Update: June 22, 2006
«©NCSX» The A Ressha de Gyoukou city/train management sims and sequels have been published on all major consoles and the PC since the first game debuted on the Famicom in 1991. Maxis, the creators of Sim City, brought the game over to the US and dubbed it A-Train. In A Ressha de Gyoukou, omnipresent players construct a city and lay the track for a train system to ferry passengers and cargo alike. By building the city and serving the needs of the booming population, profits are reaped and plowed back into the city to earn even more profit. After a while, the fledgling city becomes a major metropolis thanks to thoughtful planning, resource management, and innate ability to address the needs of the masses. For the PSP version of A Ressha, developer Artdink does away with the city building aspects of development and focuses solely on the construction of a railroad. To add color to the faceless empire building, a cast of characters serves up an engaging back story. Poppy passes away and leaves a train company in the lurch. With no one else able to take the helm, the player (that's you) steps up and takes control with the aim of achieving father's dream of building an intercontinental railroad. With support from railroad engineer Carl Buflovsky and secretary Lisa McLaglen, you might just make it in the train business. A banker named Patrick Lietzmann plays a third major role in the game. To balance the growth and profitability of the railroad, players decide the proportion of cargo or passengers carried on the trains. Cargo and materials are used to expand the railroad but passengers pay the bills. By maintaining a "just right" balance, the company can remain profitable while expanding at a healthy clip without falling into the red and facing potential bankruptcy. View the back cover and screenshots on the main NCSX website. NCS Game Notes
» In the intro to the game, the characters are introduced and a train speeds through space on a track. Other image sequences of cities growing, profits accumulating, and trains rolling are presented. » At the outset of the game, an overhead view of a city is shown with the date and time on the upper right portion of the screen. The amount of capital available is shown on the bottom-right. As operations commence, the amount of available capital starts trickling downwards - keeping a corporation running requires constant amounts of cash... even when you're not doing anything. » The world view is 2D by default but it's also possible to view the operations entirely in 3D by setting the option. The 3D view uses the d-pad to rotate the camera and the "O-button" to toggle camera views to different areas in the corporation's ops. This document is ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.
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