A-Train

aka: Take the A-Train III

Released

December 14th, 1990 on PC-98

Releases by Date (by platform)

Publishers

Developers

Artdink Corporation

Moby Score

7.7

#3,784 of 155K

Critics

81% (23)

Players

(52)

Ranking

#242 on Amiga
#428 on DOS

Collected By

56 players

Genre: Simulation
Strategy
Visual: Isometric
Gameplay: Managerial / business simulation
Vehicular: Train

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Description official description

Play the part of the head of a railroad company, with the aim of creating a railroad empire, providing a successful mass transit system that will be an inspiration to the rest of the world. Another goal is to provide the impetus for a chosen city to develop. There are a number of different places to set up business each with different layouts and existing houses and businesses.

The main money earners are passenger trains, that can be scheduled to pick up passengers at the times of day when the demand is high. However, in the long term you need the city to develop. This requires setting up trains that transport resources to where they are needed. These resources are used to build houses, and other buildings, increasing the number of passengers for commuter trains.

As the city develops, new businesses will spring up, such as stadiums, high rise office blocks, and ski resorts. The player may also build own businesses, the success of which will depend on the local population, the presence of competing businesses, and even the changes of the seasons, among other factors.

The stock market is also another way of making money. The player may also watch the seasons come and go, with snow visible in winter, and fireworks displays celebrating the New Year.

Spellings

A列車で行こう3 - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

60 People (48 developers, 12 thanks) · View all

Original Concept and Design by	ARTDINK
Executive Producer	Tatsuo Nagahama (as T. Nagahama)
Producer	Hideo Kanda (as H. Kanda)
Director	Shigeto Sako (as S. Sako)
Assistant Director	Katsushige Kasai (as K. Kasai)
Programming	Yūichi Ishiguro (as Ishiguro) Yūichi Horiguchi (as Horiguchi)
System Engineer	Sōbei Shimanoki (as Shimanoki)
Art Director	Yōichi Yamaguchi (as Yamaguchi)
Sounds	Koji Yamada (as Yamada) Daisuke Nakakaze (as Nakakaze)
Graphic Design	T. Yano (as Yano)
Assistant Producers	Yukiko Mitsuhashi (as Y. Mitsuhashi) Kazutaka Takefuta (as Takefuta) Minako Nakamura (as Nakamura) M. Aoki (as Aoki)
Package Design	Y. Kohda (as Y. Kohda)
Marketing	Y. Kohda (as Y. Kohda)
Programming	Jonathan Ross Paul Schmidt
Project Manager	Jim Siefert
DOS Art Conversion	Jenny Martin Bonnie Borucki Susan Greene [aka The Heady Little Piglets]
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Discussion

Subject	User	Date
PlayStation version	Lance Boyle	2010-03-27 19:20:02

Trivia

Construction Set

The A-Train Construction Set was released in 1992, allowing you to create your own maps or edit existing ones.

History

Some historical notes, from the manual:

A-Train was created in Japan by Artdink, and is the first game that Maxis has published that was developed outside of the company. (We have huge egos and think we're pretty good game designers, so if we publish someone else's game, it means we're really impressed.)

This game is actually Artdink's third complete version of A-Train, which was released as Take the A-Train III in Japan.

The first version of A-Train was released in Japan in April 1986 for the Fujitsu FM-series computer. It was later available for all the major home computers in Japan.

A-Train II was released in Japan in July 1988, and was published in the U.S. by Seika Corp. under the name Railroad Empire.Take the A-Train III was first released in Japan in December 1990 and since then has been a consistent top-ten seller, winning the Best Simulation of the Year Award from Login magazine (well, actually it tied for first with SimCity), and winning reader polls as their favorite simulation game.

Take the A-Train III, under the name A-Train (we dropped the 3 since there was never a 1 or 2 released in this country), is now published by Maxis.

Secrets

From the manual:

Depending on the map, and what you've had for dinner, there are some interesting items in the skies. During the night of December 24, Santa Claus is flying across the map. UFOs may appear on summer nights, and there are firework shows on Saturday nights in August at the amusement parks.