HiT Entertainment presents Thomas & Friends: The Great Race - Thomas wants to go to the Great Railway Show but the big engines laugh at him saying that he's not fast or strong enough to compete, but he gets left on Sodor after an accident and Gordon forgets his safety valve. Will Thomas ever get to compete in the Great Railway Show and give Gordon his safety valve? Find out in The Great Race (video game).
FEATURES
Race as Thomas, Gordon, Flying Scotsman, Ashima and many more in these four exciting competitions.
Play in Either '1 Player', '2 Player', '3 Player' or '4 Player' mode to compete against a friend.
Try and earn the gold trophy by winning these competitions.
If you go onto the Railway Tour, you can interact with many engines and compete against them to unlock them.
The single player mode has a set of Adventure Tours which revolve around a plot which is based on the actual special where Thomas wants to go to the Great Railway Show, but the big engines laugh at him for him being not fast or strong enough to compete and he ends up having an accident causing him to not being able to go to the railway show.
Thomas' Story/Intro
The story begins with Thomas asking the Fat Controller if he can go to the railway show, in which the Fat Controller tells him to just do his jobs. Thomas goes back to work shunting trucks in the yard, but he has to put the trucks in the right order, he does so and goes to rest for the rest of the day.
Thomas wakes up early so he can practise his shunting, but Diesel has shunted some trucks, along with Den, Dart and Paxton hidden crates in the middle of the yard preventing engines from getting in or out the yard. As Thomas waits for so long for Diesel to move the trucks out of the way, he decides to move them himself, but the diesels under the crates mistake Thomas' whistle for Diesel's horn, they then start pushing, unknown that Thomas was pulling them. Thomas is pushed along the line by the crated diesels and he approaches a red signal which Norman is passing by, Thomas ends up crashing into Norman, causing a big mess. At this point, the player must clean up the mess and put Thomas back onto the track.
Ashima's Story
Thomas is at the docks and while he is waiting, he sees a large ferry roll in stopping at the dock, Thomas watches as twelve engines, with different colours, sizes and nationalities roll onto the shore, but as they find out that they have come to the wrong place as informed by the Dock Manager. They all head back onto the ship, but one engine is left behind, this left-behind engine accidentally bumps Thomas when he is at the ferry dock causing him to hang dangerously over the edge, the engine lifts Thomas back onto the tracks, but Thomas is furious by this, due to his anger, Salty decides to mimic Thomas by saying his name is Thomas in which the engine introduces herself as Ashima, but Thomas is not amused and chuffs out of the docks leaving Ashima.
A while later, Ashima is looking for an engine to show her a way to the Mainland, but everyone she sees, are too busy working and they cannot stop to tell her where to go, she sees Thomas soon later, but the blue tank engine just rushes by not paying any attention. Ashima puffs sadly away, sad that she cannot go to her destination.
Promotional Videos
On Extras Mode, promotional videos of the Great Railway Show contenders from the Official Thomas & Friends YouTube channel appear and can be watched, they are released every Wednesday on the same day the videos on the Thomas & Friends YouTube channel are released.
Image
Name
Description
Released
Philip of Sodor
First engine up, Philip! Recently arriving on the Island of Sodor, he's an engine favorite amongst his engine friends. Philip will play the role of Sodor mascot and flag carrier.
April 13th, 2016
Axel of Belgium
Axel of Belgium is an amazing looking engine that was built for speed. The lean mean racing machine won over his army of fans with his charms and looks.
April 20th, 2016
Yong Bao of China
Strong, sleek, and steamy, Yong Bao of China knows how to put on a show!
April 27th, 2016
Raul of Brazil
Introducing Raul of Brazil. A one time champion a few years back, he is well respected throughout the railway.
May 4th, 2016
Ashima of India
Meet Ashima of India. A simply breathtaking engine that brings mystery and wonder.
May 18th, 2016
Ivan of Russia
Meet Ivan of Russia. A very strong diesel engine who finished second in the shunting race.
May 25th, 2016
Gina of Italy
Don't let Gina's looks deceive you. This small and compact engine can match the boys pound for pound.
June 1st, 2016
Spencer of UK
Meet Spencer. Serving as the private engine to the Duke and Duchess, Spencer is known as a regal engine that hold the land speed record for a steam locomotive.
June 8th, 2016
Rajiv of India
All hail the emperor of India, Rajiv. Rajiv is a small tank engine but bursts with color!
June 15th, 2016
Percy of Sodor
Meet Percy. Picked at the last minute for the shunting race, Percy is an unlikely hero.
June 22nd, 2016
Shooting Star Gordon of Sodor
The streamlined power house, Gordon the Shooting Star, is a lean mean moody machine that is heading to the front of the race.
June 29th, 2016
Shane of Australia
Meet Shane of Australia. Shane is a big, strong engine who works tirelessly to ensure he's in the best shape for the strongest engine race.
July 6th, 2016
Emily of Sodor
Looking better than ever, Emily has an advantage on the other engines with two extra driving wheels.
July 13th, 2016
Vinnie of North America
Meet Vinnie, the tough, rule-bending engine who will do anything to come in first place.
July 20th, 2016
The Flying Scotsman
Meet The Flying Scotsman, the first locomotive to reach 100 mph!
July 27th, 2016
Carlos of Mexico
Meet Carlos. He won the strength competition at the first Great Railway Show, but now he's back and competing in the best decorated parade!
August 3rd, 2016
Henry of Sodor
Meet Henry, one of Sir Topham Hat's first engines! He may not be the strongest, but we'll see if this engine can win the strength competition!
August 10th, 2016
Etienne of France
Meet The Great Race's most modern engine, Etienne of France! He may be the fastest engine, but he always plays fair!
August 24th, 2016
Frieda of Germany
Meet Frieda. This streamlined engine is competing to win the strength competition.
August 31st, 2016
Thomas of Sodor
Here's the engine you've all been waiting for: Thomas the Tank Engine! What race will this champion compete in?
The models and the animation are re-used from the Thomas & Friends app, Race On!.
The character selection screen is similar to the character select screen from Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games on the Nintendo DS.
Goofs
On the character selection screen, there are a few things that are wrong with the character artworks, such as:
Hiro and Axel's icons are mirrored.
Thomas, James and Emily's icons do not depict them with the liveries they received for The Great Railway Show, Philip's icon (which is seen only during the Railway Tour mode), also depicts him without the Sudrian flag on his roof.