Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)My son recently turned four. We have all the games except Barney and Friends for this age group. He has gotten very good at the 3-5 year old games and although he still plays them, I decided about a year ago to stop buying these games and go to the 4-6 year old level for more of a challenge. My son absolutely adores Thomas the Tank Engine so I had to break down and buy it. I will start with the positive:
1.) Although Thomas is the star and the main playable character, all of his friends can be found throughout the game and are very realistic and accurate. For example, the first stage of the Learning Adventure focuses on Thomas collecting the missing letters of various train friends like Mavis, Henry and Arthur. Once all the letters are found, Thomas puffs to the train station to meet the friend he just spelled. While he's looking for the missing letters, he runs into other friends puffing along the way as well.
2.) Nice music. If your child is familiar with Thomas songs, they will love singing along as they play. I've picked out the main thomas theme and the song "Surprises"....my son knows the rest :-)
3.) The games are a nice length and require your child to complete a fun and meaningful task. A good example of this is the portion of the learning adventure that requires Harold the Helicopter to fly around making various rescues. This one is my sweetie's favorite as well as mine.
Unfortunately, I have to list some disadvantages. If you are familiar with V Smile Smartridges and their very few shortfalls, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about...
1.) Every portion of the Learning Adventure and Learning Zone require extremely precise movements that could easily frustrate some 3-5 year olds. In the first part of the Learning Adventure, Thomas is required to make some sharp turns around curves or he'll hit a buffer and be pushed back a little. You have to turn the joystick in the direction you want to go about 4 seconds before Thomas gets to the curve or he will not turn. At four years old, this is difficult for my boy to get the hang of and usually requires me to play. In the third stop, Harold drops cargo of different sizes and colors to Percy. Percy is required to catch the cargo in the corresponding box car. If the cargo does not land RIGHT IN the middle of the box car, it doesn't count and no points are earned.
2.) The Learning Zone and Learning Adventure seem like repeats of eachother. I realize it's difficult to think of new concepts, especially when you want to keep the game enjoyable for 3-5 year olds, but I found this Smartridge to be more repative than need be.
3.) All and all, more could have been incorporated into the game. Maybe it's me, but it seems like this game was rushed so it could be out for Christmas. My son likes Thomas more than anything in the world, but he's not that crazy about this game because of the shortfalls listed above.
The game is worth buying because of the Bertie the Bus and Harold the Helicopter portions of the Learning Adventure, but unless your child is great at being very precise and will like anything with a Thomas logo on it, stick with Winnie the Poo or Lion King.
**An important note** I got this game off E-bay before it was released in stores. I'm pretty sure I purchased the same game because it looks just the one on V-tech's website, but because I didn't get it from a store I can't make any promises**.
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V Tech - V.Smile - Thomas The Tank: Engines Working TogetherChoo, choo! Hop aboard the learning express! It's another big day for Thomas and Percy. As they travel along the railroad tracks, many mysterious adventures await them. As little learners help Thomas and Percy solve their missions, they'll discover the alphabet, colors, shapes and logic problems. For use with the V.Smile TV Learning System, sold separately.
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