"Please mind the closing doors"
As mentioned here, I was quite keen on the idea of Densha De Go for the PSP. And now (many thanks to Cam, my erstwhile man in Japan) I have a copy. And it's really quite good.
It's impressive how much gameplay it's possible to get out of basically two buttons - slower and faster. OK, they go to some effort to disguise this, but really all you do is speed up and slow down. The tricky bit comes from the fact that a train is very very heavy, the timetables are very tight, and you have to stop within two metres of the end of the platform or the cute anime conductor girl will cry real tears.
You receive points for being on time, obeying speed limits and safety rules, ride comfort, and the all-important stopping in the right place. Much cursing has been heard when a flawless run is ruined at the last minute by jamming on the emergency brakes and seeing all the passengers fall over.
The game also makes good use of FMV for gameplay as opposed to cutscenes - to my mind, it would be a less appealing game if it didn't have the real life video. And for once a game completely on rails isn't going to upset any reviewers.
Oddly enough, about the nearest thing I can think of in gameplay terms (apart from other train simulators) is Lunar Lander - both games are built around tight time (or fuel) constraints, lots of inertia, and a very simple control system.
Despite the similarity, Lunar Lander loses out because you don't get to sound the horn as you go over level crossings. I think this is possibly because sound doesn't travel in space.
The verdict: "Mobile Train Simulator + Densha De GO! Tokyo Kyuukou Hen" gets four thumbs up from us, plus one more for having such an incredibly long name.
(Micky has been playing avidly as well, even though she's an actual real-life woman.)