Summary
Although aging now, this is still a damn fine railroad sim.
The Good
Well... it's a real sim game, which is a start. It's a railroad sim, which is always fun. And it is different enough from the other rail sims to make it worthwhile in it's own right. Pretty much everything about this game is good. Not great... but good. There are some nice touches which seperate it from the dross out there, like day/night, timetabling, resource and financial management.
The Bad
This game is actually damn good, but it just doesn't have the longevity of other games, but I'm not entirely sure why. I guess the trouble is that there is little to complain about - everything about this game is good, but no more than that. It doesn't inspire you to greater things, or conspire to keep you up all night, and when there are so many great games out there, it just doesn't hold on to you.
The Bottom Line
In many ways, you could think of this as a predecessor to Transport Tycoon. You're building up a local netowrk, rather than the nation/continent-wide constructions of Railroad Tycoon. And you get a very familiar isometric view of proceedings, which is nice. Plus, of course you get to build and run trains.
In many other ways it is quite different. There is an actual day/night schedule, and you can set the departure times of each train so as to maximise efficiency (eg: passenger trains at rush hour). You need raw materials to build in this game, which are brough in on a computer run line. Then it's up to you to move them where you (and all your little sim-type folk building their houses) actually need them.
There's also a complete financial management system (kind of similar to RR Tycoon) which allows you to dabble in the markets and deal with the taxmen. Plus you get the chance to build, own and sell (for a profit) a variety of buildings including offices, appartments, hotels, sports facilities, etc.
It may not have stood the test of time in the way that certain other games have managed, but it is still damn fine and fun to play.
