sega Mega Drive]] game starring the characters from the children's television show ''[[wikipedia:Thomas and Friends|Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends]]''. The game, aimed towards the preschool demographic, has players controlling several different characters from the show's universe, including Thomas, Toby, Duck, James, and Percy. The original Thomas title music is played at the title screen. This game features music from Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3. All text is spoken by a male voice.
+The game, aimed towards the preschool demographic, has players controlling several different characters from the show's universe, including Thomas, James, Percy, Toby and Duck. Edward, Henry and Gordon also appear in the ''game'' mode with Thomas and James. The original Thomas title music is played at the title screen. This game features music from the first three seasons, and all text is spoken by Craig Ewert.
 ==Gameplay==
-The game has four components that make up gameplay: Game, Race, Explore and a coloring book section. At the start of the game, players are encouraged to enter their names as the conductor of the train; there is a list of common names that are also selectable (Steve, Amy, Andy, et al.) for children who may not be able to write their name. From there, the player's train is picked--choosing any of the outlined characters brings up a coloring book with pictures of each character, while selecting the colored-in Thomas skips this portion. The coloring book portion simply lets players fill in the image with various colors as opposed to any drawing.
+The game has four components that make up gameplay: Game, Race, Explore and a coloring book section. At the start of the game, players are encouraged to enter their names as there engine drivers; there is a list of common names that are also selectable (Steve, Amy, Andy, et al.) for children who may not be able to write their name. From there, the player's engine is picked—choosing any of the outlined characters brings up a coloring book with pictures of each character, while selecting the colored-in Thomas skips this portion. The coloring book portion simply lets players fill in the image with various colors as opposed to any drawing.
-Players can select three difficulties: easy, medium, and hard, which determine the difficulty of the Game and Race modes in the main game.
+Players can select three difficulties: easy, medium and hard, which determine the difficulty of the Game and Race modes in the main game.
 ===Game===
-[[File:thomas_car.png|frameless|left]]The main Game mode has players fulfilling requests from Sir Topham Hatt to bring various cars scattered throughout the course to stations—depending on the difficulty set by the player, this could involve one or multiple cars and one or multiple stations. Players use the control arrows to navigate the train on the tracks and to switch tracks when the path branches. Running into a car connects it to the train, be it from the front or back. There are various small sweets on the track which may be picked up for points, although points do not affect gameplay. Pressing {{A}} will disconnect a car from the train, starting with the outermost car. The {{B}} button activates a steam whistle; though it serves no purpose in-game, it creates a noise and shows a graphic of a whistle blowing. Players who have forgot the request or need help can press {{C}} to see the current objective. Hitting {{start}} allows players to either start that level over or quit.
+[[File:thomas car.png|frameless|left]]The main Game mode has players fulfilling requests from Sir Topham Hatt to bring various trucks scattered throughout the course to stations—depending on the difficulty set by the player, this could involve one, two or three cars and multiple stations. Players use the control arrows to navigate an engine on the tracks and to switch tracks when the path branches. Bumping into cars couples them to an engine, no matter if it's at the front or back of you. There are various candies and chocolates on the track which may be picked up for points, although points do not affect gameplay. Pressing {{A}} will uncouple the trucks from an engine, starting with the outermost car. The {{B}} button activates a steam engine's whistle; though it serves no purpose in-game, it creates a noise and shows a graphic of a steam engine's whistle blowing. Players who have forgot the request or need help can press {{C}} to see the current objective. Hitting {{start}} allows players to either start that level over or quit.
-Once the proper cars have been brought to the station, use {{A}} or {{B}} to disconnect them and end the mission. Sir Topham Hatt will praise the player's memory and/or speed, and the next request will be given. This process repeats in loop.
+Cars include Troublesome Trucks (mine and gravel), flat wagons (empty, logs and shape in different colors), Annie and Clarabel (who both look exactly the same).
+Stations include Knapford, Dryaw, Maron, Elsbridge, Brendam, Cronk, Crewe, Barrow and Shiloh.
+Once the correct cars have been brought to the station, they will be uncoupled and the mission will end and Sir Topham Hatt will praise the player's memory and/or speed, and the next request will be given. This process repeats in loop, regardless of how many missions there are.
 ===Race===
-[[File:thomas_race.png|frameless|right]]The Race game pits the player's train against several others in a race to get to the end of the track. The trains are set on separate tracks and will not meet each other, but players must control their train as it goes down the course. Dirt patches on the track will slow down a train and must be steered around. Floating balloons above the track change the speed of the train; red and blue striped balloons slow down the train's movement, while greed and blue striped balloons increase speed. Solid-colored balloons are also on the track, but seem to serve no purpose aside from making popping noises. They do, however, cause the train to give the player a happy face. There are sweets on the track that may be picked up for extra points, but these additional points do not effect gameplay. In the event the player does not beat the computer's train, the course may be repeated indefinitely. Defeating four trains gets the player a silver medal, and defeating all five gets the player a gold medal, ending the game.
+[[File:thomas race.png|frameless|right]]The Race game pits the player's engine against four others in a race to get to the end of the track. Two engines are set on separate tracks and will not meet each other, but players must control their engine as it races the track. Dirt patches on the track will slow an engine down and must be steered around causing an engine to give the player a sad face. Floating balloons above the track change the speed of the train; balloons with a down arrow slow an engine down and cause an engine to give the player a sad face, while balloons with the up arrow increase speed and cause an engine to give the player a happy face. Solid-colored balloons are also on the track, but seem to serve no purpose aside from making popping noises. However, they do cause an engine to give the player a happy face. There are candies and chocolates on the track that may be picked up for extra points, but these additional points do not effect gameplay. However, sometimes there might be other engines trying to ruin your race by standing in the middle of the track; running into them will cause the player's engine to give the player a surprised face, regardless of which engine they've selected at the beginning of the game (in fact, in the hard skill level, the engine they are racing against will be faster and they could easily get ahead if it happens), and they will have to wait until another engine clears the track, so they'll be lucky if you make it to the finish line first without running into anything, except balloons with up arrows. In the event the player does not win against the computer, the course may be repeated indefinitely. The first race is against Toby, the second race is against Percy, the third race is against Duck, the fourth race is against James, and the fifth race is against Thomas. (The characters often switch around depending on the engine the player chooses at the start) Winning against three engines gives the player a silver medal and winning against all five gives the player a gold medal, ending the game.
 ===Explore===
-The Explore game is an open-ended world based on that of Game mode. There is no stated objective; rather, players are free to roam around, picking up cars, visiting train stations, and looking around the map.
+The Explore game is an open-ended world based on that of Game and Race modes. There is no stated objective; rather, players are free to roam around, picking up trucks, passing through stations and looking around the map.
+==Production credits==
+{{creditstable|
+*'''Programmed by:''' Randy Platt
+*'''Artists:''' Terry Lloyd, Jayne Shrigley
+*'''Software Produced by:''' Bernard Whang
+*'''Design:''' Randy Platt, Bernard Whang, Terry Lloyd
+*'''Additional Design:''' Jayne Shrigley
+*'''Software Music / SFX:''' Brian Howarth
+*'''Voice Talent:''' Craig Ewert
+*'''Additional Art:''' John McLaughlin, Bernard Whang, Randy Platt
+*'''Software Produced For THQ by:''' Howard Phillips, George Sinfield
+| console=MD
+}}
-==Gallery==
+==Magazine articles==
-<gallery perrow="5">
+{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Magazine articles}}
-File:thomas_select.png|Selecting a train
-File:thomas_colouring.png|Coloring book
-File:thomas_gold.png|Gold medal in Race
-File:thomas_praise.png|Player praise
-File:thomas_engineer.png|Naming an engineer
-File:thomas_request.png|Sir Topham Hatt's request
-File:thomas_skill.png|Selecting skill level
-File:thomas_edward.png|Edward's message
-File:thomas_congrats.png|Congratulations!
-File:thomas_options.png|Options screen
-</gallery>
-==Production Credits==
-:'''Programmed by''': Randy Platt
-:'''Artists''': Terry Lloyd, Jayne Shrigley
-:'''Software Produced by''': Bernard Whang
-:'''Design''': Randy Platt, Bernard Whang, Terry Lloyd
-:'''Additional Design''': Jayne Shrigley
-:'''Software Music / SFX''': Brian Howarth
-:'''Voice Talent''': Craig Ewert
-:'''Additional Art''': John McLaughlin, Bernard Whang, Randy Platt
-:'''Software Produced For THQ by''': Howard Phillips, George Sinfield
-==Physical Scans==
+==Screenshots==
 <gallery>
-File:Thomas md us cover.jpg|US cover
+thomas_select.png|Selecting a train
-File:Thomas md us cart.jpg|US cart
+thomas_colouring.png|Coloring book
+thomas_gold.png|Gold medal in Race
+thomas_praise.png|Player praise
+thomas_engineer.png|Naming an engineer
+thomas_request.png|Sir Topham Hatt's request
+thomas_skill.png|Selecting skill level
+thomas_edward.png|Edward's message
+thomas_congrats.png|Congratulations!
+thomas_options.png|Options screen
 </gallery>
-[[Category:Mega Drive Games]][[Category:Mega Drive Action Games]][[Category:1993 Mega Drive Games]]
+==Physical scans==
+{{Scanbox
+| console=Mega Drive
+| region=US
+| cover=Thomas md us cover.jpg
+| cart=Thomas md us cart.jpg
+| manual=Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends MD US Manual.pdf
+}}
+==Technical information==
+{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Technical information}}
+==References==
+<references/>
+{{ThomastheTankEngineOmni}}
+{{ThomastheTankEngine}}