The Voxel Agents are back with the newest installation of Train Conductor, my personal favorite iPhone game from 2009. And this time, all your train conducting pleasures will be handled in the United States of America. Don’t fret, we’ve got some great tourist spots — and believe it or not, the new gameplay mechanics will have you wondering whether the U.S. is actually fancier than Australia.

While the devs may have chosen to ditch some old mechanics in favor of dishing out newer and more challenging stages, you’ll find that the U.S. treatment actually offers a more interesting experience overall. I’ve yet to see any other App Store gem receive a sequel (probably due to the fact that most devs work on updates and adding content rather than looking forward), but I can think of very few titles as deserving as Train Conductor.

GAMEPLAY

While this department remains largely unchanged from the previous iteration of Train Conductor (coordinate trains by connecting them to the desired track and tap a train to stop it), a host of new features have been added and some older ones abandoned. The most major change is that the day and night mechanic of the first game has been altered. No longer will players be able to experience stages both with regular trains and the cartoon-like ghost-world of the night, but a healthy balance of both exists in Train Conductor 2: USA.

There are five stages overall: Miami, New York, Nashville, Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon. Each level offers its own twist and exudes personality. Unlike the first Train Conductor, every level doesn’t feel the same with simply one more track attached to it. Instead, in Train Conductor 2, pillars will block your way, varying speeds and sizes of trains will confuse you, cliffs will literally leave you hanging, so on and so forth.

Gamers will start out with Miami, delivering shuttles across four separate tracks while enjoying the sight of a beach in the background. After a certain number of trains are delivered, the next stage is opened up. The Voxel Agents discarded the old mechanic of gaining a certain amount of experience before each stage opens up, but the switch feels unchanged because it is just another method of progression. Nashville, on the other hand, is a night level and features some familiar trains from the first game. This particular level plays exactly as the old night levels had played (meaning the ghost trains can’t crash into one another since…they’re ghosts). New York City is a daytime gig working the subways with brightly-colored tagging in the background. But rather than allocating trains to the basic numbered tracks, you’ll instead be handling them through differently colored 1, 4, A, Q, and S titled tracks. Mark my words, this shit gets extremely confusing! To add to the challenge, there are large metallic pillars inbetween all of the tracks so as to make your job noticeably harder. Las Vegas is another night-time level (Because there isn’t shit to do in Vegas in the daytime.), but this is perhaps the most drastically different yet easiest to play of all of the new levels. Players will be asked to coordinate purple and green ghosts to the upper and lower areas of the screen with great speed. The frantic flicking of the thumbs will tire you out as the numbers you’ve delivered increase. The Grand Canyon will force you to connect train tracks from one cliff to another. Whenever an exclamation point becomes visible, this means that a train will not stop if you tap it therefore you must deal with it soonest. Eventually, a number of these trains will overwhelm you — but by this time, you should be used to the feeling.

Variety is indeed the spice of life and as cliché as that saying may be, Train Conductor 2: USA is a prime example. The new game is leaps and bounds more impressive than its predecessor. At no point did I stop having fun. Sure, I felt frustrated and — even though I fancy myself as an expert train conductor — had to attempt a couple of the tutorials to get things just right. But since I do foresee some gamers being skeptical of this purchase having not played the first, I will offer a word of advice: buy the original in addition to this sequel. If you own the original, then it’s your duty as a train conductor to play this sequel — you will love it.

STYLE

Perhaps even more impressive than its gameplay adjustments and additions are Train Conductor 2’s new design antics. Dynamic backgrounds and hand-drawn set pieces lay in every level. When you’re in New York, you’re not at a train station but a subway station covered with tagging; when you’re in Miami, you’re handling shuttles on the sunny beach; each level feels different in terms of gameplay, but it’s clear that style plays a huge part in Train Conductor 2. Even the new soundtrack is incredible. Techno-like beats accompany your trip to the subway while familiar tunes occupy the Grand Canyon. As for the brand new sound effects, they complement the setting so naturally that you can’t help but look forward to playing the game with headphones or at full volume. Train Conductor 2: USA is a beautiful game.

STORY

While so much has been added to the rest of the game, the one area that still lacks most is the narrative. The Voxel Agents attempted to give more personality to the game through two new characters: Penny, a cute red-headed train conductor who’s there to help you learn every tutorial and a villain. But aside from making things harder for you in the Las Vegas level, this new character serves no other purpose narratively. Train Conductor is by no means an IP that requires a story or some form of narrative in the first place, but it would surely make things a bit more interesting.

EVERYTHING ELSE

The new HUD is spacey and comfortable. Plus+ integration has been discarded in favor of Facebook-centric integration. Overall, I’d say this sequel is a big step up from the first game. If you miss one or two of the features from Train Conductor, you can always fire it up on your iPhone/iPod Touch anyway. At the moment, the Voxel Agents are offering both Train Conductor and Train Conductor 2: USA at only $0.99. I can’t tell you enough how much both are worth the price (especially since they will more likely than not revert to their original prices of $1.99 shortly). Make no mistake: Train Conductor 2: USA is a must-own game on your handheld. I just can’t wait for more levels!

[Buy Train Conductor on the App Store. Buy Train Conductor 2: USA on the App Store.]

[DIYgamer was given a free copy of the game for review purposes. This in no way affected the outcome of the review.]