Chapter 1
For the Nintendo Switch, the most family friendly out of all the consoles in current video gaming generation (as of ’23).
Rating: E for Everyone.
Characters: Besides Top Stars Thomas + Lady: Arthur, Arty, Bert, Bill, Ben, Boco, Daisy, Class 40, Derek, Diesel, Dodge, Donald, Douglas, Duck 🦆 Duke, Duncan, Edward, Emily, Fergus, Gordon, Henry, James, Mavis, Oliver, Percy, Peter Sam, Rhenaus, Rusty, Salty, Sir Handel, Skarloey, Spencer, Splatter, Stephney & Toby.
Custom Mii Train option to place Mii face on any engine or diesel of the person’s choice of vehicle’s size, colors, type, whistle kind, and its name.
Unlockable Ones (each unlocked after finishing 1st overall on 1 in particular cup on medium): Bertram (Stations Cup), Diesel 10 (Industrious), Harvey (Harbors and Supplies Depot), Murdoch (Paradise), Rusty’s Ghost Engine (Skarloey) + Scotsman (Special Spots).
(Harold as the Flyer above all; his traffic light hangin’ from string from his bottom while hoverin’ would turn red, red, and--GO!!! (when green)).
Point System: 1-15 points were awarded to player(s) in a group of 14 or 13 randomly selected computer racers. egs. 1 for 15th place, 5 for 11th, 8 for 8th, 12 for 4th, and 15 for 1st.
Difficulties: Easy, medium, hard + extra hard (unlocked after beating all 6 cups above every diesel and engine on hard mode).
Main Objective: Had to win best rank overall above everyone in every single cup on all 4 difficulties to unlock bonus content which the player could play w/ whenever he/ she would please to do so.
Items: Coal, Wood, Magic for Invisibility, Oil, Fire 🔥 Wood, Steam, Freight Car, Snow ❄️ ⛄️ Plow, Teleporting Magic, & Magic Freezing Power. Invincibility was instantly available when all cups were beaten on extra hard mode.
Each 1 would be hidden in small bright clouds w/ “Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends” printed in small red letters on each on train tracks ’til player or CPU crashed right into it. Always totally random which item would be received; 5 secs. it would take for game to choose for player, unless person pressed X button (Y on detached right controller or up arrow switch on unattached left 1) before time was up.
Other Controls: Activate small map on screen: Y for both sides attached, B for right 1 removed, and left arrow knob for detached left 1 map. Brakes: B, A, and down arrow 1. Speed: A, X and left arrow for speed. Whistle sound effects: R or L, SL or SR, and SL or SR. Pause: +, +, and -. To switch from 1 track to a connecting 1 with a side one: point joystick left or right.
(NOTE: If a rival racer would be at other end of sidetrack as competitor was entering it, the train entering it would have the advantage of virtually forcing other 1 to continuing chugging right behind him/ her. Would balance out the difficulty more for less experienced citizens.)
Practice Mode: Any available character could be used to test the guy’s/ girl’s skills at any speed, on any available track, item clouds producing any random item, and up to 3 computer players to pretend race against.
Locations + Cups (each consisted of 6 railway tracks side by side—w/ an occasional sidetrack to connect 1 to another right beside it); a second player could help himself/ herself and buddy won overall and earn bonus content sooner: The Stations Cup (in order done): Wellsworth, Tidmouth, Knapford & Elsbridge.
Skarloey Cup: Skarloey, Bertman’s Old Mine, Duke’s Station & Boulder Quarry.
Industrious Cup: The Coal Mines, The Coaling Plant, Sodor Fuel ⛽️ Depot & Sodor Slate Quarry.
Harbors and Supplies Depot Cup: Brendam, Sodor’s Ironworks, Callan Yards, & Sodor Cement Works.
Unlockable Ones (available when completing all 4 in top place overall on easy): Paradise Cup: Valley View, Cliff Sidetrack, Misty Valley, & Black Loch.
Special Spots Cup: Shining Time Station 🚉, Indian Valley Railroad 🚆 🚞 🛤️, Sir Topham Hatt’s Holiday Shed & Mr. Jolly’s Chocolate 🍫 Factory 🏭.
At each 1, the stations, work spots, nature places, and other courses occasionally have 100s of islanders cheerin’ from station floors, grassy valleys, bleachers and other possible crowd areas (Bertie, Jack, Trevor, Cranky + other non-train vehicle characters would sometimes watch nearby as well).
Story: None (just the engines and diesels racin’ each other for the sake of the islanders’ amusement).
Up to 4 files could be selected for one player’s progress within the saved data; could also call each any name they wanted to.
4-Player Battle Modes: 2-4 buddies could vs or team up in groups of 2 or 3.
2 Team-Ups of 6 Mode: People and/ or CPUs could be mixed together competin’ to finish across 4 raceways. Winning team got to ride onto flat pedestal to celebrate winning golden trophy shaped like Flying Scotsman speedy train w/ smoke comin’ out of it. eg. Thomas, Lady, Percy, Duck, Bill & Ben won and proudly stood above the praising crowd honouring them and their victory. All 6 whistled loudly and proudly as smoked steamed out side by side to generate bright, big victory cloud!!
Losing Team: All 6 hid in Tidmouth sheds all dark and quiet, watchin’ furiously and sadly ceremony from afar.
Survival/ Stamina: See who could make the other rival(s) be eliminated by hitting each with items 12 times 1st; no finish line would be needed to complete this challenge. Defeated ones would instantly turn into “ghosts” sitting still in 1 spot wherever they lost until 1 other one would be left standing—alive trains would easily drive through “ghosts” when touching them without hitting them or receiving any damage at all.
Online Competition: Any player w/ wi-fi around the world could connect to anyone else waiting for other competitors (would vary depending on the event). 1-3 for cups and smaller race modes; 1-11 for team-ups (on no online version, up to 3 others could join the single competitor). Or the guy/ girl could look up who was playin’ near him/ her or anywhere in the world and join their team or vs friend or mystery individual.
Ending: Award ceremony featurin’ top 3 overall finishers earnin’ Flying Scotsman trophies. eg. Percy in 3rd who received the bronze trophy & eligible for 3rd highest pedestal in front of 100s of cheerin’ fans. Lady in 2nd moved up top on 2nd highest pedestal as receivin’ silver award. Thomas, beamin’ while steamin’ up tracks leadin’ up to highest place, felt honoured beyond words as lettin’ out a cloud of huge steam! The throngs watchin’ every single race circled right by them to cheer and celebrate w/ confetti, balloons and other celebratory items. Sir Topham Hatt w/ family and a bunch of firemen, conductors & Mr. Conductors (in Special Cup ending) were present right beside engines and/ or diesels.
4th or Lower: Engine or Diesel sulked and saddened in dark shed, watchin’ ceremony from afar.
End Credits Sequence: Images of all characters were displayed 1 by 1 every 10 seconds. As soon as all credits ended, big photo of Thomas + Lady all cheery right next to each other with “Congratulations, Railway Conductor!!!” in gold letters right above them would be shown.
