If you thought, “It's just a game about running trains, right?”, it would be a waste to stop there. “A-Train All Aboard! Tourism Nintendo Switch 2 Edition” is not a simulation where you merely lay down tracks, but a work where you can taste the joy of breathing life into a single city. As the president of a railway company, the player operates trains, supports the development of the city, and aims for a charming city visited by many tourists. Stations are built, the flow of people changes, new facilities line up, and before you know it, seeing a place that had nothing grow into a vibrant city gives a grand sense of accomplishment just by watching. The sensation of your own judgments changing the future of the entire city holds a charm that hooks you once experienced.

A major characteristic of this work is “tourism,” which serves as an important theme in the series. Rather than just setting up railways as a means of transportation, you are required to connect distant cities with tourist routes and nurture a city that people will want to visit. Because you advance the city planning while thinking about where to extend the tracks and which facilities to utilize to increase tourists, each and every choice firmly holds a meaning. Instead of chasing only efficiency, when you begin thinking down to the harmony with beautiful landscapes and townscapes, your own ideal city takes shape bit by bit. There is the fun of trial and error in that process, and a feeling of “I want to make it an even more charming city next time” naturally wells up.

Precisely because of the position as the president of a railway company, the fun of management can also be fully tasted. Taking out loans to expand businesses or utilizing stock trading, numerous elements unique to full-scale management simulations are packed inside. Furthermore, because a function capable of customizing the train cars to your own preference is installed, the joy of running trains that match the townscape also expands. The flow of planning new routes while assessing the management status, generating profits, and further developing the city is exceptionally deep, brilliantly integrating city planning and company management into one. Instead of management where you only gaze at numbers, because the results of people gathering and becoming lively can be verified with your eyes, there is a comfort where effort firmly takes shape.

As many as 19 scenarios are recorded in this work, and cities harboring respectively different circumstances become the stage. A city suffering from massive debt due to the opening of a Shinkansen line, or a city of a railway company holding a sports team continuously in the red—no two situations are the same. While each city holds challenges, they also hide the possibility of major development. The process of setting up traffic networks, generating a flow of people, and rebuilding the city while leveraging tourism resources makes you feel a mood as if you yourself have genuinely become the president entrusted with the future of the city. Because the figure of the city alters significantly depending on the player even within the same scenario, the high degree of freedom can also be enjoyed to the full.

For those for whom the story alone is not enough, the “Construction” mode awaits. In this mode, without worrying about funds, you can build up your own ideal city while adjusting terrains or freely placing buildings. You can replicate famous tourist destinations, and it is also possible to generate a dream city that does not exist in reality. Furthermore, not only can you share blueprints of the scenarios you created online, but you can also download and enjoy cities produced by other players, so the breadth of play expands endlessly. For people who want to leverage their creativity, it can be described as an attractive mode where you can lose track of time and immerse yourself.

Although “A-Train All Aboard! Tourism Nintendo Switch 2 Edition” is a full-scale railway management simulation, because careful tutorials are prepared, even those playing the series for the first time can start with peace of mind. On the other hand, it is equipped with a depth that can fully satisfy experienced players who want to push management and urban development to the limit, bringing new discoveries the more you continue playing. Through the addition of the new theme of nurturing a tourism city, the fun of city planning expands further, making it a work where the joy of completing your own ideal city bit by bit can be thoroughly tasted. Not to mention those who like railways, it is a single title that I want people interested in city planning or management simulations to settle down and enjoy thoroughly.