November 2, 2004 (USA)
December 16, 2004 (EU)
The Polar Express is an action-adventure platform game based on the film of the same name. It was developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Microsoft Windows. A version for the Game Boy Advance was developed by Tantalus Media. All versions of the game were published by THQ. It was released in North America on November 2, 2004 and in Europe on December 16, 2004. A version for the Xbox was planned, but it was never released.
Sound Effects Used
PC, Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2 Versions
(Note: Not all of the sound effects are used in-game. Some of them are mainly used in cutscenes.)
- Hollywoodedge, Bone Breaks Gushes He FS044001 (The 3rd impact is heard once when the Hero Boy falls into the coal in the tender in a cutscene.)
- Hollywoodedge, Elk Honks Squeals Med PE025001 (The slowed down and lower-pitched variant of the 3rd squeal is heard twice during a cutscene.)
- Hollywoodedge, Metal Creaks Machine FS015801
- Hollywoodedge, Small Swishes Light FS048101
- Hollywoodedge, Small Swishes Light FS048104
- Hollywoodedge, Train Brake Dist High PE820401/Sound Ideas, FRICTION & STRESS - SQUEAL: TRAIN BRAKING, DISTANT, HIGH SQUEALS WITH CHUFFS 01 (Heard once during the cutscene when the train arrives at the North Pole.)
- SKYWALKER ALARM BUZZING SOUND (Used during the level that involves the Pneumatic system if the player hits the wrong colored switch.)
- SKYWALKER, BELL - MAGIC SLEIGH BELLS RINGING
- SKYWALKER, CAR - BRAKES SQUEAL, LONG (The higher-pitched and slightly edited variant is heard once during a cutscene.)
- SKYWALKER, DOOR - HYDRUALIC HATCH OPEN AND CLOSE; HISS WITH PROCESSED WHOOSH
- SKYWALKER, DOOR - SID'S BEDROOM DOOR CLUNKING (The slightly edited variant from the film can be heard during the pneumatic tube system level when hitting the correct switches that correspond with the color seen on the screen inside the capsule car.)
- SKYWALKER, EXPLOSION - AT-AT STOMP (The sped-up in tempo and lower-pitched variant with the muffled effect added is heard once during the cutscene after the blimp drops Santas sack.)
- SKYWALKER, METAL - DISC OR HUBCAP MOVEMENT, VARIOUS
- SKYWALKER, METAL - HEAVY BOUNCING DOUBLE CLANK (Heard once in the file listed as "major_clank_01".)
- SKYWALKER, METAL - MEDIUM-PITCHED GROANS, VARIOUS
- SKYWALKER, METAL - SHORT, LOW-PITCHED AND REVERBERANT GROAN
- SKYWALKER, METAL - TRAIN WHEELS SQUEAKING AND SQUEALING
- SKYWALKER POWERLINE SNAPPING SOUND (Heard once during the cutscene when the blimp drops Santas sack.)
- SKYWALKER, SWORD - REVERBERANT SHINGING (The edited variant is heard once during a cutscene.)
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - AIRY STEAM CHUGS (Only used in in-game cutscenes.)
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - BRAKES SQUEAL WITH RING OUT (Some portions of this sound are used for the sounds that the Observation car can make during the "Runaway Car" section of the game.)
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - DYNAMO GENERATOR HISSING, HOLLOW-LIKE
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - FAST, RAPID WHEEL CLATTERS
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - HEAVY WHEEL CLATTERS
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - LARGE COUPLING IMPACTS
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - POLAR EXPRESS CHUGGING (Can be found as a sped-up and higher-pitched in the games' files listed as "train_ex_loop_02".)
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - POLAR EXPRESS WHISTLE (Used as the whistle on the locomotive, in both a normal variant, and an edited muffled variant.)
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - STEAM EXHAUST BLASTS, VARIOUS
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - SUBTLE WHEEL CLATTERS WITH LOUD SCRAPES (Only heard during the cutscene before the Hero Boy gets atop the Observation car.)
- SKYWALKER, WIND - HEAVY WIND WHISTLING
- Sound Ideas, CLOCK, TICK - SMALL WIND UP CLOCK TICKING (Only heard in the opening cutscene.)
- Sound Ideas, CREAK, CART WHEELS - SQUEAKING (Can be heard in a higher pitch.)
- Sound Ideas, DOOR, WOOD - OPEN 03 (Used when opening the doors in the coaches.)
- Sound Ideas, FACTORY, MACHINERY - RHYTHMIC STEAM, MECH CLACKS W/STEAM & LOW NOTE, INDUSTRY (Only the higher-pitched variant is heard in the opening cutscene.)
- Sound Ideas, PNEUMATIC, DOOR - PNEUMATIC DOOR: AIR RELEASE AND DOOR SLIDE 01
- Sound Ideas, SCI FI, AMBIENCE - GIANT HOLLOW TUBE SECTOR/SoundDogs, Eerie Ambience - Large, Scary Space, Sweeping Tones (The first half of the 2nd tone is heard once at the end of the file listed as "major_steam_02.wav".)
- Sound Ideas, SHIP, WHISTLE - STEAM: TWO BLASTS, MARINE, BOAT, HORN (The last 2 whistles are heard once as an edited double/multi-tone variant in the file listed as "steam_tracktor_whistle.wav".)
- Sound Ideas, SQUEAK, METAL - LARGE METAL OBJECT ROLLING, SCI FI
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, FREIGHT - FREIGHT TRAIN: APPROACH AND PASS BY CLOSE, LOUD WHEEL CLACKING (The clattering element is used for the coaches wheels clattering several times in-game.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - START IN MOTION 01
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - WHISTLE IN DISTANCE, BIRDS IN B/G
- Sound Ideas, WIND - EERIE WIND, WEATHER
Nintendo Game Boy Advance Version
- Sound Ideas, ROCKS, LANDSLIDE - SHORT, LONG, BOULDER & MIXED, AVALANCHE (A small portion of the 2nd take can be heard in-game.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, BRAKE - BRAKES SQUEAL (Shortened in-game; heard once when the player has the Hero Boy pull the brake lever on the Observation car’s vestibule platform, and the trains brakes start to squeal.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - STEAM TRAIN: WHISTLES, CLOSE UP (1st whistle only, sped up in tempo and higher pitch; used as the whistle on the locomotive.)