GamesSimSomehow this Japanese cult classic brings intense arcade action to… train driving simulators?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesSimSomehow this Japanese cult classic brings intense arcade action to… train driving simulators?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
Pasokon Retrois our regular look back at the early years of Japanese PC gaming, encompassing everything from specialist ’80s computers to the happy days of Windows XP.
Developer:Taito, UnbalanceReleased:2000, 2002Platforms:Arcade, PC(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
Train driving games, especially on PC, the home of multi-monitor displays and eye wateringly-priced specialist controllers, are usually very serious and realistic. And in many ways Taito’s Densha de Go! 3: Daiya Kaisei is no different. It’s a game for people who honestly pause for a moment to consider whether they want to drive from Tosu to Hakata station in a 787 series train or a KiHa 72, the game accurately reflecting the differences in their handling, weight, and even the sounds they make as they power along the track.
Every new game begins with a short introduction of the train itself, sincerely talking up their power inverters and roomy interiors. This particular version of the game, released on Windows in 2002, featured the raw thrill ofrevised timetables.
Wow. Great. Surely the sort of thing only of interest to someone with a box full ofOO gauge trackin a cupboard, a collection of tiny model trains to run on the stuff, anda battered notebook filled with weird numbers.
Pick a route. Any route. Any time of day. Congrats, you’ve now got 60 seconds—maybe a little more, maybe even a worrying amount less—to reach somewhere you’ve never been before in a vehicle you’ve never driven in your life. You must observe all speed limits, signals (accurate to those used not just on Japan’s railways butthat specific partof Japan’s railways), and rail-related laws along the way. Oh and the aim isn’t to get to the next stop as quickly as possible, it’s to get thereon time, and then stop in exactly—exactly—the right place at the station.
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(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
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Once you’ve got no more seconds left to lose, the only real option left is to not mess up.
It’s a real test of personal prowess, and anyone who has spent their free time trying to avoidMalenia’s Waterfowl Danceor fought their way to the upper tiers of a fighting game’s online ranking can relate to that. The strictness found in earlier Densha de Go!s like this one is (eventually) as rewarding as it is intimidating. Gently applying the brakes to keep a train just under the speed limit on a downhill section, rolling to a stop at precisely the right time, and finally nailing a tricky stretch of track are all satisfying skills that take practice to develop.
There’s a point to running the same route over and over again, to putting in the work: I know the game will always notice, right down to the second and the centimetre, every improvement I make.
The short report card at the end of each segment, covering three important areas—braking, stopping accuracy, and safety—continues this mode’s forgiving theme. The game passes comment on my driving, but makes a point of reframing even the most amateurish runs as encouraging positives. Densha de Go! might say I need to improve on something, rather than say I did it badly. It’s a small change that makes a big difference. Sure, I didn’t get it right this time, but that doesn’t mean the next one won’t be better, and maybe the one after that will be perfect.
Densha de GO! 3 Tsūkin-hen (PC) - YouTubeWatch On
Densha de GO! 3 Tsūkin-hen (PC) - YouTube
Densha de GO! 3 Tsūkin-hen (PC) - YouTube
With a bit of practice it becomes clear that every mode’s encouraging, albeit in their own peculiar, detail-oriented way. There are methods to earn precious bonus seconds even when your braking game isn’t up to scratch, such as sounding the horn at the right time before entering a tunnel or when passing a line worker. Turning up exactly on time but a bit off the stopping mark earns a little star on the route chart and a “Good” graphic splashed across the screen at eye level, visual markers of a tough job well done. The game may be quick to punish errors, but it’s just as quick to praise.
Whatever the mode, after a while the experience transforms into something truly terrifying—a genuine love for the subject matter. It’s very easy to end up with a favourite train and enjoy looking out at rambling rivers and fields that stretch to the horizon (well, the end of the game’s draw distance) from your prime seat in the virtual driver’s cab. The contrasting urban areas are interesting, angular, and packed with detail, heavy construction work and ordinary cars waiting at the level crossings as you trundle along.
Image1of4(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
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(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
(Image credit: Taito, Unbalance)
A lot of retro import games look very impressive in screenshots but play like the middling RPG and action games they really are once you get past the enticing anime art and the lure of acquiring something “exotic” with a fold-out map in its oversized box. Densha de Go! is the opposite. It looks like something a Certified Dad plays for an hour every weekend while his forgotten mug of tea goes cold.
But it plays like a hardcore gamer’s dream.
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