Customer Reviews

Lionel Trains: On Track

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I agree completely with the previous reviewer. This game had so much potential. The puzzles are fun and there is a pretty good variety of Lionel trains to choose from. Even the music is surprisingly well done. However, it's all wasted because the graphics are so poor and the detail non-existent when it counts. One camera angle only and most of the game is in 2-D, especially when the trains are running. After you make your choice of trains to run, the detail degrades so badly you realize it never mattered which train you chose anyway. Everything looks about the same and very unrealistic at that. Don't be fooled by the Lionel name. This game is a dud...

We bought this for our 10 yr old daughter and she really enjoys it. At first she was frustrated trying to lay the track but we quickly realized the icon was there to do it and she off and running....fun way for any train lovers to build a system.

I bought Lionel Trains: On Track for my son. I played it for ten minutes and knew he wouldn't care for it. The graphics of the trains weren't great, and game play was slow. Hard to understand the graphic icons and just... You get the picture I am sure if they had more detail on the game play I would have never bought this game.

I bought this for my 6 year-old son because he's a HUGE Thomas/Lionel fan. He loves to play in the "sandbox mode" because nothing costs. I'm not sure that he knows exactly what he's doing, but he loves it. This game isn't very easy to play, but my son absolutely loves it.

Like another reviewer said, the game is at it's best in Sandbox mode. The "Campaign mode" (5 or 6 different ones) are really tutorial scenarios. They aren't really challenging but you do learn some concepts. The "FreePlay mode" is sort of like the Sandbox mode but with a set amount of start money and high or low prices depending on your difficulty setting. Either make it a working Railroad or spiral into debt. Graphics are decent but some of the goods are represented by some very small icons that are barely recognizable. The overall concept is a bit like the recent Sid Meier's Railroads! game. There's a tycoon element to the game play while in FreePlay mode. You can buy businesses in towns and gain more mail income or passenger income etc. There's a research element to develop new trains. You get use to the interface after a bit but they could have been more user friendly. The manual is very light on info which seems to be the usual in DS games. The game does have a built in library of Advisers which is useful on occasion.

Overall, I think the whole package could have used another six months of development and it could have been a really great little game. As is, it's a playable and sometimes fun game.

My 8 year old son got this for Christmas and can't put it down. Mostly, he just like to put it in sandbox mode and build elaborate tracks with lots of different trains. True, the graphics could be better, IMHO, but I haven't heard any complaints from him. If you have a child that likes to build things and likes trains, I'd recommend this. It's a thinking game, though, and not really for the "shoot-em-up" or racing crowd.

While the graphics aren't much to look at and the learning curve for how to play is a bit steep, I found this game to be a much deeper strategy/simulation than it first appears. The simulation not only includes researching higher tech trains, but also upgrading cities, choosing city specialties, and planning specific train routes with multiple steps of cargo chains (ie. trees into lumber into furniture). Multiple maps playable in a large-scale freeplay as well as a sandbox mode make the replayability very high. An excellent buy for any train enthusiast who enjoys the DS.

Sandbox mode is the only mode worth playing, other than that, it's just kinda boring after you get all the routes and track built. The trains look very nice, and very detailed, but it really loses a lot after about 20 min. Rent this game before buying.

My husband has been sitting here playing this game, even currently, as i write this. His own words "I like it-a lot!" He is and his father are railroad enthusiasts with their own layouts, and assortment of model trains. I think this game is not geared towards action gamers and more towards thinker type gamers. He just informed me the tutorial is really cool and it covers everything from controls to how to build cities,move cargo and create strategy. He is absolutely thrilled there is a game for train lovers. He even has my son sitting on his lap looking at the "choo-choo".

This game is great for kids who are interested in trains. It makes playing the game realistic. I highly recommend the game.