E3 is very overwhelming. Surprisingly enough, I spent the first day of my first year at E3 yesterday. Throughout my dive into one of gaming’s most important events — and a good example of the monstrous world that is the video game industry — I got a chance to see and play lots of new stuff I’m sure the mainstream fans have been hearing about. The big names showed off their ingenious marketing ploys, employing charming (shall we say…) booth babes and fast-talkers to promote their extravagantly produced material.

And in the midst of it all, Simon Joslin from The Voxel Agents met up with me to showcase the studio’s upcoming Train Conductor 2: USA, the sequel to my personal favorite iPhone/iPod Touch game of 2009, Train Conductor. Ironically enough, it was Simon’s first E3 as well. But that’s beside the point, which is this: Train Conductor 2: USA is nothing like what I had expected. It improves vastly on every aspect of the original. While my concern is mainly that gamers who aren’t familiar with the first Train Conductor may not be so agile with the new one (although it should be noted, tutorials are available for each level so gamers can feel at ease), Simon was quick to point out the intricacies of the new level designs, and he’s absolutely right.

Obviously enough, all of the locations in Train Conductor 2: USA are areas in the states that are widely known throughout the rest of the world. The Voxel Agents ditched their old habit of progressively making each level more difficult for a newer method. In the sequel, whatever level you play through will start out slow and simple enough for you to catch on. But as that same level progresses, the growing challenge will begin to overwhelm you; this is clearly not the same game we played the first time around, and that’s a damn good thing.

That’s certainly not the only thing that’s new, either. While The Voxel Agents have ditched the charming day and night scheme from the first game, their new levels make up for it. Whether you’re in Las Vegas, coordinating and color-coding purple and blue ghosts (that’s right, NOT trains) to their rightful positions before an evil train conductor can get to them — or in the subways of New York City avoiding pillars and experiencing brain-bending frustration as to how to get by — you learn to appreciate the work of a train conductor much more…although there’s no chance that being an actual train conductor can be half as fun as this. In addition to those two levels, I tried out the Grand Canyon as well. In the Grand Canyon level, players build bridges in order for their trains to cross from one side to another. Most of the trains wait until their bridge is built, but others are in a rush and must be attended to in a quick fashion.

The new artwork and graphic design is something to behold. Dynamic backgrounds and beautifully drawn set pieces lay at the heart of Train Conductor 2: USA. Having revamped the HUD has helped open up a tremendous amount of space for full view. Additionally, Simon’s brother wrote a couple of new tracks for the sequel which I unfortunately did not get the chance to hear.

So what’s the plan for Train Conductor 2: USA? Well, according to Simon the game should be released right before the end of June (29th assuming all goes well), and will be priced at $0.99. Trust me on this one: if you play games on your iPhone/iPod Touch and you don’t own the first Train Conductor, you should get it — if anything, for the preparation to enjoy the fantastic sequel.