Hero of the Rails (video game)

Hero of the Rails is a video game released on Nintendo DS and Wii in Europe and Oceania on August 20th, 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 scrapped for unknown reasons.

Playable Characters

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

Non-Playable Characters

 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Toby
 * Diesel
 * Mavis
 * Victor
 * Rocky
 * Harold
 * Kevin
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Duke and Duchess of Boxford
 * Rosie
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Billy
 * Stanley

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 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.

Trivia

 * It was originally scheduled to be released in May 2010, but it was pushed back by HiT Entertainment for an August release.
 * In North America, it was to be published by Majesco Entertainment, but was cancelled for unknown reasons, despite the TV series' large popularity and major success there. It is currently unknown if the US version will ever be resurrected, completed and released sometime in the future. However, given that the Wii and DS were succeeded by the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, respectively, it seems unlikely.
 * None of the characters speak, but David Holt provides the narration.
 * The game contains the song Go, Go Thomas. Other instrumental songs include the Engine Roll Call and Surprises. Additionally, the music tracks were reused from Engines Working Together.
 * The engines' 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 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 offered; the second was the app for iOS and Android.
 * As shown in the game's files (a third-party program is required to extract Nintendo console game's files), Billy and Stanley were possibly meant to make an appearance in this game, but were both cut.
 * There is an unused song found in the game files which is the original 1984 theme song. It's unknown what purpose this may have served other than being a place holder sound effect or music piece.
 * 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 and the second being Calling All Engines! for Leapster.

Goofs

 * Spencer's wheels are black during his "Paint" activity and his eyebrows are missing.
 * In the DS game, Hiro's buffers are square and his nameplate appears on both sides of his smoke deflectors.
 * 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, plus the wheels on the tender engines do not turn correctly.
 * In the Wii game, when the engines agree with Thomas to help Hiro, Mavis' horn can be heard, but she is nowhere to be seen.
 * In two levels, Spencer and Hiro are missing their tenders.

Links

 * Wii version
 * DS version