Rating: 
Summary: Works Great on Win XP..Kids LOVE IT!!
Review: This is the best running game yet!
We put it on a Win XP computer and it runs great and is easy for my 4 yr old to use. The game gives you three options for loading the software, so you can load the entire game (takes alot of disk space) or choose one of the other two options for a smaller install and you have to put the CD in while playing.
when putting the game control box on the keyboard you have to be careful exactly which key it goes on, it is one key over from what you think it goes on, but once you figure out exactly where it goes, its simple each time to strap it on.
It is the best game for kids we have bought so far!
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking game with steep hardware requirements
Review: This is the most interesting and innovative game I have seen on the market in about two years -- innovative in terms of the fusion of various types of simulator games and problem solving games. The playset controller is extremely well laid out and friendly. I did not have any trouble placing it on my keyboard, but if it turns out you had trouble, you might buy a budget keyboard for $5. Would it be worth the $5 just for this game? I think so. My kid likes the idea he can pull the whistle control and cause the locomotive to couple with a railroad car. The controller also serves other tasks in different parts of the game -- sometimes it is used to sell tickets, other times it is used to get water from a water tower. I won't give away any more spoilers because I think your kids will enjoy discovering the different facets of this game on their own. I run this game on a PII-400 with 64MB and a TNT-Ultra-64MB card. It does halt for a few seconds on some occasions, so I think you need a relatively fast processor and video card to make the game work. It has caused the OS to hang once or twice after about 40 minutes of play, but nothing catastrophic. If you can run Mechwarrior 3 on you machine, you can run this game okay. The mood of the game is incredibly cheery and expansive because it has nice bright colors, nice puffy clouds and blue skies; and the environment appears realistic because when you turn your train around the sun appears or disappears. You also select your own path on the track. You can either choose a task or just putter around the country side. If you don't choose the right path, you don't get anywhere, so thinking about objectives is crucial. Some game sections play little movies. Other game sections require that you do some trial and error testing to understand how controlling the track switching works. It is a rather demanding game because you must get certain tasks down in a certain logical sequence. I watched this game slowly improve my 5 years old's motor sequencing skills over a period of about a half hour as he learned to how to drive the train and then to use controls to unload mail sacks from the mail train. A bit of parental coaching helps. And keeping an open mind is helpful because the user has to sort of get accustomed to the virtual environment. It's not quite like just pressing a key on a keyboard because the playset controller is like a vehicle simulator. So I can't say enough about this "game". Well there is one thing: There is a feeling of a motion rush, and there is zero violent content. And finally, you don't get to play the "games" in the game until you finish your work to be done. Talk about infusing work ethic.
Rating:
Summary: Great game for my 3 year old!
Review: This was a Christmas present for our Thomas-crazy "just turned 3" son and he has loved it! I place the set on our keyboard and he completely takes it from there. He quickly mastered all of the games, but he still enjoys going back and trying them again and again. We have quite a collection of children's software, and this ranks among the best so far for his age group. I suppose from reading the other reviews, you simply need to make sure that your computer and keyboard are compatible with the game and that your child enjoys challenges that require a little more attention to details.
Rating:
Summary: All Aboard!!
Review: This was the only thing that my 3 yr old son wanted for Christmas! He plays with it religiously almost everyday! He loves that he gets to drive the train and interact with other characters from the series as well. It really is a wonderful game and worth the money! Especially for a child who has Thomas on the brain night and day like mine does!! The effects and detail on this game are truly remarkable.
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous Game with Software Bugs
Review: Thomas is my 3 1/2 year old's favorate game! He loves driving the train and completing all of the tasks. It is a 5 star game with 1 star software quality.The program crashed every time while trying to enter my sons name (until I entered only one letter). Turns out there are several more situations that will crash the game. I'm running Windows 98 in a pretty high end system, so I'm sure that it's software quality.
Rating:
Summary: Best Thomas Game
Review: Very charming, lots of fun, and good for repeated play. The controls are easier to use than a mouse. So far the only thing that troubled my daughter (4) was finding the right position from which to change a signal. Otherwise she picked it up quickly and proudly taught my wife how to drive Thomas. There are four scenarios plus several mini-games and places where you can see short videos. It takes a while to do everything. It's also fun to just drive around seeing the Sodor scenery and meeting other engines. This game is much better than Trouble on the Tracks. ToT involves a bunch of boring jobs that never appealed to my daughter. And the ToT software performed erratically on our old PC (AMD 500 MHz, no graphics card). The voices are different from the videos, but my daughter doesn't seem to care.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely disappointing
Review: We bought this for my five year old last year, and it was just a miserable experience from the beginning. The playset that straps onto the keyboard is not always cooperative, and once that issue is addressed, the software itself is difficult to follow for my son or for me! He became extremely frustrated after a few tries and it wound up being a very costly mistake. Avoid this one!
Rating:
Summary: The 6-yr. old loves it as much as the 3-yr. old!
Review: We got this for my 3-yr. old son as his first computer game. This is the coolest game I've ever seen! He loves moving the "troublesome trucks" around & doing different jobs - then he prints his achievement certificates from Sir Topham Hatt. My 6-yr. old has actually asked to play this game over some of his own! It is easy to figure out the strap-on controls. We have a growing library of computer games & this ranks right at the top!
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