Hero of the Rails (video game)

Hero of the Rails was a video game released on Nintendo DS and Wii in Europe and Oceania on 20 August 2010, based on the special of the same name. It features eight activities including racing, welding, cleaning, fixing Hiro, painting, and shunting.

It was developed by Silverball Studios and published by Barnstorm Games. A North American version was planned for release by Majesco Entertainment but was soon cancelled for reasons that are unknown.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Emily
 * Spencer
 * Hiro
 * Diesel
 * Mavis
 * Victor
 * Rocky
 * Kevin
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Duke and Duchess of Boxford
 * Rosie
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Billy
 * Stanley
 * 'Arry and Bert
 * Harold

Locations

 * Sodor Steamworks
 * Knapford Yards
 * Maithwaite
 * Great Waterton
 * Black Loch
 * McColl Farm
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Brendam Docks

Chapters

 * 1) Spencer Arrives - Spencer arrives on Sodor and challenges Thomas to a race.
 * 2) Thomas Helps Hiro - The player must place a cylinder on Hiro. After that Percy helps Thomas with his deliveries. Percy breaks down and Thomas takes him to the Steamworks where you must sort parts.
 * 3) The Fat Controller - The player must race Percy to Hiro and put the new part on him. After that, the player must help Emily shunt trucks. Then the player plays a game of snap.
 * 4) Spencer Looks for Clues - The player must paint Spencer and help him find clues. Then there's a game of memory. When Spencer finds James and Toby, the player uses James to chase Spencer away.
 * 5) Last Part for Hiro - The player plays a game of snap. Then, the player helps Hiro to test himself by puffing around the Island. At this time, Spencer finds Thomas and Hiro. Luckily, Gordon puffs up and challenges Spencer to a race.
 * 6) Spencer in Trouble - Thomas is chuffing to Hiro's siding and Spencer catches him. They then race to Knapford and Spencer falls into the mud.
 * 7) Hiro Gets Fixed - Thomas must sort parts and repair, Hiro. Then Hiro goes to rescue and clean Spencer.
 * 8) Thomas Says Bye - Hiro has a last ride around Sodor and Thomas gets a new coat of paint before the party.

Mini-Games

 * 1) Paint - Paint Thomas or Spencer when they both have blue or pink undercoats. Once painted and polished, you will get the result.
 * 2) Race - Race with Percy in the countryside. If win/lose, you will get the result.
 * 3) Wash - When Thomas is at The Steamworks, you need to wash, polish, and dry him.
 * 4) Sorting - Help Victor and Kevin sort parts for Percy and Hiro.
 * 5) Pairs - Match the pictures of the engines to help Spencer find some clues.
 * 6) Shunting - Shunt the Troublesome Truck in the center of the green rectangle (turns red when being hit into a buffer) when using Thomas or Emily.
 * 7) Snap! - Press "A" to snap when the same cards are matching the requirements.
 * 8) Fixing - Fix Hiro that he's located in 2 places. His hideout, and The Steamworks.

Text Resources

 * 1) LICENSED BY NINTENDO (DS Only)
 * 2) Story
 * 3) Games
 * 4) Karaoke
 * 5) Spencer arrives
 * 6) Thomas helps Hiro
 * 7) The Fat Controller
 * 8) Spencer looks for clues
 * 9) Last part for Hiro
 * 10) Spencer in trouble
 * 11) Hiro gets fixed
 * 12) Thomas says Bye Bye
 * 13) Chapter 1-8 (DS Only)
 * 14) Paint!
 * 15) Spray!
 * 16) Polish!
 * 17) Dry!
 * 3
 * 2
 * 1
 * 1) Go!
 * 2) You win!
 * 3) You lose!
 * 4) Wash!
 * 5) Match!
 * 6) Shunt!
 * 7) Fix!
 * 8) Weld!
 * 9) Bad Luck
 * 10) Well Done
 * 11) Great!
 * 12) Fantastic!

Trivia

 * This game was originally scheduled to be released in Europe and Oceania in May 2010, but it was pushed back by HiT Entertainment for it to release in August.
 * In North America, this game was to be published by Majesco Entertainment, but the US version was cancelled for unknown and indiscernible reasons (as mentioned above), despite the TV series' large popularity and major success there. Now that support for the Wii and Nintendo DS has been discontinued, with officially published games for both no longer being made, along with the systems themselves, it is unlikely that the game will ever see a release in the United States. Despite this, the Nintendo DS version is not region-locked and can be played on any Nintendo DS worldwide, including American DS systems.
 * Despite it not being released, the Nintendo DS game has a page on esrb.org, showing that the game was rated E by the ESRB.
 * None of the on-screen characters speak, but David Holt provides the narration in the UK English version.
 * The game contains the song Go, Go Thomas (which is first heard as a lyrical version in the Wii's disc menu when the UK PAL or Oceanian PAL release is inserted). Other instrumental songs include the Engine Roll Call and Surprises. Additionally, the music tracks were reused from Engines Working Together.
 * Some of the music tracks reused from said game were also unused.
 * The majority of the game is just clips from the special used as cutscenes.
 * The engines' mouths are frozen during the footage used from the special as cutscenes.
 * Models and textures from the original version of the game have been found within the game's data, including trucks with loads and specular textures. Sound files were also found, containing audio of missions and music from a prototype version of the game.
 * The Sorting Parts for Hiro minigame has an instrumental version of Surprises for the music.
 * This is the first time a video game based on the Hero of the Rails special has been made and offered; the second was the app for iOS and Android, which came out a year later.
 * In the United Kingdom, the Nintendo DS version of this game was also bundled in "Thomas & Friends Gift Set" with two storybooks.
 * As shown in the game's files (a third-party program is required to extract Nintendo console game's files), Billy, Stanley, 'Arry, Bert and Harold were possibly meant to appear in this game but were all cut.
 * Some files also include dialogue with Rosie, meaning she would've appeared in the game as well. However, she only appears in the snap game.
 * There is an unused song found in the game files which is the original 1984 theme song. It is unknown what purpose this may have served other than being a placeholder sound effect or music piece.
 * A few language files were found in the game files. Despite the files being included, it's unknown if the game was set for more international releases.
 * This is the third Thomas video game to be based on a special (despite being only released in Europe and Oceania), with the first being the Magic Railroad Print Studio (released only in the UK) and the second being Calling All Engines! for Leapster.

Goofs

 * Spencer's wheels are black during the "Paint" activity and his eyebrows are missing.
 * Sometimes an engine's wheels are not on the tracks when going around the bends. This is because the tracks are not models, but part of the backdrops, plus the wheels on the tender engines do not turn correctly.
 * In the Wii version, when the engines agree to help Thomas to repair Hiro, 'Arry and Mavis' horns, along with Stanley's whistle can be heard, but they are nowhere to be seen.
 * In two levels, Spencer and Hiro are missing their tenders.
 * Emily's model, on both the DS and Wii versions, has buffers behind her cab.
 * James and the Troublesome Truck have their model faces instead of CGI.
 * Emily is a bit taller than usual in both versions of the game.
 * Emily is missing her arches near her guiding wheels.
 * Some parts of the story are different than from the original special.
 * In the DS version:
 * Hiro's buffers are square and his nameplate appears on both sides of his smoke deflectors.
 * James and Percy's buffers are ovals instead of circles.
 * Spencer's buffers on his model are missing.
 * On James' model, his whistle is incorrectly positioned on the right of his cab.
 * On Gordon's model, his cab view windows are circles instead of rectangles.
 * James and Emily's tender buffers are missing while Gordon's tender buffers, James's front buffers, and Percy's buffers are all textures.
 * Emily has her Model face rather than her CGI one.

Links

 * Wii Version
 * DS Version
 * Wii Models (downloadable)
 * DS Models (downloadable)