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Thomas & Friends: Thomas Saves the Day
 This is the latest electronic adventure of Thomas and Friends. It's a game that tells a story and invites Thomas the Tank Engine fans to join in the tale.
It's the story of the aftermath of a storm on the Island of Sordor. Lots of things are broken and lost so everything must be put back as it should be. It's much like reading a book only there are things to do to make the story happen.
After Thomas has found some coal to stoke his engine he meets Sir Topham at Knapford Station and learns that the crates for Mr Jolly's Chocolate Factory have gone missing. So Thomas agrees to save the day and head for the Factory to see what he can do. Alas, the way forward won't be full steam ahead because he'll soon discover that Edward has run off the rails so the track is blocked. Harvey can help but he needs his hook, and then there's a chain to make before Edward is rescued and back on track. Thomas can then pass through to the Chocolate Factory and learn what needs to be done to start up production.
It's a gently twisting tale for younger players aged 3 to 6 years. After the introduction it is divided into 5 short chapters where there are small challenges set for the player to overcome. It is a point and click game with a big blue cursor shaped as an arrow that changes colour when there is something to do. Just click on the signs to travel through the game world, or click on the bucket to pick it up, etc.
 The game has provision for three young players to enter their name and play their own games. So when the game is opened it's simply a matter of selecting the correct bookmark to it start up, then there is a choice of playing the story or playing one of 5 mini games or activities. The activities include exercises in colour recognition, in sound recognition, a memory challenge, and there is a simple arcade game as well. Each of the activities has three difficulty levels.
The whole affair is very intuitive so children will have no trouble knowing what to do. If in doubt just click on a character for a repeat of their dialogue, or Thomas will know exactly what to do next. The graphics are colourful and uncluttered and the reading by Robin Smith is very clear and friendly. However, this is a North American product so all the engine folk have American accents.
For young Thomas devotees Thomas Saves the Day promises lots of familiar fun, and it's another game eminently suitable for first time adventure game players. It is certainly aimed at this very young group, more so than other titles such as Putt Putt. Only the youngest of players might need a helping hand to start off in this game and, of course, it's all about doing favours and helping friends.
Copyright © Rosemary Young 2003.
All rights reserved.
System Requirements:
Win 98/Me/2000/XP, Pentium II 300 MHz or higher, 32 MB RAM (64 MB for XP)
85 MB Hard Disk Free, 8X CD ROM, 8 MB SVGA video card, sound card,
DirectX 9.0 (included) or higher, mouse.
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