Cheap 3-D Ultra Lionel Traintown (Video Games) (Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 95) Price

Going to work in TrainTown means learning to fuel and drive locomotives, switch tracks, couple freight cars, and even clear a line of wandering reindeer with the click of the mouse. To start, players learn to operate the trains quickly and efficiently via a set of narrated tutorials. Apprentice engineers then can click on specific job assignments, like taking a load of hamburgers to hungry factory workers or sorting cars in the freight yard. As you become more adept at manipulating the trains, the jobs get wilder. You may end up delivering materials to build a replica of the Eiffel Tower in the midst of the Arctic. Each job is timed, so you can repeat the task to improve your record or challenge others to beat it.

TrainTown's striking 3-D graphics and realistic sound effects make this CD-ROM a pleasure to play, although the maps that are needed to complete many jobs are a bit hard to read. Children under 8 may not have the patience to complete even the easiest job assignments but will still enjoy the fun of creating their own track layouts and racing the trains through tunnels and over bridges.

With over 70 jobs at varying levels of difficulty, TrainTown presents challenges for all ages and is one product that will last any train-loving family a long, long time. (Ages 6 and older) --Sharon Griggins