Okay, so it sounds like you're saying I heard wrong - and in fact these devices are pretty much all the same. So I guess I should just look up instructions or a tutorial for ESP8266? That's what seems to come up generally when I type NodeMCU into Google.
You really need to do
a lot of study with the NodeMCU, starting "from the ground up" with programming it in various exercises. Later on you will be able to make the caterpillar do things.
Would you agree that it will be perfectly possible to control it through a Raspberry Pi?
"Through"? The NodeMCU can presumably "talk" to a Pi via WiFi. That would be one option.
Or alternatively do you think it might be simpler to try to connect the tracks directly to their battery and the Raspberry Pi without using the NodeMCU at all?
Sorry, but that sentence is completely nonsensical.
The critical detail here is the "magic" board on which the NodeMCU is mounted.
It is the interface to the motors without which
nothing can control them - and it is designed
specifically to operate with the NodeMCU. It makes
no sense to connect it to a Pi (though you
could but it would be extremely cumbersome and time-wasting) and you most certainly
cannot connect the motors to a Pi without such a component.
You are suffering from the ubiquitous problem of purchasing from eBay, Aliexpress, Amazon and so on. Products are advertised for people who
already know everything about them. No
real specifications or technical information is provided; you are left to search for that. I certainly see no useful information on that Web page.
(Rather amusing that the batteries are edited out of the carrier on all but one image.

)