Engines Working Together

Engines Working Together is a video game for Vtech's V.Smile and Motion. It was released in 2005 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Railway Series.

The narration was provided by Michael Angelis in the UK version, Michael Brandon in the 2005 US version and a female announcer in the 2009 V.Motion release.

Calling All Engines!
Thomas wants to gather the engines to discuss how to build an airport on the Island of Sodor. Find the engines by moving the joystick to collect the missing letters to complete their names. Watch out for the obstacles that might roll into your path. In the difficult level, you must press ENTER to stop at a signal. When the signal turns green, then the letters will appear at the junctions. At the junctions, select the track section with the correct letter at the traffic branch, then press ENTER to confirm.

For the 2005 version, you must hold your controller in the direction that you want to go in before Thomas reaches the junction or you will go in the wrong direction.

Curriculum: Letters

After the second stage, Thomas puffs into a dark cave. Find the exit and collect as many bonuses as you can. The exits will open in the last 20 seconds of the game. Two exits will open in easy, while only one opens in difficult.

Flying to the Rescue
Harold is a good-hearted helicopter, Complete the missions assigned by Sir Topham Hatt by flying to the objects shown in the left corner. Press ENTER to carry out the rescue. When Harold flies over the airfield. press ENTER to fill up his energy. Watch out for the dark clouds!

Curriculum: Directions and Picture Matching

Cargo Catch-up
Thomas forgot to collect the cargo. Help Harold catch-up to Thomas and load the color coordinated cargo that he left behind. Press ENTER to load the cargo. Move Harold up to avoid the buildings. Load the cargo before Thomas arrives at each station and you will get a higher score. Watch out for the flying objects! In difficult, you also have to watch out for other engines like Henry, Duncan, and Skarloey that are blowing black smoke out of their funnels or they will make your health drop as well.

Curriculum: Colors

Bertie Beats the Clock
Thomas' boiler is grumbling. Bertie must help to transport the school children to three stations on time. Avoid puddles, oil spills, dirt and other vehicles along the way to keep the children safe. Drop off the correct amount of school children at each station by following the number at the top of screen and press ENTER to stop. Keep an eye on the time, otherwise the children will miss the train. While Bertie is waiting, Trevor and Terence will ask him some questions. Help Bertie to answer the questions by using the colored buttons. A shortcut to the station will be rewarded to you if you answer correctly. If you choose the wrong answer, you have an extra long route to deal with, and you have to watch out for objects all over that road.

Curriculum: Colors

Recycle Challenge
Fill up the Troublesome Trucks by selecting the correct type of recyclable items from the conveyor belts. You can use the joystick to select the object and press ENTER to place the item into the trucks. The Troublesome Trucks will react if you fill them with the right or wrong item.

Curriculum: Sorting

Size Sorting
Keep an eye on the time and sort different sizes of objects to the correct trucks. You can use the joystick to move Percy.

Curriculum: Size Sorting

Count the Engines
You are responsible for helping Sir Topham Hatt count how many engines pass through the station. You can press ENTER to add an engine to the counter. Watch the replay to see how you did!

Curriculum: Counting

Fix the Tracks
Thomas is on his way! Fix the track pieces before he arrives! You can move the joystick to choose the track.

Curriculum: Puzzle

Sing Along
The Sing Along mode contains two songs with different volume and voice settings. Use the joystick to select your favorite song, characters and settings and press ENTER on the ENTER icon to start the song.

This mode, as it is with most V.Smile games, is only accessible to later releases.

Engine Depot
The Engine Depot mode contains ten different characters profiles. Use the joystick to select the characters you wish to visit and press ENTER to read their profile.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Emily
 * Diesel 10
 * Bertie
 * Harold

Other Characters

 * Henry
 * Duck
 * Donald and Douglas
 * Bill and Ben
 * Fergus
 * Arthur
 * Murdoch
 * Spencer
 * Mavis
 * Skarloey
 * Duncan
 * Duke
 * Terence
 * Trevor
 * Sir Topham Hatt

Trivia

 * Instrumental tracks of Surprises, Emily and A World Around You are used, as well as music inspired by the show.
 * In some releases of this game, it is bundled with a blue V.Smile.
 * Most of the TV show-inspired music from this game (alongside other Vtech Thomas merchandise) is reused in the Hero of the Rails video game.
 * After the game was re-released in 2008 with the V-Motion features, for the US version, Michael Brandon's narration was replaced with an unknown female one and the music sounds slightly different. The UK version has a different male narrator for some parts of the game and even replaces Michael Angelis' instructions on all the games in Learning Adventure and Learning Zone activity menus.
 * On the V.Motion re-release, The "Size Sorting" game is removed for unknown reasons with the Thomas & Friends logo taking its place and the Sing-Along activity is added.
 * At the end of "Bertie Beats the Clock" Thomas says, "Thank you for looking after my passengers." This is the same line he said in the third series episode, Thomas Gets Bumped.
 * "Size Sorting" is the only game where Percy is a playable character.
 * Diesel 10 replaces Henry's spot in the main cast of the game for the Calling All Engines Movie.
 * "Calling All Engines" is a complete reference to the movie but only includes three engines instead of one.
 * In the 2009 version, Michael Brandon still voices the engines, Harold, Bertie, and Sir Topham Hatt.
 * Thomas' whistle is slower in the 2009 version.
 * if you listen to the music closely, the 2005 version has no echo effect while the 2009 version does.

Goofs

 * Skarloey, Duncan, and Duke run on the same gauge as the standard gauge engines.
 * Arthur's wheels are black instead of red.
 * James' side rods are gold instead of silver.
 * Toby and Mavis are oversized.
 * The sprite for Trevor is actually Fergus repainted green.
 * When Arthur is facing left, his sprite is mirrored, meaning his "LMS" lettering is mirrored as well.
 * In "Recycle Challenge", the Troublesome Trucks actually move by themselves, with no steam engines pulling them, even though chuffing sounds are heard.
 * Also on the 2007 and 2009 V.Motion re-releases, the trucks have no wheels. And on the US 2007 re-release, glass is actually pronounced by Michael Angelis, instead of Michael Brandon.
 * Mavis and Diesel 10 make puffing sounds, even though they are diesel engines. Diesel 10 however, makes rumbling sounds in the Engine Depot.
 * Several engines use the wrong whistle or horn sound, or do not make any sounds at all. These include the following:
 * Emily shares the same whistle sound as Henry.
 * Donald and Douglas both have Duck's whistle sound.
 * Fergus shares the same whistle sound as Spencer.
 * Mavis has Diesel's horn sound.
 * Diesel 10 has a low pitched version of Derek's horn sound.
 * Bertie's horn is low pitched.
 * Duck, Bill, Ben, Arthur, Duncan, and Duke have no whistle sounds.
 * In the Sing Along mode, all of the engines have Thomas' whistle sound, despite Toby having a bell, and Mavis and Diesel 10 both having horns.
 * Donald and Douglas have no coal in their tenders.