Thomas the Tank Engine 2 - Atari ST (All Courses & Opinion)
12Thomas the Tank Engine 2 is the sequel to ‘Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends’ of which I have never played, is sometimes referred to as Thomas’s big race. This is of course based off of the popular 1984 children’s Thomas & Friends TV Series which I personally loved as a kid. I believe that it is still on television today however it’s all CG now like a lot of kid’s shows and lacks the chunkiness from the models which made it great. It was published by Alternative Software and developed by Peak Star in 1993 for the Atari ST. There are also versions of this game for the Amiga and DOS.
The game sees the small blue engine Thomas the Tank Engine having a heated argument with Gordon who is saying that he is the fastest engine. The Fat Controller then probably sensing an opportunity for some illegal betting and to avoid the brutal engine on engine fight that would ensue, decides to hold a contest to decide the fastest once and for all. No doubt this would cause massive delays to the passengers trying to get home – but hey as long as these engines can have a smug sense of superiority over each over then all’s well that ends well.
The title is a 1-2 player racing game which allows you to play as either Thomas, Percy, Gordon, Bill, Ben, Toby, James or Bertie the Bus as they try to reach the end of four different courses in the fastest possible time. The game is presented in a split screen mode with the other screen being the rival that you are racing against. Being a train you are restricted to the rails which means that you have to be careful on which line you are using as there other trains (or vehicles if you are Bertie) in your path, so it is sometimes necessary to wait for something to get out of the way. It is also necessary to refuel as there’s not usually enough in the tank to reach it to the end of the stage.
The game looks harmless enough with Thomas and his friends being easily recognisable from their TV show originals. All in all the developers have done a good job here with the animation fluid and there being a reasonable amount of detail in the stage – it certainly never looks like they are simply copying and pasting the backdrops over and over.
Control wise you use the joystick by pointing left and right to move the vehicle. Now regardless whether you are driving on the road as Bertie or as one of the trains, you are restricted on where you can go. You are forced to go left or right until you reach a junction at which point you can switch the rails. This of course is necessary because there are other trains, damaged tracks and general stuff on the line which will slow you down and you will need to be careful of if you want to beat the harder level.
Overall Thomas 2 is a simple, but harmless game that really doesn’t do anything majorly wrong, but it is something that is easily forgettable. It’s a very average racer.
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