Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends/Gameplay

Controls

 * Q, A, O and P: If keyboard control is selected in the ZX and CPC versions, use these keys to direct Thomas up, down, left and right; but in the C64, Amiga, Atari ST and DOS versions, you have to use Z and X for left and right instead. You must also press Space to select a track, and 1 (for the ZX and CPC versions), or F1 (for the C64, Amiga, Atari ST and DOS versions), to pause the game - and when the game is paused, pressing Q (for the ZX and CPC versions) or Escape (for the C64, Amiga, Atari ST and DOS versions) will abort it, but you should only do this if you have absolutely no chance of winning it.

Thomas
The protagonist of this game; due to technical limitations, he is coloured white (and does not have his 1) in the ZX and CPC versions. You must help him complete each of his seven tasks before the sun goes down on any one of them, by directing him to the breakvan or coach and coupling him to it, then direct him to the end of the line, all while avoiding his so-called "friends" and other obstructions - and if Thomas is rammed by any of his so-called "friends", or crashes into a rock or another obstruction, the Fat Controller will appear with either the text "CAREFUL THOMAS! LOOK WHERE YOU'RE GOING! BACK TWO SCREENS." above him (for the ZX and CPC versions), or the text "BE CAREFULL THOMAS. GO BACK TWO SCREENS." above and below him (for the C64 version). In the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS versions, the Fat Controller only appears when you are running low on time, to say "Hurry up, Thomas!" (in the digitized voice of Ringo Starr); in the "normal" mode on the ZX, CPC, and C64 versions, Thomas may also derail if he turns a corner too quickly, in which case the text "OH DEAR THOMAS. YOU WERE GOING TOO FAST!" will appear on the screen.

Other engines and obstructions
Most of Thomas's so-called "friends" are out to ruin his day by ramming him; for the ZX, CPC, and C64 versions (hereafter referred to as the 8-bit versions), they are limited to Duck (who does not have his GWR or 8), and Diesel (who once accidentally rammed Percy when his driver had not left his brakes on in the show), but for the Amiga, Atari ST and DOS versions (hereafter referred to as the 16-bit versions), they are comprised of Gordon (who does not have his tender, or his 4 as a result), James (who again does not have his tender, or his 5 as a result), Percy, Toby, and Bill and Ben (who both look exactly the same). Oddly enough, Edward, Henry, Duck, Donald and Douglas, Oliver, Diesel, Daisy, Boco, Mavis, Stepney and the narrow-gauge engines (Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Rusty, Duncan and Duke) are not present for these versions; in the "normal" mode of the 8-bit versions, there are also randomly-placed rocks on the track which must be avoided, but the 16-bit versions have them in the same places every time (as well as fallen tree trunks and sun-bent rails). In the 16-bit versions, Harold the Helicopter and Bertie the Bus also appear in the bonus stages with James to race against Thomas - and Terence the Tractor makes a cameo in the background of each track.