Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

"It's full steam ahead once again for Thomas, he's had a busy week at the Station and now looks likely this week is going to be just as busy. The Fat Controller's head is spinning with all the special trips he has to organise. He's got to take the Children to the Seaside, Medicine to the Hospital, Logs to the Saw Mill, Coal to the Power Station, deliver the Mail and take some Oil to the Refinery. It is a good job the he has Thomas and his friends to rely upon. You control Thomas as he tries to complete all his tasks before the week is over. But be careful not to go too fast, you never know what's around the corner!"

A nice game for the younger player. Doesn't look bad for a spectrum game with some high detailed gfx and colour. It's a 48k game though so the intro music is a bit naff and out of tune. The game has two difficulties. Easy being well...easy allowing you to most likely complete the game first go. And then there is Normal which is damned near infuriating.

At the start of the Easy game you get to choose a level and then its a case of hitting the track, dodging oncoming trains, find your trailer and get to the station. There is a time limit but it's not a huge issue on easy. There will be trains that randomly appear on the track either in front or behind you to watch for. Should you run into one then you will be put back a screen or two. Once you have reach the station in all levels, you win.

Now with the Normal game shown in the video, everything is out to get you. The Fat Controller has lost control of the train network and the other trains will be racing around looking to crash into you. You also have a speed limit. Remain at full speed to long and you will derail. There can also be rocks on the tracks. The solution to all these is to take your time and roll back and forth between each screen until you feel the time is right to rush it. The time limit is now pretty tight especially on the later levels. It can be brutal and frustrating and if you run out of time the Fat Controller may end your game and give the job to another engine.

Overall, this was a pretty good buy for a budget game at 2.99 and I enjoyed my time with it back in the day, on easy of course! Recording it now I did find this version more difficult than the C64 version. Here the trains just belt into the screen from either side not giving you much time to think. On the C64 the issue was mainly that it was too fast for its own good and you could crash into things far too easily.