Adventure Series (Genesis)

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This article is about 'the 1993 Sega console game'. You may be looking for 'the 1993 Nintendo console game'.

Adventure Series is a Sega Genesis/Megadrive video game developed by Malibu Interactive and published by THQ in 1993. Players can pick between five engines to play with: Thomas, James, Percy, Toby and Duck. They can also colour in the engines and give the engineer a name. The colour of the engineer in the colouring in effects the colour of his sprite in-game. It has three different skill levels for three modes; Game, Race and Explore. The game is narrated by American Software programmer Craig Ewert.

Characters

Playable Characters

Non-playable Characters

Edward
Henry
Gordon
Sir Topham Hatt (voice-over)
Annie (not named; does not speak)

Music

The original Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends theme tune is played at the title screen. This game featured music from seasons 1, 2 and 3. Various sound effects include a whistle, puffing, braking, different tones of a selection (e.g. starting a race) 'ding' and a 'fill' effect while colouring the engines.

Most of the music however is unable to be looped except in the Race game

Starting the Game

The player must pick an engine from Thomas, James, Percy, Toby or Duck. The player can start straight away with Thomas, or colour-in any engine. In the colouring-in, they can choose what colour their engineer's clothes are by colouring them in on the picture.

There is an opportunity to name the engineer after the player's own name, or pick from some of the names provided. Some of these include: Amy, Bill, Carlos, Dan, Elizabeth, Jasmine, Kevin, Laura, Maria, Sam, Tim, etc.

You must also select a skill level of easy, medium or hard.

Modes

Game

To find the correct rolling stock and take them to the designated station (any station in easy mode). Once complete, the Fat Controller will make a comment on speed and memory, and a score will be tallied.

Rolling stock include flat trucks, mine trucks (Troublesome Trucks), log trucks, gravel trucks (also Troublesome Trucks), passenger trucks (Annie) and flat trucks having a shape of varying quantity or colour.

Stations include Cronk, Barrow, Crewe, Knapford, Dryaw, Maron, Elsbridge, Shiloh, Brendam, etc.

If the job is finished in 0 or 1 minute, Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon or James will congratulate you and tell you Sir Topham Hatt wants to see you.

Race

Race to the finish line before the other engine reaches it, the player must keep up with his skills and speed (For example, get the up arrow hot air balloons and candy. But watch out the mud, down arrow hot air balloons and other engines).

The first race is against Toby, the second race is against Percy, the third race is against Duck, the fourth race is against James, and the fifth race is against Thomas. (The characters often switch around depending on the engine the player chooses at the start)

Winning against three engines will give the player a silver medal and winning against all five will give the player a gold medal and end the game.

Explore

The chance to explore the maps from 'Game' and 'Race' without a timer and points. Players can pick up loose trucks or coaches and take them anywhere.

Trivia

This is the first video game where Annie appears without Clarabel.
The picture for the Game mode is a modified Ertl Thomas pulling a Troublesome Truck to a station for the Fat Controller, the picture for Race is the scene where Edward is trying to rescue James from the second season episode, Old Iron, and the picture for Explore is just a picture of an engine coming out of a tunnel.
A few themes have been used:
- During the example of the Game mode, the busy station theme is played.
- During the Game and Explore modes, part of Henry's theme is played.
- During the Race mode, a modified version of Edward's theme is played.
- During the example of the Race mode, part of Gordon's theme is played.
- When races are lost, part of Sir Topham Hatt's theme is played.

Goofs

Crewe, Shiloh and Barrow are depicted as stations on the North Western Railway, but Shiloh is a Culdee Fell Railway station and Crewe and Barrow are not even on Sodor.
In this game, Knapford, Brendam, Dryaw, Maron and Elsbridge stations look inaccurate to their true appearances in the TV series.
In the front view shots of the engines, James, Percy and Duck have the same front view sprite as Thomas, but recolored and with different faces.
- Not just that, Percy and Duck's front view shots share the same color.
James, Percy, Toby and Duck's in-game sprites are missing their numbers.
James has Henry's face and Duck has James' face, but modified.
Whenever Thomas, Percy and Duck hit a down arrow hot air balloon, run into mud on the rails, start over a mission or quit the explore part, they use James' sad face, but with different face designs.
When Duck and Annie are facing left, their sprites are mirrored, meaning Duck's "GWR" lettering and Annie's name are mirrored as well.
Whenever James, Percy and Duck crash into an engine during races, they sometimes use Thomas' surprised face, but with different face designs.
When Duck is going up around bends, the side of his running board changes from black to red.
James is depicted with a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement, his tender is too short, and also his wheels and dome are red.
In the picture for the Race mode, James is wearing Thomas' happy face.
On the "Pick an Engine" and "Colouring your Engine" screens, as well as the in-game sprites, all the engines have the same face.
On the "Pick an Engine" and "Colouring your Engine" screens, Duck is missing his "GWR" lettering and number 8.
Percy's colour-in picture shows him with a single coupling rod.
The sprites and sound effects for using the engines' whistles is exactly the same for all the engines.
On the "Coloring your Engine" screens, Thomas, James and Toby (excluding Percy and Duck) lack their coupling hooks.
Thomas, James, Percy, Toby and Duck's wheels do not move.
Toby's in-game sprite has no buffers on front or back ends. He is also missing his bell on the top of his roof.