Hero of the Rails (video game)

Hero of the Rails is a video game released on Nintendo DS and Wii in the UK on August 20th, 2010. It is based on the special with the same name. It includes eight activities including racing, welding, cleaning, fixing Hiro, painting, and shunting.

It contains a navigational voice-over to tell the story and to guide you through the game and provides clips from the film.

It was distributed by Barnstorm in the UK. In the US, it was to be released by Majesco, but has not yet been released and is assumed to be canceled.

Playable Characters

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Emily
 * Spencer
 * Hiro

Other Characters

 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Toby
 * Diesel
 * Mavis
 * Rocky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Duke and Duchess of Boxford
 * Victor (possibly playable in beta version)
 * Harold (possibly playable in beta version)
 * Kevin (possibly playable in beta version)
 * Cranky (possibly playable in beta version)
 * Rosie (in snap game; possibly playable in beta version)
 * Billy (beta only; possibly playable)
 * Stanley (beta only; possibly playable)
 * Annie and Clarabel (menu only)

Locations

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

Levels

 * 1) Spencer arrives - Spencer arrives on Sodor and challanges 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.

Trivia

 * It was originally to be released in May 2010, but it was pushed back by HiT Entertainment for an August release.
 * None of the characters speak, but David Holt provides the narration.
 * Three locations were seen in the game but not in the special; Great Waterton, Black Loch, and McColl Farm.
 * The game contains the song Go, Go Thomas. Other instrumental songs include the Engine Rollcall and Surprises.
 * The engine's mouths are frozen during the scenes cut from the special.
 * The majority of the game is clips from the special.
 * Models and textures from the original version of the game have been found within the game's data, including trucks with loads and night textures. Sound files were also found, containing audio of missions and music from the beta version of the game.
 * The engines were originally supposed to blink as evidenced by blink textures in the game's files.
 * Some of the engines use their TV series model faces for their models. James is the only engine in the Wii Version of the game to have his face modelled from his TV series model counterpart, as well as the Troublesome Truck in the game.
 * All the models in the game were made in Autodesk 3D Studio Max 9, a 3D modelling program.

Goofs

 * There are buffers on the third track at Brendam Docks.
 * Spencer's wheels are black.
 * Sometimes an engine's wheels aren't on the tracks when going around the bends. This is because the tracks are not models, but part of the backdrops.
 * Brakevans should have been added to Thomas and Percy's trains

Links

 * Wii version
 * DS Version